A treat for the eyes and ears.
I owe it to my age at only 34, but ERIC CLAPTON was something I didn’t do much research on beforehand. A fatal mistake, because “Planes, Trains And Eric” kindled a small fire in me to learn more about “Slowhand” and his incredible career. This audiovisual treat was originally released in 2014 and will be re-released this year in a classy digipack by earMUSIC/Edel, thus joining the series of other re-releases of the day by AEROSMITH, BLACK LABEL SOCIETY or GENESIS, for example. Back to ERIC CLAPTON and the almost 155 minutes of pure fascination that gives you a glimpse of why this artist on guitar has had such an enormous impact on music history.
This DVD impressively accompanies ERIC CLAPTON and his band on their trip to Asia, or rather, Japan, in 2014. “Slowhand” always had a special relationship with the land of the rising sun and documented in the best picture and sound quality “Planes, Trains And Eric” a total of 13 live performances of this tour, paired with authentic and highly likeable interview sequences of the artists themselves, some sound check rehearsals and all sorts of other entertaining aspects of touring life with this musician.
That the protagonists form a more than well-rehearsed team and that ERIC CLAPTON is allowed to live his life to the fullest on the guitars, that absolute evergreens such as ‘Layla’ (the real thing!), ‘Cocaine’ and ‘Tears In Heaven’ are performed just as wonderfully and with heart and soul like the acoustic ‘Driftin’ Blues’, ‘I Shot The Sheriff’ and ‘Wonderful Tonight’, both performed a little faster and more dynamic, and that even at 69 Eric is still having so much fun on tour and off the stage , is simply beautiful to look at.
With ERIC CLAPTON, the Japanese are hot as hot as frying pan anyway, so it’s not surprising that the band and the audience are in the best of spirits. As I said at the beginning, “Planes, Trains And Eric” triggered something wonderful in me and illustrates the status of this probably unique musician just as well as his sympathetic and down-to-earth manner. Anyone who didn’t seize the opportunity eight years ago and jumped here will now get it again Opportunity to dive into the wonderful world of ERIC “Slowhand” CLAPTON.
- Editor:
- Marcel Rapp