Fans' fury as Eric Clapton walks off Hydro stage early

Fans voiced their anger when Eric Clapton's first concert in Glasgow for three years ended with the rock legend walking off stage early.

[www.eveningtimes.co.uk]

Technical problems evidently, as explained by Clapton's spokesman:

"Unfortunately last night we experienced a steadily worsening technical problem with the PA system that the band battled with throughout the show.

"But by the last song of the set it became unbearable on stage and Eric was unable to complete that number.

"During the encore break we were able to reset and the band finished as planned with the last number.

"The usual touring set length runs at 1hr 35 mins so in fact the full set was performed apart from the entirety of Cocaine which had to be curtailed.

"Eric is nevertheless sorry for the break in the concert."

Here's a statement by the venue:

"The production team for last night's performance suffered a technical issue which resulted in the concert ending earlier than anticipated.

"By the time the venue had been made aware of the circumstances patrons were already leaving the bowl. However, our stewards and staff did their best to convey this information as it became known."

Story from: [www.thisislocallondon.co.uk]

1 hr 35min is usual length of this show? That's dismal and absurd.

Clapton 21st century shows (especially in Europe) are too often mentioned in the "most boring/sleepy gig's i've attended". Seems like people actually a "different setlist"...

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Wroclaw
Clapton 21st century shows (especially in Europe) are too often mentioned in the "most boring/sleepy gig's i've attended".

Honestly, I find most of Eric's solo stuff sort of sleepy nad boring. I mean his records. I went the last year to see him live for the first time, pretty much out of curiosity and was more than surprised. The show was brilliant, I really enjoyed it. I will see him again this Thursday in Vienna, I am really looking forward to it, so I hope he will put on a similar show as the last year.

Edit: Now I checked the recent setlists, he plays 16 songs this year, while he played 20 songs the last year, when the show was about 2 hours long. So maybe it really is just 1h 35 min. Well, I don't mind the length as long as it is a good show.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2014-06-23 13:44 by Happy24.

One song was skipped and fans are "furious" ... the days are gone when Keith Moon passed out behind the drums, Steven Tyler had to be carried off stage and Jimi Hendrix disbanded his whole band after two songs ...

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LieB
One song was skipped and fans are "furious" ... the days are gone when Keith Moon passed out behind the drums, Steven Tyler had to be carried off stage and Jimi Hendrix disbanded his whole band after two songs ...

Walking out without any explanation, in the middle of the show's highlight (the encore), might have been the main reason, though.

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LieB
One song was skipped and fans are "furious" ... the days are gone when Keith Moon passed out behind the drums, Steven Tyler had to be carried off stage and Jimi Hendrix disbanded his whole band after two songs ...

Its corporate rock age: rock concert's are served as a product. No longer B&W posters stamped on walls around town - local promoters now link to youtube, thus creating the feeling that "it is guaranteed this is what you get: we tent to complain about the so called "vegas era", but in the process forget that most of us who were not around as grownups in the 1970's, were very happy with the Vegas approach, and became purists only after having enough of vegas style personally.

People saw Clapton on youtube - people want that Clapton in "their" gig...

Why not reschedule the concert? We all deserve Sick Days.

Thanks God he's leaving the stage and I'm free to go to the Pub is my thoughts....

2 1 2 0

I saw Clapton at the Albert Hall back in 2011. It was dull beyond belief. The setlist was dire and his guitar playing was soporific. The only thing that tempered my disappointment was that, not being a fan of his solo career for the most part, I wasn't expecting him to be his former self from the Cream/Derek & the Dominos era. Still, it was shocking to see probably the most influential electric guitarist ever reduced to such mediocre irrelevance.

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Stoneburst
I saw Clapton at the Albert Hall back in 2011. It was dull beyond belief. The setlist was dire and his guitar playing was soporific. The only thing that tempered my disappointment was that, not being a fan of his solo career for the most part, I wasn't expecting him to be his former self from the Cream/Derek & the Dominos era. Still, it was shocking to see probably the most influential electric guitarist ever reduced to such mediocre irrelevance.

I only like Layla but appreciate the loyalty of his fans.

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Wroclaw
Clapton 21st century shows (especially in Europe) are too often mentioned in the "most boring/sleepy gig's i've attended". Seems like people actually a "different setlist"...

Saw him last year in Oberhausen and he was fantastic. One of the best concert I've ever been!

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janathmer

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Wroclaw
Clapton 21st century shows (especially in Europe) are too often mentioned in the "most boring/sleepy gig's i've attended". Seems like people actually a "different setlist"...

Saw him last year in Oberhausen and he was fantastic. One of the best concert I've ever been!

Haven't heard him in ages: trusting only (reliable and lengthy) reports I read here in different threads and quite a few other sources I ran into through the years. Once - I think a year or two ago - when I was planning of actually flying to see him (he had a tour in Austria and Germany then with many dates) I found a link in some tickets site to something that was similar to "tripadvisor" only for gig's... there were many detailed, down to earth and not angry in nature, reports about his concerts saying they were not worth the journey. Obviously there is also YT etc., but I was actually impressed by some reporters opinions.

Which - offcourse - puts me into the "you haven't actually been there so shutup" position, I know.

I've saw him in 2001, and didn't liked it. To me it was a boring concert (it was at the "Reptile" tour) and made me think about not to see him again some years later. When he came back in 2011 some friends of mine attended the concert, and what they told me it was that the sound was awful, though the setlist was fine.

BTW, I've just read this:

Eric Clapton: “A Cream reunion? I don’t want blood on my hands!”

