ERIC CLAPTON | 01.29.07 | AUSTRALIA

Slowhand is the man. I was so happy to hear that he recruited Trucks for these past couple of tours. DT is certainly going to learn a lot from EC. Now bring that show to the bay-area...im ready to pay what I have to.

We love you alby!!!!!!

Derek Trucks rules. I was never a fan of Clapton. I always thought there were other players who did the same thing better, who deserved, but never recieved the recognition he has. Now we're going to get all the "Clapton Is God" runoff at Derek's once intimate shows. Thanks Al for the review. Athens represent...
Lego

This is a good review of an excellent show. Trucks didn't seem to be an apprentice, but at least an equal to Clapton on stage. His slick and concise slide playing during some of the Derek & the Dominos songs soared above the rest of the band and seemed to linger over the crowd. My one complaint is that I saw Clapton and Friends in Bangkok, and this review might as well have been written for that show. The song selection and order of the setlist is almost exactly the same, with only a few changes. It is disappointing to think that such an amazing group of musicians are confining themselves to such a narrow array of songs. Oh well, great show anyway. See it if you get a chance.

sbs... "at least an equal" ...100% true.

"delicately caressing their axes" thats hot, jambase

I saw this show in Birmingham, Alabama. It was a fucking amazing show. But sbs is right it seems that the setlist for that show was damn near the same as i saw in october.

Check out http://www.whereseric.com/ and you will see that unfortunately Clapton's setlists do not vary much at all, so yes, you are all right. That being said, the man can still wail, big time, and has brought together a VERY talented band capable of some serious improv!

the setlist is the same as the shows in october because no one in their right mind is thinking the same crew from Birmingham were going to go on a heady, cross pacific tour with Clapton and Trucks...(in Sydney, --"This show is sick, but it doesn't compare to the one we saw in Birmingham...Alabama") haha! good review. Great photos from down under!

I'm sure that Clapton is DT's idol. Not his "idle" though!

ok so i may be a little anal with this , but i think if you write articles such as this and get paid for it ( i am assuming ) that you should have a decent command of the language , granted my grammar / spelling is not perfect , BUT " his on stage cohort and " idle "?????? next time try " idol " as in derek trucks is my idol ! Anyhow , set list IS suspect .... no badge!...no bell bottom blues!....no sunshine!!!!

I can't believe this guy didn't mention Doyle Bramhall except in the band listing. DBII is sick. I mean the man plays upside down, and not Hendrix stylie but literally with the high e at the top. Also Clapton doesn't play "Blackie" (not Old Blackie) anymore. He was playing his signature model strat. Blackie was auctioned off for more money than any other guitar has gone for at a whopping $959,900 dollars to Guitar Center.

I'm going to spraypaint "Clapton is Over-Rated" on my house. Although my wife will agree she'll still be pissed and make me clean it up.

Therefore I'll just post it here and save myself the work.

Keep it up Derek!!!

2 Months till the BEACON!!!!!!!

I don't know where anybody gets off saying clapton is overrated. Anybody remember a band called Cream? For god's sake just because he didnt overdose like jimi or die in a heli crash like stevie doesnt mean that he isnt the greatest guitar virtuoso of the 20th century. B/c he is, no one has had as much sucess as a guitarist as clapton, and there is a reason for it. He is the best technical and creatively spontaneous guitar player since the invention of the electric guitar. Maybe trucks is just as good but he has a long way to go before anyone can say that he is equal or better than clapton.

success doesnt define greatness

kizzy1 - I was not paid at all, just did it for the love of music...and sorry for the grammar flub, bro. I thought that's what editors are for. My bad, though.

Permalot - to be honest, I thought Doyle Bramhall stepped ALL OVER Clapton AND Truck's guitar runs, and really wasn't very good at all. Yes, he plays his guitar upside down, but compared to his on-stage peers, he really isn't in the same ballpark. Besides, editors cut my article anyways, so I thought I would include the more important and therefore, note worthy bits.

and I know he doesn't play that same, beat up Blackie, it is just a reproduction of it. It does look EXACTLY THE SAME!

