Photo by Masanori Doi via Eric Clapton - Facebook
Eric Clapton - Nippon Budokan Tokyo
Eric and his band performing during their eight-night residency throughout April 2025 at Nippon Budokan in Tokyo.
It was a night of watching a master musician be “at one” with the guitar in his hand. As one of the world’s greatest guitarists, Eric Clapton has defined music history like very few others: The Yardbirds, Cream, Blind Faith, Derek and the Dominos, Delaney & Bonnie. The list goes on and on. But for nearly two hours, it came to life in electrifying and simple ways at Fiserv Forum.
At 81, the voice is weathered, softer, filled with the knowledge and experience of worldwide fame and personal tragedy. Yet it still has the power to conjure the past into the present, pulling he listeners in closer and closer. Be it the recognizable nostalgia of the show’s opener, “Badge” by Cream to the gentle, acoustic rearrangement of “Layla” by Derek and the Dominos, the voice still enthralls, the guitar work as electrifying as ever.
Clapton and his band of top-notch musicians and singers moved between electric and acoustic sets, filled with traditional blues covers heartfelt ballads along with well-known hits thrown in. His inherent love for the blues is still front and center as seen with the Willie Dixon classic, “I’m Your Hoochie Coochie Man.”
And his tribute to founding father bluesman Robert Johnson showcased his innate understanding of blues at its core, translating theses classics into his own versions, acoustic (“Kind-Hearted Woman Blues”) and electric (“Cross Road Blues,” “Little Queen of Spades”)
Clapton’s ability to play so many different guitar styles at once is stunning to watch; one moment laser-focused picking out notes, the next flying across the strings with expert precision. And that was just as present in his own original works. Old Love” (co-written with guitarist Robert Cray) was one of the evening’s highlights as the song rose and swelled with his superior guitar work, trading off with other band members in an extended version.
|
|
Classic Cream
While the audience expected—and received—his like J.J. Cale’s “Cocaine,” Clapton surprised and delighted, pulling out the classic Cream tune, “White Room,” a sped up rockier version that still shows he’s s got it all—and then some. And in a nod (with a twist) to Blind Faith, “Can’t Find My Way Home,” saw veteran bassist Nathan East take on the vocals, his gentle, clear falsetto giving the song a mystical feel.
Clapton’s band is so talented in its own ways, they made the evening as exciting as it was. In addition to East, Doyle Bramhall II (guitars, Chris Staunton, keyboards, Tim Carmon Hammond organ, keyboards, and Sonny Emory, drums all had many moments to shine in the spotlight. Clapton’s longtime backing singers, Sharon White and Katie Kissoon rounded out the sound with their soulful harmonies.
It was a night to remember—and savor. It was Eric Clapton. And it simply, if rarely, gets better than that.
The sign above the band read “Texas Blues.” And that’s exactly what the audience heard when opener Jimmie Vaughan and his Tilt-A-Whirl band took the stage along with the esteemed Texas Horns. The veteran bluesman played a 45-minute set that paid tribute to many of the great musicians that paved the path for Vaughan’s mix of blues and rock infused with strains of jazz and swing. From Luther “Guitar Junior “Johnson’s “Roll Roll Roll” to Roscoe Gordon’s “Just aLittle Bit,” Vaughan and company did the covers justice with their own expressive renditions. But it was the instrumental, “Frame for the Blues” by Slide Hampton that showcased the group’s diverse talents by bringing a lush, big band sound that required no vocals. Just let the stellar musicianship do all the “talking.” And it “spoke” volumes.
