Eric Clapton

desdemona · April 29, 2004

Concert Review: Eric Clapton

Tue Apr 20, 2004 07:20 PM ET

By Charles Ferro

COPENHAGEN (Billboard) - Eric Clapton must have taken heed when Chuck Berry sang about a boy playing a guitar just like he was ringing a bell, because that's exactly what earned "Slow Hand" his reputation as a legendary axeman. And that's precisely what he did Saturday at the Danish national stadium Parken, in a show that demonstrated absolute competence but offered no surprises until the encore.

To be sure, the lion's share of the 24,000 people on hand were pushing middle age. The guys were decked out in jeans, boots and leather jackets, while the ladies were clad in duds that compensated for nip'n'tuck operations they never had. In fact, Parken looked like a macro version of one of the country's blues bars on any given Saturday night. The crowd came to hear Clapton revisit the milestones of a three-decade long career and got value for the money -- plus the bonus of opener Robert Randolph & the Family Band.