01. Four Kicks
02. Taper Jean Girl
03. The Bucket
04. Radioactive
05. My Party
06. The Immortals
07. Fans
08. Back Down South
09. Birthday
10. Crawl
11. No Money
12. Charmer
13. Mi Amigo
14. Notion
15. Closer
16. Pyro
17. California Waiting
18. Molly’s Chambers
19. On Call
20. Sex on Fire
Encore:
21. Knocked Up
22. Use Somebody
23. Black Thumbnail
I’m Incredibly sad to hear that Clarence Clemons passed away last night. One of my fondest concert memories is that of Bruce Springsteen, and Clarence walking on to the stage together in Gothenburg on July 5th 2008, with Clarence wearing a scarf with a Swedish flag pattern on it. The joy I felt at finally seeing these two musical legends for real can’t even be described. Luckily I got to see Clarence three more times the following year. I will always cherish those three nights in Stockholm 2009, and especially Clarence’s sax solos on “Tenth Avenue Freeze Out” and “Jungle Land.” R.I.P. Big Man
Wednesday night I saw Eric Clapton for the first time. I’ve been a fan for as long as I’ve been listening to music, and even more so the last few years as I’ve gotten more and more hooked on the blues. Clapton started with “Key to the Highway” playing a mint-green Stratocaster that he kept using for most of the night. “…Highway” is one of my absolute favorite Clapton songs so it was a great start to the show. I thought it was a real nice touch with the two backup singers, Sharon White, and Michelle John. They really added depth to the sound. I just love the feel the music gets with backup singers, it makes me think of The Black Crowes’ By Your Side tour in 1999. “Hoochie Coochie Man” sounded great, and I really loved the 13 minute version of “Old Love,” especially the intro solo. Being a recreational guitarist I kept finding myself geeking out stuff like what position Eric’s pickup switch was in for various songs (I was surprised to see him using the middle position, you don’t see that too often).
My favorite songs of the night apart from what I’ve already mentioned were “Badge,” and the fantastic final two songs of the night “Cocaine,” and “Crossroads.” “Cocaine” is such a great live song, and it’s fun to jam on. But I really wish he would’ve played “Sunshine of Your Love” as well, and that “Layla” would have been the original electric version instead of acoustic.
Tim Carmon’s organ solo at the end of “Little Queen of Spades” was really cool, ending on the highest note possible which he sustained while stepping away from the organ. Chris Stainton had quite a few nice piano solos as well. But I must say that I really missed a second guitar player, like Doyle Bramhall II that used to play with Clapton. In my opinion, when you have both an organ player and a piano player, you need to balance that with two guitar players that can trade licks with each other. I think it makes for a better rock sound.
It is clear that Eric Clapton can do no wrong, as became evident by the enormous (and well-deserved) cheers after the guitar solos in “Cocaine,” and “Crossroads.” I think this is the first concert I’ve been to where the t-shirts have been completely sold out after the show, a true testament to Clapton’s immense popularity. Now I just wish that the Clapton/Steve Winwood show would make it to Stockholm, it would be the perfect complement to this great night.
Opening the concert was Norwegian rock trio Bigbang, a band that’s been around since 1992, and have released eight studio albums so far. These guys, led by singer and guitarist Øystein Greni put on a great show. “To the Mountains” and “Where the World Comes to an End” really rocked, and the band got the crowd going with “Girl in Oslo” and “Wild Bird.”
01. Key To The Highway
02. Going Down Slow
03. Hoochie Coochie Man
04. Old Love
05. Tearing Us Apart
06. Driftin’ Blues
07. Nobody Knows You When You’re Down And Out
08. Same Old Blues
09. Layla
10. Badge
11. Wonderful Tonight
12. Before You Accuse Me
13. Little Queen of Spades
14. Cocaine
Def Leppard’s new single, Undefeated surfaced earlier this week, on April 12th to be correct. The song is one of three new studio tracks off of the British rockers upcoming live CD/DVD combo, Mirrorball. The first thing that strikes me upon hearing the song is amazement at yet another fantastic guitar riff by Phil Collen. The second thing is how reminiscent the first couple of vocal lines are to Def Leppard’s 1992 single Let’s Get Rocked. But there you have it, Def Leppard have realized one of the most important lessons a band that’s been around for 30+ years can learn: Give the fans what they want!
After more or less successful forays towards the alternative scene with 1996’s Slang, and X from 2002, Def Leppard goes for the sound that made them popular in the first place. Undefeated is a hard-hitting rocker with a soaring chorus and big guitars that makes even the most introverted individual want to jump up and down to the beat. The Lep’s have a US tour together with Heart lined up for the summer. Does that mean we can hope to see them in Europe in the fall?
Now listening to:
