Park Forest, IL-(ENEWSPF)-June 30, 2010. Eric Clapton and Roger Daltrey hit Summerfest’s Main stage Monday on a cool Milwaukee evening. The mix of blues and rock warmed the capacity crowd consisting of a mix of young and old alike.
Fresh from the Crossroad Festival, Clapton’s set included only 3 songs played at Saturday’s event – I Shot the Sheriff; Cocaine; and Crossroads. As was the case on Saturday, Clapton played the reggae arrangement of Bob Marley’s I Shot the Sheriff, which I personally prefer.
The set consisted of both the blues and Clapton ‘standards’ including After Midnight; Layla; Wonderful Tonight and the acoustic version of Layla. As always, Clapton excelled at what he does best – playing the blues with the highlight of the blues songs being Little Queen of Spades. Musicians will tell you that you can’t play the blues until you’ve lived them, and Clapton’s soulful interpretation left the crowd awestruck.
Eric’s band on Monday included Chris Stainton and Walt Richmond on keyboards, Willie Weeks on bass, Steve Gadd on drums, and vocalists Michelle John and Sharon White.
Clapton Set
Tell The Truth
Key To The Highway
After Midnight
Tuff Luck Blues
I Shot The Sheriff
Driftin'
Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out
I've Got A Rock 'n Roll Heart
When Somebody Thinks You're Wonderful
Layla
Badge
Wonderful Tonight
Before You Accuse Me
Little Queen Of Spades
Cocaine
Crossroads (encore)
Roger Daltrey opened the evening. I’ve always been a big fan of the Who but after the dismal performance at this year’s Super Bowl halftime show, I was hoping that this would not be the case of yet another aging rocker damaging their musical reputations by refusing to retire. But Daltrey’s nearly 60 minute set was a pleasant surprise.
As one would expect, the set consisted primarily of Who standards including See For Miles; Real Me; and Who Are You. But as Daltrey said, he helped write the songs and enjoys singing them, so who else better to perform them?
The set also included interesting arrangements of Taj Mahal’s Freedom Ride, and Levon Helm’s Gimme a Stone. Of course it would not be a Roger Daltrey performance without some of his trademark microphone swinging and Roger didn’t disappoint. During the break between sets, the 12 year old son of the man sitting in front of me wanted to know where he could get one of those ‘antique’ microphones so he could try and master the skill!
Daltrey had a strong group of musicians behind him including guitarist Frank Simes, bassist Jon Button, Loren Bold on keyboards, and Scott Devours on drums. But for the many who wondered if that was a thin Pete Townsend standing to Daltrey’s right, it was a Townsend – Pete’s younger brother Simon. There were no ‘Townsend windmills’ on the guitar, but the musical gene certainly runs in the family.
While his voice is certainly not as pure as in the days of Tommy, this performance certainly helped to redeem the Super Bowl fiasco.
Daltrey Set
See For Miles
Real Me
Behind Blue Eyes
Days of Light
Freedom Ride
Gimme a Stone
Who Are You
Baba O’Riley
Going Mobile
