[Slowhand] Clapton-Winwood 2/28

David Strahl candyear at earthlink.net
Mon Mar 3 17:04:07 EST 2008


I admit I can be a bit too critical. This might be my 25th EC show. I
can tell when EC's faking. Kind of on auto-pilot. Playing more
technically than inspired or inventive. Tuesday the 28th EC was
inspired. His solos were inventive and technically beautiful. I was a
witness to the Cream Reunion Abortion and this was the real deal.
Clapton was omnipresent. There was some coasting as in the second
tune which seemed only an opportunity for the elders to catch their
breaths. Tell The Truth should be played with Derek Trucks as it did
sound empty without his stunning slide work. Little Wing was gorgeous
but for some strange reason fizzled out. Voodoo Chile was awe
inspiring. The trading off with Winwood was so on point. It had to
be. As a true tribute to Hendrix and the late Buddy Miles. The drums
in general were too quiet and lacked punch which would have filled
out the sound a bit. I really enjoyed the reworked "Cocaine' as I
really resented the "dirty cocaine" that Clapton added later on. It
seemed to apologize for the song's content so I'm glad that EC
dropped that. This arrangement highlighted the piano playing of Chris
Stainton. It almost had a Danny Elfman feel. Much darker than earlier
versions. After Midnight had a great quick tempo and a lot of energy.
Dear Mr. Fantasy allowed Winwood to stretch out with EC playing
rhythm pretty much throughout. It was a gentlemanly thing for Clapton
to let Stevie close the show. Clapton seems to get better and better.
Last year's Garden shows were fabulous also. I walked out of there
thoroughly moved. See you in Wantagh.
David

On Mar 3, 2008, at 4:29 PM, slowhand-request at planet-torque.com wrote:


> Clapton-Winwood 2/28


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