concert revisited: Eric Clapton & Steve Winwood, Xcel Energy Center June 18, 2009

I had a chance on this date back in 2009 to see Steve Winwood and Eric Clapton perform at the Xcel Energy Center as part of their tour.  It was the second time respectively that I'd seen both of them in concert.  However, I had previously seen them on separate occasions.  I saw Eric Clapton on his 2006/2007 world tour at the Xcel and Steve Winwood had opened for Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers at a show I saw them play at the Target Center in July, 2008.

The band they put together had five core members including Clapton on guitar, Steve Winwood on Hammond B3, piano, guitar, and vocals, Chris Stainton on B3 and piano, Willie Weeks on bass, Abe Laboriel Jr. on drums, and backing vocalists Michelle John and Sharon White.  The set list that night was varied with many highlights including an acoustic set which Clapton always includes in his shows, and Steve Winwood playing "Georgia On My Mind" solo on the B3.  Clapton and Winwood also tackled a great rendition of Jimi Hendrix' bluesy "Voodoo Chile" (not the classic guitar anthem "Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)", but rather, a blues tune.

The show was great in the sense that having a quintet format for the band made their sound very listenable and there were no distractions of extra instruments getting in the way.  I previously reviewed on this blog, a live CD Clapton and Winwood did in 2008 at Madison Square Garden in New York City which had an identical set list.  But this particular show was memorable because of the choice of songs that Clapton and Winwood decided to use, pulling from their own solo careers as well as from their short-lived super group, Blind Faith, and even some of Winwood's numbers from Traffic. 

The set list that night was:

1. Had To Cry Today
2. Lowdown (J.J. Cale cover)
3. After Midnight (J.J. Cale cover)
4. Presence of the Lord
5. Sleeping In The Ground
6. Glad
7. Well Alright (Buddy Holly cover)
8. Tough Luck Blues (Big Maceo Merriweather cover)
9. Pearly Queen
10. Crossroads
11. No Face, No Name, No Number
12. Forever Man
13. Georgia On My Mind
14. Driftin'
15. How Long Blues
16. Layla (acoustic)
17. Can't Find My Way Home (acoustic)
18. Split Decision
19. Voodoo Chile

Encore:

20. Cocaine
21. Dear Mr. Fantasy

A great show mainly because of how Eric and Steve chose the songs to perform.  Will the two of them collaborate for another tour in the future?  That remains to be seen.