Eric Clapton & Jeff Beck

It was a really good night at the Garden, really good. In fact at points it was great. I just wonder about how well these two guitar legends actually mesh when the play. More on that later though.

Jeff Beck hit the stage promptly at 8:00 so if you are going tonight get there on time. Jeff Beck is a monster player. His innovation and skills are beyond question. I "knew" a few cuts right away (Led Boots, Big Block, and of course the Beatles A Day In the Life) but others were unknown to me. That doesn't stop or limit the enjoyment. It was 45' of simply amazing playing. In particular Nessun Dormar with the mini orchestra was a stunning example of just how great a guitarist he is.

Eric Clapton came on at 9:15 and opened with a string of acoustic numbers. Driftin', Nobody Knows You, Runnin' On Faith (fabulous) and Rock & Roll Heart. Some in the crowd were a bit restless, but I like this side of EC. I've seen him do the hits shows before so a little change up is a good thing. Tell the Truth kicked off the electric portion of the set that saw a killer Little Queen of Spades lead into a crowd favorite ending (Cocaine). Nice tight hour of music.

Jeff joined Eric and his band right away and off into the "together" part of the show. Now you need to understand that this was not exactly a hits section but the playing was amazing and I quite enjoyed the song choices with the possible exception of Shake Your Money Maker. Moon River was absolutely gorgeous. Beck played the killer melody and Clapton sang his heart out on this standard. I am getting older and these standards more and more appeal to me. I think I am just catching up to what I have been missing.

During the blues numbers it becomes clear how different they are as guitarists. Clapton's bread and butter has and always will be the blues. Not so for Jeff Beck. When he plays the blues it seems to me that his great talent is not utilized to the fullest. It's not that he wasn't great, he was, I just prefer Clapton more when it comes the blues.

It was a good night and my son really enjoyed it. It does highlight for me the difference between the two. As good as Beck is I rarely pop on one of his albums. Blow by Blow once in a while, Truth and Beck-Ola more often...but then again those two are more "traditional" band albums. No knock on Jeff Beck and I love seeing him live, but at home it's gonna be Clapton alone more often than Beck alone.

18 February 2010 - Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck

Madison Square Garden
New York, NY

JEFF BECK & HIS BAND
Jeff Beck - guitar
Jason Rebello - keyboards
Rhonda Smith - bass
Narada Michael Walden - drums

ERIC CLAPTON & HIS BAND
Eric Clapton - guitar / vocals
Chris Stainton - keyboards
Walt Richmond - keyboards
Willie Weeks - bass
Steve Gadd - drums
Michelle John - backing vocals
Sharon White - backing vocals

Special Guest(s)
During Jeff Beck's set
12 Piece Orchestra *

Set List
Jeff Beck
01. Eternity's Breath
02. Stratus
03. Led Boots
04. Corpus Christi Carol *
05. Bass solo by Rhonda Smith
06. Hammerhead * (possibly not performed)
07. Mna Na Heireann *
08. Big Block
09. A Day In The Life *
10. Nessun Dorma *

Eric Clapton
01. Driftin' - acoustic
02. Nobody Knows You When You're Down And Out - acoustic
03. Running On Faith - acoustic
04. I've Got A Rock 'N Roll Heart - acoustic
05. Tell The Truth
06. Key To The Highway
07. I Shot The Sheriff
09. Little Queen Of Spades
10. Cocaine

Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton
01. Shake Your Moneymaker
02. Moon River
03. You Need Love
04. Outside Woman Blues
05. Little Brown Bird
06. Wee Wee Baby
07. (I Want To Take You) Higher
08. Crossroads - encore

I Can't Wait

My son and I will be at the Garden on Thursday. We are both really looking forward to this one. He has never seen either (except Clapton with the Allman Brothers last March) and is really excited. Here is the setlist from last night.


Set List
Jeff Beck
01. Eternity's Breath
02. Stratus
03. Led Boots
04. Corpus Christi Carol *
05. Bass solo by Rhonda Smith
06. Hammerhead *
07. Mna Na Heireann * **
08. People Get Ready
09. Big Block
10. Lilac Wine ***
11. A Day In The Life *
12. Nessun Dorma

Eric Clapton
01. Driftin' - acoustic
02. Nobody Knows You When You're Down And Out - acoustic
03. Running On Faith - acoustic
04. When Somebody Thinks You're Wonderful
05. Tell The Truth
06. Key To The Highway
07. I Shot The Sheriff
09. Little Queen Of Spades
10. Cocaine

Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton
01. Shake Your Moneymaker
02. Moon River
03. You Need Love
04. Outside Woman Blues
05. Little Brown Bird
06. Wee Wee Baby
07. (I Want To Take You) Higher
08. Hi Ho Silver Lining - encore (Jeff / Eric vocals)

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Concert Night 2

Night 2 started out much the same as Night 1. Tom Hanks then Jerry Lee Lewis (this time doing Great Balls of Fire).

Aretha Frankin was, well Aretha Franklin. It was ok for me but nothing special. Annie Lennox and Lenny Kravitz were her guests and ended up being the least interesting pairings. In fact they didn't mesh well at all.

Baby I Love You
Don't Play That Song
Make Them Hear You
Chain of Fools (with Annie Lennox)
New York, New York
Think (with Lenny Kravitz)
Respect

Jeff Beck is a genius. There are not enough adjectives to describe his playing. His set was a clinic on how to play guitar and I loved it. I do think Clapton would have gone over better with the crowd as the material is more familiar. Buddy Guy was really good, but Billy Gibbons song choice was...odd to say the least. Rough Boy is just about the worst ZZ Top song ever. Puzzling. Everything ended with Jeff's version of A Day In The Life. Stunning.

Drown In My Own Tears
People Get Ready (with Sting)
Freeway Jam
Cause We've Ended Up as Lovers
Let Me Love You (Buddy Guy)
Big Block
Rice Pudding
Rough Boy (Billy Gibbons)
Foxey Lady (Billy Gibbons)
A Day In The Life

James Hetfield: "We're Metallica and this is what we do". For Whom the Bell Tolls.

That pretty much says it all. Metallica were great last night. Touring all year has them playing like a well oiled machine. Lou Reed looked confused. Ozzy was Ozzy and Ray Davies was great. All in all an excellent set.

For Whom the Bell Tolls
One
Turn The Page
Sweet Jane (Lou Reed)
White Light White Heat (Lou Reed)
Iron Man (Ozzy)
Paranoid (Ozzy)
You Reall Got Me (Ray Davies)
All Day and All of the Night (Ray Daivies)
Stone Cold Crazy
Enter Sandman

U2 hits the stage at around 11:45. No tape backing, just them which was cool. If there is such a thing as look key U2 this was it. Bruce Springsteen and Patti Smith join them for Because the Night. The Black Eyed Peas come out for one (not familiar with their stuff....they came out during Mysterious Ways) and stay. Gimmie Shelter starts and Fergie is dancing and singing the chick intro and out comes...Mick Jagger. The Garden goes ape shit. Mick sticks around for another with U2 and after Beautiful Day it's all over. Just an hour long, but is was a great hour.

Vertigo

Magnificent

Because The Night (Bruce & Patti Smith)

I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For (With Springsteen)

Mysterious Ways > Where Is The Love > One (with Black Eyed Peas)
Gimmie Shelter (With Mick Jagger & Fergie)

Stuck Inside a Moment

Beautiful Day

The show was about 2 hours shorter than Thursday and in many ways Night 1 was a better show, at least for me. However the highlights last night were BIG. All in all it was two amazing nights of music. I'm glad I live in NY.