That store is still going out of business today.

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"Another day in paradise!"

Yep, the last time was through a single Twin and was indeed at the Royal Albert Hall, as you suspect.

The venue is an interesting part of it: very famous, a brilliant room as far as audience vibe is concerned - but frankly it's a horrible acoustic for amplified music. That was true for orchestral music too when it opened in 1871: notoriously there were places you could sit where you could only hear certain sections of the orchestra and others where you couldn't hear anything at all, due to freaky sound cancellation effects caused by the oval shape and domed ceiling. They've spent the last century and a half working on the acoustics and nowadays it is pretty good for unamplified music - that's what those upside-down mushrooms all across the roof are for. They're not some wacky '60s decorative scheme; they're acoustic baffles which can all be raised and lowered individually on an amazingly complicated computer set-up to tune the venue for different events.

That's fine - until you turn the volume up, and then it all turns to mud. I've been to dozens of rock events there and absolutely nobody sounds much better than average in that room; and some sound simply awful.

With the single exception of Eric Clapton. It's almost certain that he has played that venue more than any other living human and he and his team have it down to a fine art. I heard every note from each player with perfect clarity and the range of tones Eric himself produced was truly wonderful, and at least as good as anything I've ever heard in any venue, big or small.

I've seen Clapton several times in completely different spaces and always been impressed with his sound. But amazingly, that really troublesome room was the best of the lot. That's impressive!

By the way, contrary to what one often hears said of Clapton, in recent years I haven't had the slightest feeling that he's resting on his laurels or taking it easy or any such. Heard live I believe his playing is the finest it's ever been, to my subjective ears at any rate. He's hardly the barnstorming type of performer and yet I found myself completely transported last time out. Best, second best, whatever: I don't care. But it was fabulous, that much I know!

Cheers - C

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Reminds me of the old Monty Python bit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQFKtI6gn9Y

Eric Clapton is a darn good player on any scale. Nuff said. Moving on? Oh wait, cameras now? Love my Nikon D5000!

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Ceri I have to agree with you on that his live performance is the best I have seen of him. When we say him last here in pgh about 2 years ago after the concert I couldn't even look at my guitars knowing I couldn't even scratch the surface of his ability. But after alittle time I am still the guitar god Ive always been in my own mind.

+1
He also does a lot of good for the Blues and the music industry and for people who suffer from substance abuse. So maybe that makes him a humanitarian too.

But no, he doesn't rest on his laurels at all. His playing has seriously matured over the years and has become very refined.
I was one of the one's who said his tone sounded a bit thin when I saw him roughly 5 years ago in Philadelphia. Don't hold me to the length of time though could be longer or shorter. It was when he was touring promoting the "Me and Mr. Johnson" cd. Robert Randolph opened for him and Doyle Bramhall II was in the band. Doyle's another fine player. It was a great show, but I didn't think his Strat tone was at its best. I was on the floor around the center of the Wachovia Center. Every other guitar he played sounded great just not his Strat.

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Life...... It's sexually transmitted and always fatal

Hey 63: in view of what's been going on with this thread I just want to say this: I trust the evidence of your ears absolutely. And I'm not going to apologise for that...

Cheers - C

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The first and, admittedly, last time I saw him was back in the early '90's at MSG when he was touring 'From The Cradle'. I had row F floor seats back then [seats I wouldn't have minded having for either the Cream Reunion or the Clapton/Winwood Tour], but prices were less dear. The tour had been so heavily promoted and covered by PBS that knew pretty much the entire playlist by the time we saw him life. Never-the-less, it was a treat.

As for anyone feeling any sense of incompetence with the guitar, on walking away from a concert, remember that this is his work and there's repetition upon repetition upon repetition of these patterns in his brain and eye hand coordination. You play with that level of intensity and longevity and, with any gift of talent whatsover, you'd have nothing to be ashamed of.

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"Another day in paradise!"

Recall that on "From The Cradle" he was using several of his Gibson's and each one of them had a signature voice. I remember that the guitar he used for "Forty-four" just brought the walls down.....and.....Oh yes....one more thing...Ceri.....Clapton works wireless and sometimes the back line is not on-stage at all.

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"Another day in paradise!"

And in the end isn't that the only measure that matters? Well said.

I recommend quite strongly that you search the archives of Premier Guitar for the three part series on The Psychology of Tone. I have spoken of them in these Forums before and it is quite well worth the read. The quest for tone has always been a major topice of discussion amongst us and so many are searching for the other guy's holy grail . We never hear the other guy's holy grail as the other guy hear's it. Only as we hear it. I wonder that the other guy might like better, what we hear, than what he hears.

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"Another day in paradise!"

I've seen him but once. Edmonton around 2001 give or take a year. I had seats close enough I could identify each drop of perspiration on his forehead. I was very interested to note that of the 6 guitars in the rack not a single one of them had Lace Sensors. That made me a little happy as I am not a fan of those pickups at all. His sound was fine. Typical Clapton. Unfortunately I suspect he may have been ill. His performance was less than stellar to say the least. Lackluster would be a better term. A friend who sat elsewhere said, "He mailed it in." I was very, very disappointed, as was the entire crowd. Not helping matters was the fact Bonnie Raitt opened for him and she was so very, very on top of her game and she simply brought the roof down. When Eric came out and just stood there limply giving no effort at all it was so completely anticlimactic that by the time he was 7 or 8 songs into it the house was half empty. I felt bad for him as he must have been watching the fans get up and walk out. The ironic part is that everybody felt as though he owed us a second show because we'd payed our money and got nothing for it yet we're also equally sure he'll never come back to Edmonton ever again seeing after all those fans leaving. The whole thing left me with a sour taste in my mouth. I realise he's just a man and as such he can have an "off" night but somehow knowing it doesn't remove the tarnish.

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Just think of how awesome a guitar player you could have been by now if you had only spent the last 10 years practicing instead of obsessing over pickups and roasted maple necks.

2001 is the timeline for the VN pickups so your observation are correct and in keeping with the reason for the preference for the new electronics. I prefer the Laces but that's the difference in the perception of tone.

With respect to his lack of spontaneity, asking any veteran about the demands of touring and they'll all come back with horror stories. I had an 18 month gig as my last shot at the brass ring before I entered professional school, but that was weekends, so there was time to refresh and recoup. When your doing dates that are spaced 24 hours apart, that's a different ballgame. Yes, it's right to expect that an artist will be at the top of their game. I would not want to follow the likes of Bonnie Raitt on any night, if I were a blues player. She's too close to my court. There's a classic story about Janice Joplin being told that she was going to be on a bill with Big Momma Thorton. Her response is essentially unprintable here. Suffice it to say, she was not happy.

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"Another day in paradise!"

This is rich it really is. First of all we have a person who in one fell swoop demeans a whole section of society by branding them as lazy for the simple fact that they're poor. The weakest and most vulnerable in society are usually singled out and mistreated by governments. Now we have people on the Fender forum who do it as well.

As far as the comments he made how are they none of my business? they're none of my business as long as he keeps them to himself but as soon as he airs them on a public forum then if i'm on that forum and they offend me then they very much become my business.

Hou-Tex made the statement, does he care to reword or retract it?

Answer the question which you have point blank refused to answer: Do you think it's acceptable for someone to condemn a whole group of people with an all encompassing statement like that?

Anyway i'd like you to apologise for backing up someone who holds views like that and i'd like him to own up and admit it was wrong what he said.

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Luck won't do it and ignorance can't

George Van Eps.

Unbelievable!!

In Germany they say in such cases:

"Du hast Recht, und ich hab meine Ruhe." That usually ends it.