Elicia mentioned in her earlier post that we saw the legendary Eric Clapton last night at Great Woods in Mansfield (a.k.a Tweeter Center, and as of yesterday, Comcast Center). I miss the old days of roaming the lawn, but it is still a terrific venue to see a concert and we all had a great time getting our mojo workin’ too! Clapton and his band were amazing – they played a very cool, energetic set of mostly blues songs, including a bunch of covers. He covered Jimi Hendrix, Willie Dixon, Robert Johnson, Blind Joe Reynolds, Muddy Water, Bill Broonzy, Otis Rush, Bo Diddley, and others. I’m a huge fan of blues music so it was a sweet surprise and just an all around awesome display (I mean, if you want to hear all his “hits,” you can always pop in a CD). My favorite song of the night might have been his spine-tingling cover of Little Wing but – wow – it is a really tough call.
Robert Randolph and the Family Band opened the show with a 45-minute set of their unique foot-stompin’, country-funk-blues style, including I Need More Love, Deliver Me, an instrumental cover of Voodoo Child, and a tribute to the late Bo Diddley.
Here are the local papers’ reviews of the show: Boston Globe, Boston Herald, The Providence Journal. And here is Clapton’s set list from the show:
- Motherless Children
- Key to the Highway
- Hoochie-Coochie Man
- Little Wing
- Outside Woman Blues
- Double Trouble
- Don’t Knock My Love
- Driftin’ Blues
- Rockin’ Chair
- Motherless Child
- Traveling Riverside Blues
- Running on Faith
- Tell the Truth
- Little Queen of Spades
- Before You Accuse Me
- Wonderful Tonight
- Layla
- Cocaine
- Got My Mojo Workin’ (with Robert Randolph)
I’m so glad I had yet another opportunity to witness an Eric Clapton performance! I too was there for the inaugural Comcast Center event. Whatever was wrong with calling the venue “Great Woods”? I rather liked the name, and to this day, still cannot call it by any other. But whatever…
Since his tour schedule was published and noting that a Great Woods stop would be made I had been considering indulging myself with perhaps a lawn ticket, but even those were $50! As the show date grew closer I kept prowling the web hoping to find a better deal. But alas, there seemed to be none as far I could tell. Finally, day of show, with the weather looking decidedly miserable, I logged onto the TicketMaster website and found a Section 6, Row E end-seat with the astronomical tier-one price of $125. The usual, additional rape fees made it a whopping $153. I shouldn’t complain too loudly though, I bought the ticket. It was, after all, for an Eric Clapton show! Hands down, he’s my favorite musician. How could I pass it up?
The show was indeed phenomenal. I never grow tired of hearing him play, preferably live. My little digital recorder captured the magic for posterity. I agree, I too enjoyed Little Wing the most, but the Robert Johnson covers were outstanding as expected. Perhaps most unexpected was the Hoagy Carmichael classic “Rockin’ Chair”. What a poignant moment, I still get chills from its impact.
I’m curious about the credit for Blind Joe Williams mentioned in your review. Am I correct in assuming you refer to the song “Outside Woman Blues”? It’s my belief that this is credited to Blind Joe Reynolds. I’m also wondering which songs in this performance are actual Bo Didley and Willie Dixon covers.
Here’s the set list and credits as I understand them:
Motherless Children – Traditional Gospel
Key to the Highway – Big Bill Broonzy
Hoochie Coochie Man – Muddy Waters
Little Wing – Jimi Hendrix
Outside Woman Blues – Blind Joe Reynolds
Double Trouble – Otis Rush
Don’t Knock My Love – Wilson Pickett
Driftin’ Blues – Charles Brown
Rockin’ Chair – Hoagy Carmichael
Motherless Child – Barbecue Bob Hicks
Traveling Riverside Blues – Robert Johnson
Running on Faith – Eric Clapton
Tell the Truth – Eric Clapton
Little Queen of Spades – Robert Johnson
Before You Accuse Me – Elias McDonald
Wonderful Tonight – Eric Clapton
Layla – Eric Clapton
Cocaine – J.J. Cale
Got My Mojo Workin’ – Muddy Waters
I apologize if I’m confused about any of these. If so, please let know. My email address is chris.bright@cox.net.
By the way, your site is excelent. And, the Blues is alright with me…
Chris Bright
E.C. Fan
Hey Chris – thanks for the comment! The Bo Diddley tune he covered is “Before You Accuse Me.” Bo Diddley’s real name is Elias McDaniel, not McDonald. Willie Dixon wrote “Hoochie Coochie Man,” although it was made famous by Muddy Waters. I had to look up the info in regards to your question on “Outside Woman Blues.” You’re right, it is credited to Blind Joe Reynolds. I’ll correct this in the post. And thanks for filling in the blanks on all the covers I missed!
By the way, WZLX, a Boston radio station, does a great Sunday Morning Blues show 9am-12pm on Sundays. I thought to mention it because I’m actually tuning in right now. Anyway, if you aren’t in the Boston area, you can stream the radio station online too (http://www.wzlx.com/pages/66996.php). Take it easy,
Dan
Hey Dan,
Thanks for correcting my set list credits! It’s apparent that I’m no authority regarding Blues music genealogy, and I certainly hope my original comments didn’t give that impression. Nor am I a musician, just a huge Blues enthusiast. It makes me feel so good when I hear it, no matter how sad the subject.
Please note that there are some websites posting false information. For instance, on one that I visited, the writing credit for “Hoochie Coochie Man” is listed as Elias McDonald. That’s how I ended up transposing the wrong name. I didn’t know it was indeed Elias McDaniel (a.k.a. Bo Didley). What makes it worse still is the fact that he passed away just a few short days ago. What a sad irony.
Although I live in the Providence, RI area, I listen to WZLX all the time. For my taste in music, there are no decent stations here. “The Sunday Morning Blues with Carter Alan” is by far the best Blues radio program I’ve listened to in a long, long time. I’m happy that WZLX has picked up the mantle of its predecessors WBCN and WCOZ, and perhaps even WNBC in New York. I have fond memories of tuning in to them back in the late 70’s and into the 80’s. They provided my first introductions to Blues music. Now the music goes on and on…
Thanks again. Peace and Blues to all!
Chris
I did it again, didn’t I? What I should have written was “Before You Acuse Me” credited to Bo Diddley. Sorry for the goof, again.
Chris