Eric Clapton - 2001-02-09 - London, UK (AUD/FLAC)

(Audience FLAC)

"Vagabond" (Mid Valley Records 101/102)

Source: Ex- ~ Ex Audience Recording

Lineage: Mid Valley Records 2001 10CD > WAVE > FLAC

Eric Clapton: Guitar, Vocals

Andy Fairweather Low: Guitar

David Sancious: Keyboards

Nathan East: Bass

Steve Gadd: Drums

Paulinho Da Costa: Percussion

The Impressions: Backing Vocals 

CD1 (62:42):

01) Key To The Highway (3:54)

02) Reptile (5:22)

03) Tears in Heaven (4:29)

04) Bell Bottom Blues (5:16)

05) Change The World (6:18)

06) My Father's Eyes (8:17)

07) River of Tears (9:00)

08) Going Down Slow (5:01)

09) She's Gone (7:22)

10) It's Alright (3:18)

11) Finally Got Myself Together (4:20)

CD2 (67:43):

01) Got You On My Mind (5:23)

02) I Ain't Gonna Stand For It (5:46)

03) Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight (6:02)

04) Travelin' Light (4:05)

05) Hoochie Coochie Man (4:15)

06) Cocaine (5:27)

07) Badge (6:36)

08) Wonderful Tonight (6:27)

09) Layla (9:43)

10) Sunshine Of Your Love (6:31)

11) Somewhere Over The Rainbow (7:24)

Eric Clapton kicked off his large-scale 2001 tour with 5 nights at London's Royal Albert Hall, featuring "The Impressions" with backing vocals for several songs in the middle of the set. For me personally, the 2001 tour is not among my favorites (nor is "Reptile" one of my favorite EC studio releases), though this tour has its moments, particularly when The Impressions are accompanying him onstage (they parted company with EC during the first leg of the tour). EC always dials his performances up a notch when playing RAH, and the 2001 tour was no exception. To my ears, both his vocals and guitar solos were more passionate on these dates than on the U.S. and Japanese tours that followed. Mid Valley chronicled this series of shows with a 10-CD release called "Vagabond," which drew from very-good-to-excellent audience recordings and were presumably enhanced by MVR's sound people (all five shows have the characteristic MVR sound).

Setlists were fairly staid from one night to the next, averaging between 120-135 minutes; the shows were broken into approximately three equal parts, showcasing (a) his newer music with the full band; (b) songs from "Reptile" with the Impressions, and (c) a cross-section of bluesier/more recognizable material. There are very few differences in setlist from one night to the next. This is the only night from the run that contains a performance of "Cocaine."