Eric Clapton at American Airlines Center, 3/19/13: Review

By Christian McPhate Wed., Mar. 20 2013 at 10:04 AM

Christian McPhate

Last night, Eric Clapton and Dallas-born guitarist Doyle Bramhall II set fire to their Stratocasters' fretboards. Their fingers slid across the neck, bending strings until they bled the blues. Feeding off a musical energy straight from the Crossroads, the talented guitarists empowered some of Clapton's greatest hits with a musical vibe that felt as if it were kissed by a devil before leaving heaven.

Of course we're talking about Eric Clapton, a recipient of 17 Grammy Awards, the Brit Award and three-time Rock-n-Roll Hall of Fame inductee, so anything less than magnificent would have been hell.

Kicking off the fourth date of his 50th Anniversary Tour, Clapton arrived in good spirits and mesmerized the crowd at the American Airlines Center. "Layla" had the crowd moving their heads to the beat, while "Wonderful Tonight" brought tears to their eyes. "Laydown Sally" had a few attendees dancing, but a majority of them remained in their seats, bobbing their heads. When the opening licks of his infamous song "Cocaine" erupted from the speakers, everyone in the arena stood and swayed to the music, screaming "Cocaine" at just the right time.

It was magical.

Changing guitars as if he were a slinger from the Old West, Clapton proved why a Fender Stratocaster is the perfect instrument for playing the blues. Each mournful note tore through the crowd. While Clapton's guitars shimmered with power, Doyle's axe looked like he pulled it from the trash before coming to the show. Black electrical tape covered part of the body, and battle scars covered its faded surface, reminding me of another blues guitarist (SRV) who played a similar piece of shit. It was magical, too.

Location Info

Venue

Map

American Airlines Center

2500 Victory St., Dallas, TX

Category: Music

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CatsofUlthar

Christian McPhate is an idiot. A very large one.

CatsofUlthar

Christian McPhate is an idiot. A very large one.

phatbttm23

take this review down and start over

lee30

geez...cocaine is a jj cale song, at least ol darrel smyers didnt review this show. yall need much better music people, just sayin

darrylrs

It's Darryl. And what did I do to you?

todd

A two page review and it's not even one of the five best concerts in Dallas this week.

http://ow.ly/jg8nn

bubba9310

A friend and I attended the EC concert last night at the AAC in Dallas (3/19). Of course, EC was wonderful to see on the big screen playing, however, since we were regulated to a supposedly "sold out" concert and had to sit in Section 326-we could hear only muffled sounds..at best!! If I hadn't been familiar with the selected songs, I would not have understood any of the words. There were SPEAKERS in this area attached to the ceiling, however,they were NOT TURNED ON-NO SOUND AT ALL in this AREA. We paid $100.00 plus fees for these tickets and I think it is unconscionable that the AAC, EC and the Concert Promoters think that it is OK to rely only on the speakers at ground level in hopes that the sound would "float" up into the "ethereal" confines of the upper levels...NOT THE CASE. The AAC, et al were obviously more interested in making the patrons at ground level paying top dollar prices happy than the the EC enthusiast sitting in the nose bleed sections. We made the best of the situation, trying to believe that our glass was half full...it was not. We will NOT be returning to the AAC for another concert...the music was better on the CD we played in the car on the ride over.

jonfromtjs

1 Like

cocaine is a JJ cale song. great to see the observer covering blues/classic rock without any snark. yes, the crowds are old and you've heard the songs before. still great music. clapton's last shows with winwood and the derek trucks-starring dominoes-themed show were both awesome.

txmuzik

really. this was one great show and one really stupid review. a picture wouldn't hurt either. one from the show I mean. "everybody shouted cocaine at the appropriate time". really?

rbeezlee

Ssssh, Kev, you don't wanna ruin the "bona fides" of yet another Observer "journalist." You must be new here. Ya see, facts, logic, reasoning, etc., don't really matter here at the Observer (The Weekly For Teenagers, By Teenagers). What matters is the appearance of knowing your subject. And that's done with bold assertions, snark, and ad hominem attacks. Besides, what is truth, what are facts, anyways? It's all relative. Right? Aw yeah.