SWEET!

"Slowhand returns to Oz with his young apprentice Derek Trucks" - I know it was said earlier,and I agree. DT & DB are pulling EC's weight. He invited them so the old fans could hear great guitar work and younger fans would be entertained.

it won't be long before derek trucks is widely accepted as one of the top 5 guitarists of all time

agreed with voodoochili. he's absolutely unbelievable. hearing it is one thing, but if you haven't watched him up close i would highly suggest going to a DTB show. it will make you realize how far above most guitar players he is. oh yeah, clapton is pretty sweet as well.

clapton rules. caught the show in va and it was amazing. the addition of trucks was a good move for clapton, trucks is sick. i'm just hoping to see some more of cream while the power trio is still around.

Saw Clapton recently for the 1st time in many years. Between his guitar skills, songwriting, and vocals, he's a legend. It's funny how people say they aren't impressed with him. I rarely hear that from people that play the guitar. Derek's got a long way to go to carve his place in history with Clapton...might one day, who knows...but in terms of simply comparing guitar skills and technique, that's a dime a dozen anyway. Sure, many of Clapton's shows are similar these days, but 15,000 fans come out to see him....B.B. King's played "The Thrill is Gone" at every show for over 40 years....I'm all for different shows, but also respect the way Clapton and B.B. have done it....

clapton is a god ....... i need say no more

Okay so I was being nice, but then I read some other reviews.
First off Clapton isn't Derek Trucks' "Idol". In anything I've ever read, or when I asked him when I was kicking it on his tour bus (after my band opened 10-29-03), he doesn't really get into too many guitar players. Clapton definately isn't "the best technical and creatively spontaneous guitar player", see Hendrix, SRV,Shawn Lane,Kimock,Derek Trucks...(goes on forever before coming to Clapton). I don't blame Al for not mentioning Doyle, who knows why he is even on this tour? I'd rather see DTB 100 out of 100 times before seeing a washed up Albert King/Freddie King copycat.

i have been curious to know where Doyle Bramhall jr. fits into this current tour. seeing him out-gilmour gilmour with Roger Waters band a few years ago convinced me he is a true jedi guitarist. i think he is in the same ball park as EC and DT and im sure Clapton didnt invite him out for his good looks alone. steve jordan has a deep pocket and this Willie Weeks character seems to hold it down. all in all, clapton has put together one hell of a band.

I saw this tour in Raleigh in the fall, and there are a few key differences in this show and the one I saw. We got no Little Wing or Why Does Love Got to Be so Sad. In my opinion, these songs would have put the show I saw over the top. I should note, however, that we got a couple of sitins by Robert Cray that were badass. DT is certainly a great addition to this allstar band, and I agree with the review that his solos were the highlights of the show. Why? Because his style closely resembles that of Duane Allman, Clapton's cohort in Derek and the Dominoes. Therefore, I was looking for more music from that era.

As for ranking Clapton among the best electric guitarists of the 20th century, he'd better get in line. Hendrix, SRV, Gilmore, Garcia, Allman, Page, and Anastasio all come to mind ahead of EC. I loved the show and thought there was a good amount of improv for a show of this type, but in the end, Clapton has made his name, mostly, by playing music written by other people (Cocaine, After Midnight, I Shot the Sheriff, Crossroads, and his various collaborations with Blind Faith, Cream, The Yardbirds and D&tD. I could go on...). I appreciate what he's done for rock n roll, but let's keep this in perspective.

Well I have a few comments for all you haters out there! First off - CLAPTON IS GOD!! (and i don't know which jackass out there thinks that ernesto is better then ERIC CLAPTON, but cmon.......cmon, seriously) And to the composer, Alex, although after seeing the band and wondering to myself what in the hell Doyle Bramhall is doing out there (I mean is he part of the crew and clapton's a little senial so he let's anybody play) you gotta give him his props and at least mention him - even if it is for that lame ass plays the guitar upside down thing - cmon he's playing with clapton. And for all of you who are like ohhhh Hendrix and ohhhh SRV who the hell can say that they would continue to be what clapton has been for forty years - I mean as it stands right now neither of those guys can even hold a guitar, I mean there dead, Clapton is alive ------ just enjoy! Peace and Love!

