Poll: When did you see Eric Clapton live on stage for the first time?

So, if you've seen Eric over 60 times obviously you are a major fan, but trying to put that aside for a second, what percentage of the shows would you say his playing was on fire versus phoning it in?
In other words, have his concerts been wildly inconsistent or generally about the same playing -wise in your opinion ?

 

The first time I saw Clapton it was incredible serendipity and luck all rolled into one. I had seen the Allman Brothers at the Beacon in 2006(guests: Tal Wilekenfeld & Leslie West, not together) and twice in 2007. In 2008 they didn't play there due to Gregg Allman's illness. In January 2009 I was ready to buy tix and I wanted to go two nights in a row. I tried to get a Friday/Saturday so I wouldn't have to take a day off from work, but Saturdays shows sold out in a flash. I saw a Thursday/Friday available, so I nabbed tix for both nights and arranged a vacation day for the Friday. I show up for the Thursday show, and special guest was Clapton! The Beacon erupted, and I high-fived about 20 people, as did everyone in my section. Rumor had it that Clapton would play two nights in a row, so as soon as he came out, I realized I was seeing this the next night also. Of course they played a big chunk of the Layla album, and Clapton was on fire. I was grinnin' ear to ear all night, and on Friday I just floated on air all day knowing what I had coming that night. Both nights were amazing, and instead of the usual 2-3 tunes and gone, he played about an hour both nights. Clapton himself was smiling a lot and tearing into his solos like a man on a mission.

 

Cream 69 or was it 68? I'm old.

 

Cool. I saw Cream at the Spectrum. Loud as loud can get. Ears still ringing. When they broke into the jam in NSU it sounded like the end of the world. I never heard anything like it before.

 

It's interesting to me that at this point anyway, no one has checked in saying they saw Eric with John Mayall or the Yardbirds.

 

A killer June 25,1985 Saratoga Performing Arts Center (NY) show. Knocked my socks off and offten bootlegged from the soundboard floating around .

 

You saw them on November 1st,1968.

 

For those who saw Cream in the late sixties, were they super loud? Curious.

 

I checked and you are correct. I must admit it was too loud to really enjoy. I started to feel ill from the volume after 45 minutes.

 

They were very loud. To the point for me it was not enjoyable. Akin to Judas Priest and Kiss.

 

Yes indeed.

 

I often wonder the same for Jimi and Zep during this era.

 

Led Zeppelin were tolerable due to the acoustic songs. IMO though they were loud also. I saw Jimi once and he was too loud as well IMO. That is just me though.

 

September 1998 at the SkyDome in Toronto.... Bonnie Raitt was the opener.

 

Generally I think for the most part Clapton was always on fire. I must have been fortunate because I truly don't recall leaving a Clapton show disappointed. Seen him a handful of times in the 70's, twice in 74 and a Slowhand tour where he opened with The Core, came out gunning. The 83 shows were very good, Ry Cooder encored with EC at the Spectrum playing Crossroads. Saw both ARMS shows in NYC, stellar. The 85 Tour had great playing, saw him break Blackie at an outdoor show in I believe Costa Mesa, during Worried Life Blues. From 91 through 96 I saw 20 shows at the RAH, no memories of being short changed. 1993 version of Let Me Love You Baby was maybe some of the greatest lead guitar work I ever saw. Saw the show with Dylan and Crow at MSG in 01, nice. To backtrack in 96 I was at a MTV tapping where he teamed up with Dr John. St James Infirmary is worth checking out on YouTube. Finally was lucky enough to go to all three Cream shows at MSG in 05. The Trucks Bramhall II shows with Robert Cray were great. All three Clapton & Winwood MSG shows. Awesome. 2007 & 2013 Crossroad festivals were very good. Enough rambling, in my humble opinion Eric is the greatest rock/blues player I ever saw. Was too young for Jimi Hendrix.

 

On my birthday in 1976 with Santana opening. Pretty good show that included "Knockin' on Heaven's Door," which surprised me. One of my first concerts.

 

I would have loved to of seen them in their heyday.

 

At Winterland they were loud but not super loud. Sound levels at the SF ballrooms were pretty consistently managed. The first really unpleasantly loud show I attended was The Who at SF Civic in December '71.

 

Saw him in 1987 on the August tour with Phil Collins, Nathan East and Greg Phillinganes. Had a blast and epic "Same Old Blues" is the performance that still stands out to me from that show. Also saw him in 1990 at Auburn Hills, MI. That show had Stevie Ray Vaughan come out mid set for a couple tunes. Turned out to be the only time I would get to see SRV perform live as he would be gone a few months later.

 

Killer show this decade in San Antonio, Texas.
Three other good blues guitarists on stage with
him but he stole the show as expected.

 

Saw him in the late 70's. Probably 78 or 79? Muddy Waters opened up.

Clapton was godawful. "Slowhand" would have been too fast a description to describe his playing. Layla was unrecognizable due to the lack of correctly doing the riff - actually there was no riff at all.

We had more fun the morning of hanging out at EJ Korvette's buying the tix when they went on sale than we did at the actual show. You had to be there to believe it (the EJ Korvette's experience not the concert), my God that was hilarious. After buying our tix we (about 6-7 of us longhair up-to-no-good-looking hoodlums) got hassled by a square salesman & thrown out for daring to sit on some lawn furniture on display outside the record/album section of the store. I will never ever forget the sight of my friend Dan jumping up & down on the escalator as it moved upstairs, gesturing to the a-hole salesman who stood by glaring at us, Dan holding his hand under his chin making Curley (3 Stooges) gestures. Sorry for the off-topic wool gathering but I hadn't thought of that for years.

Clapton was a "God" to us before that show. Afterwards he was a "what the heck happened to him?" subject of derision.

 

Saw him on the same tour in August of '75 at the Portland Memorial Coliseum, Santana again opening. Fifth concert of my life, preceded by Creedence, Chicago, Elton John and America.

 

Wow........11/25/66 I was 1 day old.

 

My first Clapton show was the '88 tour as well.

Sadly I didn't connect that tour to the Crossroads box set until you mentioned it here. Makes sense, since he played a bit of Cream and Blind Faith along with a handful of his biggest hits. While the setlist was pretty safe, I do recall thinking during his searing guitar solos that I was witnessing the greatest guitarist on the planet that evening.

He was a bit more tame the second time I saw him was during the '94 Royal Albert Hall run when he was doing mostly blues. While his solos weren't as aggressive as the '88 show, the setlist was really impressive - 27 songs, including a cover of Hendrix's Stone Free.

 

Per my prior post I saw the blistering guitar solos in '88, but would've loved to see a Phil Collins/synth period show too. August is my favorite Clapton album.