Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
30th June 2004

Review by : Eric H

It was a really good show. We had nose bleed seats and the sound was still great - not muffled or harsh - just good clean sound. Amazing!!! It my first time seeing him and I was not disappointed. Of all the different bands I've seen over the past 25 years or so this was one of the best shows I've seen any artist put on. The band was tight and his playing was right on. His song selection was very good, a mix of older classics along with the new stuff from his latest CD - which I happen to like. He is such a huge inspiration to any of us that play guitar. He is absolutely a class act. I am already looking forward to seeing him sometime in the future.

Review by : Matt

The final show at Madison Square Garden was absolutely incredible! I got to MSG at 8:00 and already, the support act was leaving! I figured they would play at least an hour. But that wasn't important to me anyway. All I cared about was seeing a God at work. Mr. Clapton's playing has only gotten better with age. He was so precise and fluid with his playing, it seemed like he was 20 years old again. Clapton was playing with a fire and assurance that left me with my jaw wide open! He started with "Let it Rain" and "Hoochie Coochie Man", then did a few songs I didn't recognize or off the new album. But the highlights were all his old classics. "Badge", "Layla", "Cocaine" and the first encore, "Sunshine of your love". He also did the rarely performed "Got to get better in a little while" which blew me away and an ever better "Have you ever loved a woman". But probably the best solo of the night was "I shot the sheriff" where he received a standing ovation for the solo alone! The show was great and worth the $80 I paid to see it. The only things I didn't like so much about the show was:

1)The second guitarist, Doyle Bramhall II, disappointed me. His tone was very muddy and at one point especially, he took a solo and it sounded like he was playing a bass. Also he took a lot more solos than I thought he should have and even played the lead on "Layla", which I really thought Clapton should have played.

2)Another disappointment of the night was that the show ended at 10:30 which is very early for a rock concert.

3)Finally, he didn't play "Bell Bottom Blues" which I really was hoping for and the second encore was a song that I didn't really know. I was really thought he would have played something more well known to end the concert with, like "After Midnight" or "Crossroads".

But besides these minor things that I didn't like so much, the show was INCREDIBLE! It was like a was born again, with a new found love for Eric Clapton and the realization that the feeling you put into the guitar can be expressed a million times over into the audience. My playing will be forever changed!

Review by : Marc B

Eric was on! He played some older songs that I haven't heard him play in a while. His solos were all great. I loved his solo from Wonderful Tonight. He mixed up I Shot the Sheriff (not usually a song I look for at the concert!) adding more blues, less reggae and definably more jamming! The crowd was into it - Cocaine had it's usual affect on the crowd. Randolph was a great 1st act and I was glad to see him come back at the end.

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