Celebrating his 70th birthday last year, Eric Clapton wrote a note in a music program that began, “I swear this is it, no more…..I know I’ve been threatening retirement for the last fifty years, but I didn’t think I’d ever really want to stop. I love what I do and always have done, but over the last few decades I’ve found what I was always really looking for, a loving family who love me just the way I am, which means I can relax and rest when I need to, and more and more I treasure the beauty of that….” The letter went on to say, “Hopefully, I might be able to remember and breathe some life into this old stuff…. in truth believe me, with these great guys to play with, I’ll be having the time of my life!” Having said that, Clapton announced today his only North American shows for 2017, a series of concert dates at New York’s Madison Square Garden and the Los Angeles’ Forum. The shows will be a celebration of 50 years in music and just as many decades performing at these venues. The much lauded guitar players Gary Clark, Jr. and Jimmie Vaughan will be special guests at the shows.
The dates for Clapton’s performances at Madison Square Garden are Sunday, March 19th and Monday, March 20th. (He will be at the Forum on March 25th and 26th.)
Eric will be accompanied by his band members Walt Richmond, Steve Gadd, Nathan East, Chris Stainton, Sharon White and Michelle John. These concerts will mark Clapton’s return to the stage after a limited global tour in 2014, his 70th birthday shows in 2015 at London’s Royal Albert Hall and New York’s Madison Square Garden, and a series of shows in 2016 at the Budokan in Tokyo. Additionally, Eric Clapton: Live In San Diego With Special Guest JJ Cale (filmed in 2007) was released globally on September 30th.
Tickets for the North American shows presented by Chase will be offered as an advance sale to Chase customers beginning Thursday, December 1 at 12:00 pm EST via www.ticketmaster.com through Friday, December 2 at 11:59pm EST. General Public On-Sale will begin Saturday, December 3 at 10:00 a.m. local time.
This celebration of Eric Clapton’s career is the latest initiative in a series of partnerships between Chase and Clapton that originated when Chase became the presenting sponsor in support of the 2013 Crossroads Guitar Festival.
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