Deprived of his annual Royal Albert Hall fix, Eric Clapton relocated to the Victorian grandeur of Cowdray Hall in Sussex, taking three of his most regular bandmates – Steve Gadd, Nathan East and Chris Stainton – with him for an acoustic show that makes the original Unplugged sound like an orgy of feedback.
The delicacy and precision of the playing is pin-drop stuff, and if you’re not paying attention it’s easy to miss the understated feeling as they perform to an audience of one – Eric’s wife – in the balcony.
That’s because musicians of this calibre do not need to express their feelings visually.
The grunts of pleasure at the end of each song say it all. Clapton also shakes up his set-list, highlighting hidden gems like River Of Tears, Believe In Life and Going Down Slow as well as a couple of unexpected Peter Green classics. Layla might also surprise you.
