Eric Clapton & Steve Winwood / Royal Albert Hall 2011 3rd Night / 2CDR

　[Clapton & Winwood, 2011 joint stage culmination audience sound source! ] This week, we will release a high-quality stereo audience sound source from 2011, the last year of the four-year joint stage between two British rock superstars, Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood. ! This is a DAT master recorded by himself, provided by an important taper living in the UK, which is familiar to our Clapton titles. Therefore, this is an original master that will be exclusively released by our store. This work is a complete high-quality stereo audience recording of the stage on May 29th, the third night of Chunichi, of Eric Clapton & Steve Winwood’s 5 consecutive performances at the Royal Albert Hall in 2011. This is what was recorded. Originally it was an excellent master recorded from the front row of the arena seats, but there is a big difference in that it has been subjected to advanced mastering from our now well-established store. The unique circular shape of the venue, the Royal Albert Hall, made the sound a little blurry, but in our mastering, we were able to create a subtle sound that is noticeable in the sounds of Steve Gadd’s bass drum and rim shots. It eliminates the lack of outline of the sound and makes the sound more granular. In particular, the thrust of the bass range (mainly the bass drum) has been reduced and the sound has become even better. This day was also interesting in terms of set list, and from the 29th Winwood’s “Midland Maniac” changed to “Pearly Queen”, which became established from then on. Also on this day, the tribute number to the late Gary Moore, “Still Got The Blues”, which was played in Clapton’s solo performance in the first half of the RAH series, was specially played in the middle sitting set. Ta. On the 30th, we returned to the same location as “Driftin’,” so it was a very valuable day. This performance of “Still Got The Blues”, which featured Winwood’s long keyboard solo, is an extremely valuable take that can only be heard on this day, and is an excellent take that cannot help but evoke emotion. We hope you enjoy the culmination stage, which was the last opportunity for the two to collaborate, with the highest sound quality ever.

[Perfect performance befitting the final year! ]

In fact, Clapton and Winwood had held a joint concert in London the previous year in 2010. The supporting band members for the 2011 concert were the same as in 2010. Two years in a row, the same band held a concert in London again, but to understand the circumstances, let’s follow Clapton’s movements from the previous year to this series of performances.

<2010>
・February 13th and 14th: Joint concert with Jeff Beck held at O2 Arena, London
・February 16: Performed at the “Plastic Ono Band 40th Anniversary Concert” at BAM Howard Gilman Opera House, New York. Yoko Ono co-stars with Sean Lennon
・February 18th to February 22nd: Short-term American tour with Jeff Beck
・February 25th – March 13th: American tour with own band
・May 18th – June 13th: Joint European tour with Steve Winwood
・June 26th: 3rd Crossroads Guitar Festival held at Toyota Park, Illinois
・June 28th to July 3rd: Short-term American tour with own band
<<September 27th: Album “CLAPTON” released>>
・October 23rd: Performed at a charity concert for former US President Clinton’s foundation at St. John the Divine Church in New York.
・November 2nd: Appeared on the live music program “Later with Jools Holland” at BBC Studios, London
・November 17: Performed at the “Prince’s Trust” concert held at the Royal Albert Hall, London
・December 31st: The annual New Year’s Eve Dance will be held in Woking, Surrey, England.
<2011>
・January 13th: Performed at a charity concert in Cranleigh, Surrey, England
・February 11th to 20th: Middle East & Asia tour with own band
・February 25th – March 9th: American tour with his own band
・March 21st: Participated in a session to celebrate Jimmie Vaughan’s birthday at a cafe in Texas, USA
・April 7th to 9th: Performed at a charity concert hosted by Wynton Marsalis held at the Rose Center in New York.
・May 7th-15th: UK tour with his own band
・May 17th to 24th: Continuous performances at the Royal Albert Hall with his own band (6 performances)
・May 26th to June 1st: Joint performance with S. Winwood (5 performances) at the Royal Albert Hall ←★Here★

It was. Considering the above, the reason why we held a joint event in London (UK) for two years in a row is: (1) Clapton was so excited to perform live with his ally Winwood. Considering that he also did this in Japan in November of that year, he must have had a lot of fun doing it. It can be seen that Clapton was in the mood because he was active and diverse. ②In 2010, they released a new studio recording, “CLAPTON,” and they wanted to perform a live performance of the recorded songs. The songs on this album were from Clapton’s “mental jukebox” (songs with memories that will always stay in your heart). I guess that’s why he wanted to play with Winwood because he had something in common with his contemporaries (That’s No Way To Get Along). Clapton has also changed his set list for two years in a row. A new set includes Hoochie Coochie Man, While You See A Chance, and That’s No Way To Get Along, which I didn’t play last year. The other songs were the same as the previous year, but the performance heard in this work is truly perfect. In particular, Winwood’s singing and restrained organ in Georgia On My Mind, which features Winwood, and Clapton’s guitar solo inserted there are exquisite. You can definitely say that this is a masterpiece that only these two can perform. The numbers from the old Blind Faith era are well done, and I can’t resist the wave attack of Clapton’s guitar and Winwood’s organ on Jimi Hendrix’s Voodoo Chile. The interplay between the two guitar players at the end of the encore Dear Mr. Fantasy is also clear. On top of a project that has been going on for four years, with the support of a reliable band from the previous year, it was only natural that the level of perfection would be high.
The original master sound source of the 2011 RAH Chunichi performance, which can be said to be the culmination of their joint concert. If you look back now, please enjoy the definitive version of Clapton & Winwood’s joint concert, which was valuable.
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