Most appropriately, Eric Clapton began the comeback from his self-imposed hiatus of the early Seventies with the familiar chord flourishes that begin “Let It Rain.” Performing to a sparsely populated Yale Bowl that only became more barren as the set progressed, the man once called God wore a poncho to protect himself from the inclement weather, but he was playing it safe in other ways too: there were precious few extended solos or other involved improvisational intervals to speak of.
Now that may have simply been a wise course to take, given the rust that no doubt accumulated while he had been off the road since near the beginning of the decade. Clapton had not toured since the single jaunt with Derek & the Dominos and, in fact, had not appeared on stage at all in the interim, except for a guest appearance (on guitar only) at George Harrison’s Concert for Bangla Desh two years, that sit-in two years prior to 1973 The Rainbow Concert organized by The Who’s Pete Townshend. Excuses and/or explanations aside, the sluggish nature of Eric’s playing and that of the ensemble overall certainly belied his stature as bonafide legend.
To be fair, though, he cavernous open air stadium in New Haven CT might well have been intended as simply an early foray into a slow but sure penetration of major concert markets to follow. This quasi-off-Broadway tour stop followed two appearances the week before in Copenhagen and Stockholm and occurred just prior to shows at the high-profile venues of the Spectrum in Philly and Nassau Coliseum just outside The Big Apple.
Yet this somewhat low-key North American date did provide Slowhand and his band (essentially the same players that accompanied him on 461 Ocean Boulevard) a chance to further hone their low key chemistry outside the cozy confines of the Criteria Studios where they had recorded the Tom Dowd-produced comeback album (set for release three days later). All that considered, however, the very size of the venue, compared to the almost paltry population of the attendees, reminded of the fickle nature of the mainstream audience, the loyalty of which was beginning to dissipate even as EC was angling to reconnect with it.
It’s arguable whether the archetypal guitar hero solidified that bond much this soggy afternoon. Granted he played more than a little familiar material and, indeed, he may well have proffered everything a casual fan might’ve asked to hear: “Badge” and “Crossroads,” from the Cream repertoire, “Presence of the Lord” and “Can’t Find My Way Home,” off the sole Blind Faith album, a small handful of selections from Layla, plus a number of culls from the new solo LP as well as a couple covers in the form of Chuck Berry’s “Little Queenie” and Carl Perkin’s“Matchbox.”
But a few sparks aside, it was a turgid two hours or so all around. As the energy level of the musicianship mirrored the low barometric pressure, the audience response was proportionate to that intensity (or lack thereof), more often than not merely polite, which was also unfortunately in keeping with Clapton’s between-song repartee: taciturn as he was verbally, he was little more demonstrative in his stage presence. As a result, when darkness descended this mid-summer evening, the skeletal stage lighting—no video screens or extravagant production to speak of–only seemed to illuminate how far Eric needed to go before he could again ascend to that elevated stature he once commanded, among contemporary musicians, his long-time followers and, above all, new listeners not all that conversant with (or perhaps even very curious about) his long-term history.
That process would begin in earnest when Clapton’s cover of reggae icon Bob Marley’s “I Shot The Sheriff” became a hit, but it was only when the man who once pledged a purist’s devotion to the blues penetrated the middle-of-the-road demographic signified by “Wonderful Tonight” that his star began to shine brightly again. And that glow was of a much different hue than he radiated at the time he first made a name for himself playing with John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers slightly less than a decade before.
Setlist (courtesy setlist.fm)
Eric Clapton Yale Bowl, New Haven, June 28, 1974
Let It Rain
Driftin’ Blues
Badge
Blues Power
Have You Ever Loved a Woman
Little Queenie
Willie and the Hand Jive
Get Ready
Little Wing
Mainline Florida
Key to the Highway
Layla
Can’t Find My Way Home
Matchbox
Encore:
Presence of the Lord
Cross Road Blues
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