Eric Clapton Schedules Shanghai Show
Eric Clapton has announced he will play a concert at the Grand Stage in Shanghai on January 20th, his first ever performance in mainland China. The China show will be part of a massive Far East tour that will include 18 shows in Japan and a show in Singapore, Bangkok, Hong Kong and Seoul. The China-based Emma Entertainment Group will be organizing the event, the first major rock concert in China since the Rolling Stones rocked Shanghai Stadium last spring. I’m not counting the two Robin Gibb shows in the past year which were neither major nor rock. Joining Clapton will be his long-time band including Allman Brothers slide guitarist Derek Trucks. While an Eric Clapton show on the Mainland will surely be China’s musical event of 2007, Shanghainese and Shanghai expats should not get overly excited (as I am right now). The Chinese Ministry of Information canceled a Jay-Z concert this past October two weeks before the scheduled date due to the vulgar nature of Jay-Z’s lyrics. While Clapton’s lyrics certainly are not as likely to set off the Chinese censors, you still never know. Even the Rolling Stones were forced by the Chinese government to alter its set list. Potential Claption songs that may offend the communist Chinese government: “Cocaine”, “Wanna Make Love to You”, “Lay Down Sally”, “I’ll Make Love to You Anytime”, “I Shot the Sheriff”, “Presence of the Lord,” and depending on how communist the ministry feels, “I Feel Free”. Tickets go on sale December 4th.
•Emma Ticket: Eric Clapton Concert