Eric Clapton reflects on his past and reveals his future plans in the new issue of Uncut, dated August 2014 (Take 207), and out tomorrow (June 24).
As well as explaining that “the road has become unbearable” for him, and paying tribute to his late friend, JJ Cale, the guitarist sheds light on the current status of Cream.
“I haven’t spoken to Jack [Bruce] or Ginger [Baker] for quite a time,” says Clapton. “I don’t think there’s been any line of dialogue between any of us – or between me and them, that is to say – since the American affair [the trio’s Madison Square Garden shows in 2005].
“After that I was pretty convinced that we had gone as far as we could without someone getting killed. At this time in my life I don’t want blood on my hands! I don’t want to be part of some kind of tragic confrontation.”

[www.uncut.co.uk]

I saw him some years ago and it was a big disappointment, considering how very expensive the tickets were. He and his band were dressed in t-shirts and old jeans, there was no light show, he didn't make eye contact once with the audience, didn't thank us for coming, and there was no life at all in the performance, despte it being note for note perfect.

Contrast this with the Cure and Guns 'n' Roses, which were on fire.

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Bliss
He and his band were dressed in t-shirts and old jeans

He's always given off a 'retired maths teacher' vibe to me.

Saw him in 2010, 2 hours 10 min, great gig, but then again he had Steve Winwood with him so we got this setlist -- [www.setlist.fm]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2014-06-23 16:46 by Milan.

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Milan
Saw him in 2010, 2 hours 10 min, great gig, but then again he had Steve Winwood with him so we got this setlist -- [www.setlist.fm]

That was a great tour...and Steve did some real impressive guitar work.

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BluzDude

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Milan
Saw him in 2010, 2 hours 10 min, great gig, but then again he had Steve Winwood with him so we got this setlist -- [www.setlist.fm]

That was a great tour...and Steve did some real impressive guitar work.

...I completely agree!
I must say: I didn't even know Steve 'W' was that much of a guitar player - he really impressed me on that tour!

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RoughJusticeOnYa

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BluzDude

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Milan
Saw him in 2010, 2 hours 10 min, great gig, but then again he had Steve Winwood with him so we got this setlist -- [www.setlist.fm]

That was a great tour...and Steve did some real impressive guitar work.

...I completely agree!
I must say: I didn't even know Steve 'W' was that much of a guitar player - he really impressed me on that tour!

Steve is the most articulate of the Brit guitar players. Rarely wastes a passing note or mutes a string.

Saw him at RAH in 2006. It was a good show, but the presence of Derek Trucks and Doyle Bramhall really elevated the performance. I wasn't there to see a chatty EC. I just wanted him to play well, and he did. Those 3 guitarists seem to challenge each other and it worked well.

So what was the technical problem? Was the PA system shorting out?

I was at the Glasgow show. There's a huge amount of misinformation going around the press and even on Twitter from people who say they were there. The, "he didn't even apologise" stuff is nonsense!

There was a low level feed-back hum coming from something on stage now and again. At the start of 'Cocaine' it got really loud. Eric stopped, shook his head, put his guitar on it's stand and walked off with the band following. The audience were actually very supportive at this point and were cheering for him to return. He walked back on said "sorry about that". They played one more song, 'High Time We Went' by Joe Cocker and walked right off again. House lights went up and the crew start tearing down right away. THEN the crowd started to boo.

ECs usual set runs approx. 90 mins.. so despite what people are saying he didn't "storm off halfway through the gig". We got the whole set except for once song we've heard a million times before. Other than that it really was an amazing performance. My fifth time seeing him and his acoustic set was the best I've seen yet.

90-100 mins is perfectly fine for a laid back seated blues gig such as Clapton's. It's not like he's dancing around the place like our Mick and Springsteen getting the crowd moving. People need to judge each concert and artist on their own merits and and stop comparing. You don't go to a Clapton gig expecting a Paul McCartney or Rolling Stones show. Go see them if you want them.

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Bastion

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Bliss
He and his band were dressed in t-shirts and old jeans

He's always given off a 'retired maths teacher' vibe to me.

He lost me during his Hawaiian shirt phase.

Having seen Eric several times since the 70's, I've always found he's better with another guitar player kicking him in the butt. The tour with Derek Trucks was really good, as were the ones with Steve Winwood & Jeff Beck. At least what I've listened to. I did enjoy his brief set for the Hurricane Sandy benefit.

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Bastion

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Bliss
He and his band were dressed in t-shirts and old jeans

He's always given off a 'retired maths teacher' vibe to me.

One of the best put downs I have seen in a while and entirely fitting... except compared to Clapton even maths seems hedonistic fun (it was my worst subject at school). LOL

See him with a true peer like Stevie Winwood otherwise he doesn't push the boat out.

Cheers,
SonicD

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hoopsmccann
I was at the Glasgow show. There's a huge amount of misinformation going around the press and even on Twitter from people who say they were there. The, "he didn't even apologise" stuff is nonsense!

...

Thanks for the clarification, I suspected something like that - I mean I read an "article" about the concert based on tweets of people who "were there." What a journalism. I checked the setlist and it was exactly the same as on other dates. The fact, that one song was shortened due to technical problems is really nothing outrageous or a reason to be "booed out" as the article stated.

It actually reminds me that article about that "horrible" gig of B.B. King, where in fact it maybe was not the best night for B.B., but it was a normal decent show, judging from the available videos. Yet some no-name scribblers have guts to write such insulting rubbish.

He has been boring for like 30 years now. He should buy a farm or something.

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michaelsavage
He has been boring for like 30 years now. He should buy a farm or something.

Or something? Like cash in his chips?

I thought God lives forever