Monday 13th May was a great day. I was lucky enough to play before Eric Clapton in the Forum Live of the LG Arena in Birmingham. I’ve played there a couple of times before and both previous occasions were good fun but this one was a bit special.

The doors opened at 5, and by 6 it was busy so I started playing. The lull that I was expecting didn’t take place and the majority of people stayed and carried on listening. The initial group was bolstered by later arrivals and soon I was performing not just to people gathered around the tables and chairs directly in front of me but people standing all around the stage. I ended playing for an hour and twenty minutes because the crowd were so nice.

I had quite a few people take cards and join my mailing list, and after I’d finished playing I was approached by a number of friends who happened to be attending the gig (my friends have impeccable taste, naturally.)

Best of all was seeing Eric play, of course. This was the second time I’ve been to a Clapton concert and I loved every minute of it. I’ve written about some of my idols in the past but I’m scared of trying to explain the importance of this man and his music on me. So I’m not going to try. Suffice to say he is a musical giant who has recorded with The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, in fact he’s played with just about everyone. He’s my favourite guitar player and a criminally underrated singer and songwriter. I know some diehards might not agree but I loved the fact that he played a lot of the set strumming acoustic guitar and concentrating on his singing, which was excellent. Made it all the more exciting when he did strap on his strat and play some solos, particular highlights being I Shot The Sherriff and Badge, a song which I was thrilled to hear live.

Nottingham and Jamming with Tom Walker

Last week was a fairly busy one in terms of gigs.

On Tuesday 19th I ventured over to Nottingham with Andy and Ian and had very nice time at the wonderful Malt Cross, a very unique venue.

Robert, Andy and Ian at The Malt Cross, Nottingham

The next night I turned up at an open mic in Tamworth to try some new songs, and then on Thursday I met up with Tom Walker to have an unrehearsed jam at The Crossroads Blues Club. I sang He'll Have To Go, Tom led us through Old Love and then we were joined by Mick on bass and Mal on drums for a bash through Leave My Kitten Alone.  Tom then suggested we drop in to a jam night at The Old Speckled Hen in Sutton Coldfield and we played Crossroads and Cocaine with the guys there. (Clapton fans, much?)

Tom Walker and Robert Lane at Crossroads Blues Club

Eric Clapton LG Arena

On the 13th May Eric Clapton will play at Birmingham's LG Arena as part of a tour celebrating his 50th year as a professional musician.

I'm thrilled to say that I will be performing in the Forum Live before the concert. Eric is one of my biggest influences and idols, so it is very exciting to get this opportunity.

Tickets for the concert are available on the LG Arena website  http://www.lgarena.co.uk/whatson/eric-clapton

 

Liverpool 1

Me and the girlfriend visited Liverpool a couple of weeks ago. It was the first time either of us had been there, and we had a really good time. We stayed for three days and did alot of very cool things, although the reason we went in the first place was this man...


Eric Clapton. He was playing at the Echo Arena, which is rather good, like the NIA but exotic seeming because it was in a place I hadn't been before. Maria had got the tickets as a Birthday present, so I'd been waiting since November to be sitting in this concert. Being me, as it was actually about to happen I got a bit blase and prepared for an anti climax.

Probably people reading this will think one of the following things about me liking Eric Clapton, they might say why would someone your age be interested in that, they might say he is boring, they might say he can't play guitar like Steve Vai or Eddie Van Halen or Satriani.

But the thing is, when I caught sight of the man walking onto stage, and realised it was actually him, a few hundred metres away from me, I at once understood why I loved him and his music. He is the reason I decided to do more than just play chords on my guitar, he's opened my ears to so much music, particularly the blues, and he's been an inspiration as a singer and a songwriter.

Needless to say the concert was great. My favourite moment? Probably the solo in Old Love. He started so quietly that the whole arena leaned forward opened mouthed. A couple of minutes later and we were all being forced back against our seats by the notes firing out of his guitar. You might be one of these people who likes your guitar solos to be three notes very very very fast, but nothing talks to me like his guitar playing does.

The funniest moment of the gig was when, during Wonderful Tonight, which should of course been a very tender moment for all the couples in the place, a very very drunk middle aged man was helped up the stairs near me by some stewards. It would have been annoying to be distracted by him, but with cosmic comedy timing he passed me just as Eric sang "it's time to go home now, and I've got an aching head..."

After the concert we decided to go walking. I think really I knew where I was going. Matthew Street. The Cavern. Round the corner, and there it is. The street with the club that helped launch the band that changed music. Just like that. We spent a few minutes watching a band at what we took to be the Cavern Club, but which we later discovered was The Cavern Pub. Either way it was cool in there, and very rammed. Before leaving for this trip I decided I didn't want to just do Beatles things, there has to be more to a massive city like Liverpool than one band. The only Beatles pilgrimage I really wanted to go on involved getting on a mini bus and visiting two houses, one a modest middle class place with a funny road name, and the other on a council estate. But if the trip was good enough for Bob Dylan...

More later