Clapton is one of those giants of the classic rock era, that I'd never seen and when a St. Louis show was announced this Spring, it was an impulse decision to try and go. I didn't realize though, that it'd been since 2006 he'd played in St. Louis. Another factor as to why I'd never seen him.
We got there with an hour before the scheduled 7:30 start time. This was my first show at Enterprise Center, since seeing the Who there in 2016. Nikki wasn't sure if she'd ever been there. Our seats were stage right, about 11 rows up almost in line with the stage. A good view, but the video screen was right above us, where we couldn't see detailed views.
Jimmie Vaughan, the opening act didn't hit the stage until 7:50 and played eight songs for roughly 40 minutes. `I saw Vaughan in 2007 when he opened for Dylan in Kansas City at the Starlight Theater. He had his Tilt-A-Whirl band with which included a three piece horn section. Not being a big blues fan or familiar with his work, I enjoyed his set a little more this time. Not being in the blistering sun probably helped. A funny bit was about halfway through, after looking at his set list, he got visibily agitated, and when the song was over, he kinda punched a whole in something on his music stand.
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| Jimmie Vaughan |
Clapton and his band took the stage right around 9 PM. I'd seen previous set lists of his, but hadn't looked at any on this short run. So I had a rough idea of how his concerts were set up and did see the headline on an article about his Toronto show having a couple of Robbie Robertson tribute songs, which he did the same here.
Most of his set, was covers of blues songs or others. And most of them he's made his own or done his own recordings. It followed his general practice of playing 5 electric songs, then an acoustic set, followed by another electric set. Highlights for me were the laid back acoustic Call Me the Breeze, the opening of the 2nd electric set with Tearing Us Apart seemed really powerful (though probably after the acoustic set it just jumped out more), and hearing that guitar playing of Wonderful Tonight, which was pretty straight forward, was magical. I was just hoping to hear, Badge, but alas, it wasn't to be.
He gave his seven piece band ample time to shine, which included Andy Fairweather Low on guitar and Chris Stainton on keyboards. Of course he took his share of guitar solos. One of the worst things about our seats and not seeing the video screens, was not being able to see some of his fretwork.
For the encore, he brought Jimmie Vaughan back out and they played a cover of High Time We Went, with more opportunities for the backing band to shine and Paul Carrack, his organ player taking vocals. It was a crisp two hour, 16 song concert, for good or bad it felt like was over in a breeze.
I knew Clapton was always the laid back bluesman, not overtly showy. Nikki's opinion was that his playing was good, but not enough excitement for her. He didn't address the crowd or have any banter, aside from a few shout outs to the artist he was covering and the polite Englishman, "thank you," after almost every song. And as such we didn't have to worry about standing. Aside from a few high points, and the enterances and exits, the crowd stayed in their seats most of the show.
It was a fine show overall and I got to see another legend. Riverfront Times review
Jimmie Vaughan Set List
DFW
Roll Roll Roll
Dirty Work at The Crossroads
I Ain't Never
Just A Game
Baby, Please Come Home
Six Strings Down
Texas Flood
The Crawl
Eric Clapton Set List
The Shape I'm In
It Makes No Difference
Key to the Highway
Hoochie Coochie Man
I Shot the Sheriff
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Driftin' Blues
Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out
Call Me the Breeze
Layla
Tears In Heaven
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Tearing Us Apart
Wonderful Tonight
Crossroads Blues
Stormy Monday
Cocaine
Encore
High Time We Went
