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Eric Clapton Plays the Mainland

    On Saturday, at the Grand Stage in the Xujiahui district of Shanghai, Eric Clapton played his first ever show in mainland China. Shanghai, a city longing for authentic rock and roll and thirsting for more Western-style shows was acquainted with both Saturday evening. Shanghai got a chance to give a long, firm shake to "Slowhand."
    Clapton, bearded and in his usual glasses and understated dress, had with him his regular band plus Derek Trucks, the world-renown slide-guitarist formerly with the Allman Brothers Band. Unlike the Rolling Stones show last spring in Shanghai, for which the crowd was almost entirely foreign, a large chunk of the Clapton crowd was Chinese.
    After a huge ovation as Clapton and his band took the stage at 7:45 p.m., Clapton opened with "Tell the Truth," from the Derek and the Dominos 1970 album "Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs." From there, Clapton opened up the back catalog, playing some lesser-known tunes that highlighted the solo talents of his band. After his first five songs, the 61-year-old guitarist took a seat and played a four-song acoustic set that included a solo version of Charles Brown's "Driftin' Blues" which Clapton played on "The Blues" double album.
    Clapton did not address the crowd at the Shanghai Grand Stage except to say "good evening" after the third song. By the end of the acoustic set, the crowd seemed a bit restless, remaining seated the whole time and not seeming to be engaged by the music. There was sparse cheering and clapping but the theater was, by no means, brimming with energy. It wasn't until the second to last song, "Layla," that the crowd rose to their feet. Hearing Chris Stainton, the band's pianist, play the "Layla" piano solo with Clapton and Trucks playing simultaneous guitar parts was easily the highlight of the show.
    Clapton then said "thank you and good night," left the stage and returned for what fans expected to be a string of favorites for the encore. Disappointingly, Clapton played just one more song, "Crossroads," and took his bow. The house lights went up and the crowd was in disbelief. I heard people yell "what the fuck!" (actually, that might have been me) and ask "what?". I looked at my watch. It was only 9:30.
    Fans who shelled out at least 300 yuan ($36 and no small fee in China) to see Clapton, especially the Chinese fans, expected him to play the hits-- "Cocaine," "After Midnight", "White Room." Including "Wonderful Tonight," the guitarist only played three songs of what would be described as the cream of Clapton. He instead favored blues tunes, many of which, while sounding great, were neither written by him nor what the crowd came to hear. And many of the selections included vocal parts and lengthy solos by unknown members of the band.
    For a show that was billed to Shanghai residents as "Clapton Coming to China," the musician did not feel compelled to do anything out of the ordinary for his first ever mainland concert. I'm not even sure Clapton knew where he was. He didn't say "China" or "Shanghai" once during the show, much less do as Mick Jagger did and address the Chinese fans in their native tongue. Fans expected a night of Clapton favorites; Clapton delivered an hour and a half of obscure blues. While, of course, it was a treat to see Eric Clapton perform in China Saturday night, Clapton missed a golden opportunity to show China what a real Western rock show is all about.

•Where's Eric: Shanghai Concert Set List
•Shanghai Daily: Not So Wonderful on Saturday Night (Added 1/22/07)