I saw Clapton in '78 (w/special guest Muddy Waters) and in '92 and really enjoyed both shows. Though EC is a great guitar player, I feel that other guitar players that I've seen seem more talented. Blackmore, Van Halen, Townshend, Lifeson, etc., but the best I ever saw was Randy Rhoads. He blew me away like no other.

uhhh...to say garcia and gilmore are better guitarists than clapton is a little ridiculous. not to hate on those two guys, they are both great and i love the dead and floyd, but come on. listen to clapton's blues stuff and the old cream and derek and the dominoes music. in my opinion hendrix is the only one really ahead of him, but he's not even in the same room as anyone else. no one ever mentions jeff beck, he was pretty incredible. as for live music i've seen, trey in the mid-90s is probably the best. not anymore though, what's happened to him over the past few years?

First off the greatest gutarist ever is DJANGO RHINEHART! so that is the end of that! And if you don't believe me ask any of the people mentioned in these posts (such as clapton, garcia, van halen, etc etc) Nobody was or has been better then DJANGO - and if you don't know who this is i suggest you educate yourself before flapping them gums! Peace and love

Can't see paying the ticket price to see EC when I could see DTB and pay a fraction of the cost and stand 10 feet from the stage. HELLO!?? Isn't this JAM base? Saw Clapton a couple years ago and I had high expectations. Show was not anything special to me. Soon after, a radio station in my area played a concert from LA and it was the same setlist.

I also hate the idea that Derek is the "heir" to the guitar god title. It's gonna be awful hard to get 10 feet from the stage when Derek's got this "status" b.s going on. Best guitarist? Too many to even pick my favorite. One that hasn't been mentioned is Camile Baudoin from the Radiators. Not saying he's the best, just pointing out that there are great guitarists everywhere that nobody even knows about, so go out and see them for yourself.

Oh my lord that is one hell of a setlist, I must get this show, DT and EC jamming? holy shit.

Anyone who doesn't love Clapton, definitely loves at least 20 musicians who do. Hippiehater, yer the man, but learn how to spell Django's last name if you want to proclaim him the greatest ever. Anyhoo, that title could belong to Jimi, John McLaughlin, Duane Allman, Danny Gatton, Pat Metheny, Les Paul, Larry Carlton, James Burton, Chet Atkins, Lenny Breau, Albert Lee, yada, yada, yada. Its just too damn subjective.

I'm an old dude, been around before the Beatles, watched the developement/careers of many great guitarists. As a player myself, let me rate the top 3 for you and settle all of this. #1-Duane Allman, #2-Jimi. Different styles, techniques, innovations, both took it to new levels, and neither has been duplicated. Jimi kicked ass, but so could Allman & he was way more melodic and versatile, played well with others (studio work, ABB, D&tD, etc.) He played jazz (Herbie Mann's "Push Push"), country (listen to his dobro on Cowboy's "Please Be With Me" - which EC copied by the way), and of course was a blues-rock master, with or without a slide. #3 Derek Trucks. Get the Songlines DVD, enough said. Clapton was great with Cream, but so is coffee. Nothing new or innovative since, too many copied licks from the great blues masters (listen to his solo on Tore Down and then listen to Freddie King's), pop hits (57 Chevys? Puh-lees.) Why has he surrounded himself with other pickers all these years? He can't carry it by himself. SRV? Too much like EC, both play 100 miles an hour from beginning to end. Ok, I like fast players too, but have they ever heard of building a solo? Check out Allman and/or Trucks on Key to the Highway, that's what I'm talking about. Derek Trucks has picked up where Duane left off in 1971, expanding the universe and taking it places where Duane would have gone. Lot of other great players, many mentioned above, BUT: EC IS NOT GOD! Those who think so don't know shit about playing guitar, it's that simple.

best guitar players
1 jimi hendrix
2 eric clapton

Never Seen Clapton before. Ill have to put him on the list of must see live performances of the future. Along with Dylan.