Nearly Religious Musical Experience

[hawkeyejw]

I just got back and it was such a phenomenal experience I had to share. Tonight, I had the privilege of seeing Eric Clapton live.

Roger Daltrey opened for him and played a bunch of Who hits, which were really well done and had a lot of energy. Very solid set. Also, on stage with him was Pete Townsend...'s brother. That threw me off a bit because he looks a LOT like Pete, has similar body language, etc. But I digress...

Clapton played about 2/3 electric and 1/3 acoustic, and transitioned back and forth between popular hits and his beloved blues. I must say, I've seen music DVD's of him playing and I'm also a pretty big fan so I understand his talent, but being there in person is a completely different experience on a level I can't describe. First of all, the man is flawless on the guitar. I don't think I heard a false note the entire night, which is mind blowing in itself. But what gets me is just the effortless way the songs pour out of him - he's not just up there singing songs. When Daltrey was up there, the songs were a lot of fun and had a lot of energy, and it was a good show. But when Clapton is up there, every note seems to have meaning. He uses pauses and changes in tone/volume and is just able to take you wherever he wants to. It's hard to explain, but if you're a fan you probably already understand. The version of Running on Faith he played was incredibly powerful. I've been to a lot of what I would consider great concerts and I think tonight took the cake.

It's funny, driving home from the show and now sitting here I was thinking about how that experience I just had tonight, that's the motivation behind getting into this hobby in the first place. To come as close as possible to having that powerful, emotionally moving experience at home whenever you want it. I think we tend to lose sight of that a lot of the time and it's sad. I hope we all can take some time to renew our appreciation of music and audio and enjoy it for all the reasons that brought us here in the first place.

If you're a fan of Clapton but haven't taken the opportunity to see him play, I hope you are able to do so before he decides to hang it up.

Cheers

[Ajax]

I AM a fan, and I DO understand. Thanks for sharing. :)

[Steve_vai_rules]

my first musical religious experience was when i saw ozzy live for the first time..

then i saw megadeth... and someone hit me with a bowling pin...

then i saw slayer and kicked a 13 year olds face in..

then it was dream theater and opeth... and my god...

well throw in rush, metallica, iron maiden, judas priest, mayhem, and zappa plays zappa....

ummmm where was i going with this.>>>???

shizzzzz... the woman feed me cranberry and something...just woke up to a tribal drum circle in my living room... wtf....... :boom:



Matt

[django1]

Music is the best religious experience.

[Ajax]

Amen!








(No offense meant to our religious members)

[hawkeyejw]

Yes, during that hour and a half, nothing else going on in my life particularly mattered. I'm sorely tempted to drive to Orlando tomorrow to do it all over again.

[Putz]

For me it's the Boss. His live shows are amazing. He puts everything he has into each performance. People would always question me on why I go to multiple performances on the same tour, but each night is a new experience and so much of the NJ audience there are repeat offenders that Bruce does around 50% different material from night to night. I especially enjoyed the last tour, where each nite he played an entire album in the exact order it was recorded. By the end of the tour he had performed about 7-8 albums that way. Seeing The Wild The Innocent and The E Street Shuffle played at MSG was beyond words.

I go to a lot of live concerts and other bands like U2 etc do the exact same show each night and as good as it is, it almost seems like its a scripted, less spontaneous performance for them.

[Putz]

Yes, during that hour and a half, nothing else going on in my life particularly mattered. I'm sorely tempted to drive to Orlando tomorrow to do it all over again.

Just do it!

[Kevin_Wadsworth]

(No offense meant to our religious members)

None taken. That's why music is such an important part of Christian liturgy (and perhaps other's as well, I don't know). Much of the best music of hte past 600 years has been written for the church.

Personally, I'll take Palestrina over Eric Clapton. But I can understand where hawakeye is coming form. :rock:

[toddbagwell]

I had one here at home last night.

I'd been listening to one song at a time for as long as i could remember, I found a live concert that the smashing pumpkins did over in Europe in support of their newest album, and I started listening.

I was enjoying a frosty beer and just enjoyed the energy and flow of the live concert.

In what seems like no time at all, my wife poked her head in to say she was going to bed. yup, 3 hours had passed!

:ufo:

I really like all the things my room does right. I may never put a projector in!

todd

[hawkeyejw]

I have not seen Bruce live, but given the high praise he always gets (and has already gotten here), I probably will go the next chance I get.

The only other band that is able to consistently deliver the type of experience I had last night is Pearl Jam. We PJ fans are a rabid bunch, and every show you spend 2+ hours singing every word of every song right back to the band along with everyone there. I've often wondered what it's like to write something that effects so many people in such a profound way that all you have to do is play the first couple chords and the first word or two, and then you have 40,000 people singing the song you wrote to you.