~ I Shot Eric Clapton ~

I love the blues. In particular, Eric Clapton's blues. So imagine my reaction when my editor from SIPA Press called to tell me I was credentialed to shoot the Eric Clapton concert at the Honda Center in Anaheim on March 17th. I actually squealed while on the phone with her, and she got a kick out of my reaction.

I arrived early and when I finished my shoot, I marched my little feet right over to the seat I purchased so that I could enjoy the show. What a show it was! In one word, the concert was EPIC! It was by far the best concert I've ever been to. Robert Cray is the perfect opener for the bluesy guitar songs that Clapton plays on this tour, and I'm Cray's newest fan (not that he would care much). :~)


I was next to the soundboard about 130-40 feet away from the stage. When Clapton came on, the crowd went crazy and jumped to their feet. Since I wasn't on a platform, I stood on top of my Airport Security bag (with all my stuff inside). Although I wouldn't recommend anyone else do that - the bag really came through and nothing is damaged. So I'm shooting away and I feel a tap on my shoulder (like who the hell is cutting in on my two songs?!?!) It was my handler who noticed I was precariously balanced on my bag. He so kindly allowed me to move further back and stand on the stairs so I could get above the crowd. Perfect idea, so I moved back and shot like the first time I discovered motor drive.

Clapton's voice sounds just as good live as it does on a cd, and I for one, am very happy about that! He did a 22 minute rendition of Little Queen of Spades that featured keyboard, guitar, and bass solos. It was truly something to be experienced. It actually gave me goose bumps (and I was stone-cold sober). We were also treated to the plugged-in version of Layla. Wow - it's been a long time since I've heard that. Little Wing, Anyday, Wonderful Tonight, Key To The Highway, Motherless Children, and Tell The Truth were some of the plugged in songs. The acoustic set featured Driftin', Nobody Knows You When You're Down & Out, Running on Faith, and Outside Woman Blues. The encore was Cocaine and then Robert Cray joined Clapton for a rousing rendition of Crossroads.

Clapton's guitar player was Derek Trucks who is the nephew of Butch Trucks (one of the Allman Brothers founders). Let me tell you - this kid is amazing! He played at least 50% of the solos and it was almost as if Clapton was "grooming" him, in a sense. What a treat to hear the classic Clapton solos played on slide guitar. Nice! The way Clapton was acting towards him, you would have thought he was Clapton's own son. I really enjoyed watching the dynamic between those two, so I decided to get some shots of Trucks alone and also some with he and Clapton playing together. I'm glad I did, because when I got home I did a little research and learned that Derek Trucks is the youngest player to make Rolling Stone's "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" list. Yep - makes sense. All I have to say is that kid deserves to be on that list!




Well, that's my review. I hope you like the images!

Jody Gomez