Springsteen Devils and Dust Tour

Right now I'm just about over Winslow Arizona wishing I was driving through that country instead of flying above it at 36K'. Believe it or not Arizona (home state of Rick Kane!) was the first place I ever saw Springsteen live in concert, maybe that is the reason I don't hold a NJ driver's license anymore, they simply won't let me have one because of it!

This show was one of the most personal and connected concert experiences I ever had, two thousand people in an arena, concessions and you were not allowed to leave. Seriously, once could not leave their seats, if you did that was the end of the show for you. I often wonder if maybe the reason why the concert touched me in the way it did was because of the drive from southern California and back...through the desert, seeing many of the songs he would sing about those few hours trapped in a room with the man. I guess there's other reasons and they all made it up for a special show.

April 30 / Glendale, AZ / Glendale Arena
Notes: Though "All I'm Thinkin' About" is one of the catchiest songs on Devils & Dust, it's one of the last to be played live. That song had its concert premiere at Saturday night's Phoenix show, also the first show of the tour in one of these half-arena configurations. Compared to theaters, the setup was a mixed bag in terms of acoustics and atmosphere, but by several accounts it didn't hamper audience attentiveness or the effectiveness of the show (having the concessions shut down during the performance couldn't have hurt). The crowd was rewarded with the ultra-rare "Book of Dreams" (a song only played live a handful of times, and not since the 1992 Plugged performance), on piano for the first time. Bruce described it as "a song about wedding days," before chuckling, "I say 'days' plural, unfortunately...." Also on the piano, "Racing in the Street" brought the biggest audience response of the night; as on 4/22, Springsteen introduced it by talking about the 1971 film Two-Lane Blacktop. "Highway Patrolman" came back to the set, and in the encores, the first E Street guest of the tour: part-time Arizona resident Nils Lofgren on dobro for "This Hard Land."

Setlist:
Reason to Believe
Devils and Dust
Youngstown
Lonesome Day
Long Time Comin'
Silver Palomino
For You*
Book of Dreams*
Part Man, Part Monkey
Maria's Bed
Highway Patrolman
Reno
All I'm Thinkin' About
Racing in the Street*
The Rising
Further On (Up the Road)
Jesus Was an Only Son*
Leah
The Hitter
Matamoros Banks

Encore:
This Hard Land (with Nils Lofgren)
Waitin' on a Sunny Day
My Best Was Never Good Enough
The Promised Land

Eric Clapton/Wynton Marsalis Live in Seattle

My brother is a much better guitar player than I am, as a matter of fact I shouldn't even consider myself one in comparison. My brother likes cuff links and I never even button any cuffs. He likes ties, I barely button my shirt with a suit. He likes Audi and I wouldn't take one for a dollar. He was always skinny while I constantly fight the fat war. He is Army, I am Navy. While I do like Clapton he is my brother's cuff link to my Springsteen unbuttoned. So from a slightly different perspective, a review of the show written by my brother:

It shouldn't be any wonder why Eric Clapton is the only person inducted into the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame three times (once with the Yardbirds, once with Cream and once as a solo artist), and he will probably remain the only person to hold the honor. The man's mastery of the blues pentatonic scale and versatility in applying it to every possible genre of music has sustained him since 1963 with his beginnings in the English pop/blues scene. Influenced by Robert Johnson, Sonny Thompson, BB King, Big Bill Broonzy et al, he conquered psychedelic sounds with "White Room" and "Sunshine of Your Love," rock and roll with his 80s tracks "Pretending," "Bad Love," "Forever Man," and "I Can't Stand It," country rhythms in "Lay Down Sally" and "Willie and the Hand Jive," slow soul with "Old Love," pop with "Change the World" and "Pilgrim," soft ballads "Tears in Heaven," "Wonderful Tonight," "Blue Eyes Blue," and the entire soundtrack to the film The Story of Us, reggae with the only version of Bob Marley's "I Shot the Sheriff" that should ever be played, Latin style paired with Santana on "The Calling," and even dabbled in techno electronica as T.D.F. for an album called "Retail Therapy." Now he turned his eyes to a more jazzy form of blues.

In April 2011, he performed three nights with Wynton Marsalis for the trumpeter's Jazz from Lincoln Center series in New York City. The show was broadcast to movie theaters across the nation for a one night only viewing on 7 September; I was one of eight people in the theater(It is Seattle...go figure). The band may have been Wynton's, but the setlist and show was stolen by Eric. Backed by an orchestra of eight (percussion, banjo, trombone, clarinet, piano, keyboards, stand-up bass, trumpet) they focused heavily on early New Orleans style blues and jazz, the more upbeat songs reminiscent of Woody Allen's "Wild Man Blues." In fact the first tack "Ice Cream" could have easily been played over one of Woody's movies, with Diane Keaton mis-pronouncing Van Gogh in black and white strolling the streets of Manhattan.

Giving everyone in the band a solo on many of the songs, you get an appreciative view of how Eric has lasted this long: all the genres he's delved into are very similar. Wynton's trumpet solos complement Eric's guitar solos and, if the notes were switched between instruments, the sound would have been similar in pitch, tone, and phrasing, with each performer putting their own spin on the classic tunes.

Playing a jazz-style plug-in Gibson, Clapton's sound was a little more muted than the usual loud and crisp Stratocaster, but, he's as fast and smooth as ever. He tears it up especially well on the second and seventh tracks "Forty Four" and "Layla."

This version of his most famous song (recorded as Derek and the Dominos with Duane Allman), is slowed dramatically more than the unplugged version that brought EC back into the forefront of music in the 90s, and gives the guitarist a new twist on the famous riff to master. The famous Clapton growl is still there from his decades of drinking and smoking, but he can change it soft and high pitched-almost falsetto- on "Joe Turner's Blues."

Taj Mahal makes a guest appearance for the final song, a New Orleans funeral march called "Just a Closer Walk With Thee" and stays on for vocals and a banjo solo on the encore "Corrina, Corrina," paired with the opening song is a perfect way to bookend the show and send people off happy.

The Complete setlist: 1. Ice Cream, 2. Forty Four, 3. Joe Turners Blues, 4. The Last Time, 5. Careless Love, 6. Kid Man Blues, 7. Layla, 8. Joliet Bound, 9. Just A Closer Walk With Thee, 10. Corrina Corrina

The highlight of the show for most was probably "Layla" but for my money, "Forty Four" and "The Last Time" (an old Louis Armstrong cover) make the album. If you ever think that Clapton is losing his touch or is getting old, slow and soft, take a listen to these tracks. He reminds you why he's quite possibly the greatest guitarist ever (personal opinion). The deaths of Buddy Holly, the Big Bopper and Richie Valens may have been the day the music died, but, when Clapton goes, the days of the guitar gods will pass with him; and he, Stevie Ray Vaughan, George Harrison, Jimi Hendrix and Robert Johnson will have such an amazing jam session that God Himself might not know how to respond.

The CD/DVD set of this show is set to be released 13 September.