After a couple of EC shows this month, the one I am really looking forward to when Steve Winwood joins the band. The support was again Andy Fairweather-Low and he was on absolute top form for this gig. He did the same set but with some added zest from both him and the band especially saxophonist Nick Pentelow.
For the main band it was just a straight swap in personnel with Steve Winwood replacing Tim Carmon. However the set was radically different as would be expected with only about five or six tracks remaining from the EC shows - old favourites such as Layla, Cocaine, Crossroads, Driftin' and Key to the Highway remained in the set. Added to the set were a number of Winwood songs and songs that EC and Winwood have played over the years and one or two others such as the Robert Wilkins song "That's No Way to get Along" covered memorably by the Stones but done exquisitely by EC and Winwood on acoustic guitars. I mean I like Clapton's singing but Winwood can really, really sing. The acoustic set also included an immaculate 'Driftin' and a beautiful 'Can't find my way home'
The gig started with 'I Had to Cry Today' and then got into a great groove with 'Lowdown Dirty Shame' and 'After Midnight'. The band was beautifully balanced with either two keyboards when Winwood was on his organ or two guitarists when he picked up his guitar and both of them and Clapton picking out brilliant solo spots track after track.
The set continued with some songs from Blind Faith and Winwood as well as Clapton favourites. One of the very highest points for me was when they played 'Midland Maniac' which is just about my favourite ever Winwood song and the exemplary version of 'Crossroads that followed was almost an anticlimax. That's how good the gig was.
After the acoustic set there was some big numbers to provide a finale.
The penultimate track was an astonishing version of 'Voodoo Chile', - not everyone will know that Winwood played on this Hendrix classic-, and then into 'Cocaine' as a last track.
I was expecting to hear "Dear Mr Fantasy" which is uusually the highlight for me of any Winwood gig for his superb guitar solos and it duly arrived as the encore. Clapton took the first solo and it just blew me away. It was pretty much perfection and featured a tiny fading slide somewhere near the end that just seemed to nudge the universe into alignment. There was nowehere to go after that solo and Winwoods extended solo wasn't really up to the usual standard. Maybe he was blown away too.
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