Wonderwife and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing Eric Clapton at the BJCC.
The crowd was manageable, no security pat-downs or hassles and we went right to our primo seats in section 23, lower level. The only issue I had was the idiots behind us who kicked out 2 older ladies sitting in their seats. Chivalry ain’t dead, right? The guy preceded to yell through his wife to his buddy 2 seats away and at random times “sing” I shot the sheriff. So I said “I shot the Dumb*ss” and thankfully he shut up.
The Robert Cray band opened up with a mixture of rock, blues and soul. A good show but you can tell everyone was waiting for the main event.
Eric takes the stage! The first song was “Pretending” The band then went through a series of classics over the 40+ year career such as Layla, Wonderful Tonight, After Midnight, etc. Halfway through they grabbed a few chairs and went acoustical. Nobody Knows You When You Are Down and Out and the SF Bay Blues with harmonica and Eric playing the kazoo. Crazy cool.
After the encore applause, the band retook the stage and finished out with Crossroads.
I have finally seen Eric Clapton live! Birmingham has hosted a ton of big name acts, including BB King at the Alabama Theatre, but this is the best for me. I finally saw my two favorite blues artists. Be still my spirit.