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Review: Eric Clapton strops off stage at the SSE Hydro
Russell Leadbetter
Saturday 21 June 2014
There were remarkable scenes at the end of this abruptly-terminated concert, Eric Clapton's first in Glasgow in three years.
It had gone exceptionally well from the audience's point of view, with Clapton and his band, which included Andy Fairweather-Low and Paul Carrack, running through some blues standards and a handful of Clapton's own hits, such as Layla and Tears in Heaven.
Near the end though, as the band launched into JJ Cale's Cocaine, they had only got a minute or two into it before Clapton unslung his guitar and made his way off the stage. The rest of the band, seemingly taken by surprise, followed suit.
After two minutes, the musicians returned, Clapton saying briefly: "Sorry about that."
The band abandoned Cocaine and played what turned out to be the final number, High Time We Went, with Carrack taking vocals.
The song over, Clapton picked up his jacket and walked off stage without so much as a 'goodnight'.
As the house lights went up, there was a chorus of booing from the audience, who had paid around £60 each for their tickets.
It is not known what caused Clapton's strop though it may have had something to do with the sound. Some fans reported hearing an echo at the rear of the hall for parts of the show.
One confrontation near the mixing desk saw one male fan in a Clapton tour T shirt argue with a steward who asked him to quieten down.
Several fans at the venue spoke loudly of demanding a refund. Stewards had to deal with a large number of upset customers but were powerless to placate them.
It was a sobering and entirely unexpected end to what had earlier been a fine concert.
Its highlights had included Layla and Tears in Heaven, a great version of Crossroads, and Paul Carrack's soulful 70s chart hit with Ace, How Long?, complete with some brilliant Clapton soloing.
The energetic Scottish support act, Hunter and the Bear, had earlier described Clapton as "one hell of a headliner", and so it turned out.
It's just a shame that Clapton's dissatisfaction with a so-far unidentified problem should have taken the shine off it so decisively, and left many of his fans angry and disappointed.
One fan who was at the gig, Matthew Waddell, 18, posted on social media: "Absolutely disgraced at Eric Clapton for leaving the stage halfway through the set without word of warning or anything and for the Hydro for not saying WTF was happening!"
Another angry fan at the concert said: "I've been going to see this guy for 15 years and I've never seen anything like this.It's f***ing ridiculous that he should walk off the stage like that. It was real toys-out-of-the pram stuff."
A female fan in her 30s, who spoke with a Dutch accent, said she and her companion did not understand why a major star like Clapton should have terminated a concert so abruptly.
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