I am struggling a bit to separate out the Clapton gigs in my memory. I pretty much saw all of the tours in the seventies and eighties and often went to multiple gigs on a tour. I shall start with the certainties and fill in the rest as I can. This much I know - the 1976 gig at Bridlington Spa Theatre is one of the top gigs I have ever been to and is definitely one of the best ever Clapton gigs.
The whole evening was great. Driving down to Bridlington through the Durham countryside in my 1959 P4 Rover. My best gal (now my wife) in the front seat. A mate with some home made cider in the back. The venue on the pier at Bridlington - decayed but magnificent.
The support act vies for the title of maddest support act - it was Mr Pughs Magic Puppet Theatre and it was actually a puppet show. Utterly, utterly barking but very enjoyable. I remember an aerial puppet dogfight taking place at one point.
This was also a great Clapton band. George Terry, Jamie Oldaker, Carl Radle, Dick Sims, Yvonne Ellimand and Marcy Levy.
Yvonne Elliman with a soft and sweet voice and Marcy Levy, loud and edgy, provided the backing vocals and majored on "Can't find My Way Home" and "Innocent Times" respectively. George Terry as ever provided superb guitar back up. He was the guitarist of the many who played in the bands who could sound most like Clapton and sometimes the two of them just overlaid perfectly
Unusually Clapton majored on his big "spanish- style" electric guitar which has a beautiful rounded sound and powered through classic Derek and the Dominos tracks like "Bluespower","Tell the Truth" and "Key to the Highway". He was at that period when he used to call out the chord changes on "Ramblin' " and that track had the hairs on the back of the neck very active. There was of course Layla, at a time when it was still fresh and Clapton was at his peak. Great, great gig.
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