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Eric Clapton - Schottenstein Center

Columbus, Ohio - April 6, 2007 - Tall Taper - Aud 4

Disc 1:
  1. Tell the Truth
  2. Key to the Highway
  3. Got to Get Better in a Little While
  4. Little Wing
  5. Why Does Love Got to Be So Sad
  6. "Hello to my daughters"
  7. Driftin'
  8. Outside Woman Blues
  9. Nobody Knows You
  10. Running on Faith
Disc 2:
  1. Motherless Children
  2. Little Queen of Spades
  3. Further On Up the Road
  4. Wonderful Tonight
  5. Layla
  6. "Encore Break"
  7. Cocaine
  8. Crossroads

Geetarz Comments:

Seeded on DIME.

Taper's Comments:

"Very nice recording documenting the final "proper" show of EC's 2006-07 world tour; this "hometown" performance featured many friends and family in attendance, and EC put on an enjoyable show with excellent guitar work. Those expecting dramatic departures from his standard set left somewhat disappointed; however, it's difficult to be too disappointed about any show that opens with five consecutive Derek & The Dominoes classics. I thought "Little Wing" in particular was transcendant this night; for those of us who have seen some of his more average songs recur in setlists over and over throughout the years, it was quite a treat to see him pull out this gem. His playing and the band behind him were near perfection throughout the show, and even some of the old warhorses (e.g. "Cocaine," "Layla," "Crossroads") sounded more spirited than usual. I was rooting for him to break the two-hour mark, but nonetheless it was a great show.

This was recorded by "Tall Taper" in the front row of the balcony beside the stage, roughly even with the 10th row and in line with the overhanging PA. Mix is good throughout with a solid blend of vocals and instruments; for some reason the low end was somewhat lacking on the recording (unusual for Core Sounds), so I augmented with the equalizer. Considering the venue is a basketball arena, there is very little boominess on the recording and (by virtue of our front-row seat in the balcony) has very little crowd interference.

This is a really nice recording overall, and (in my opinion) much more enjoyable than Mid Valley's "Grand Finale" version of this show. While the taper of the MV source was closer to the PA and captured a fuller sound, he also unfortunately caught a lot more audience interference that makes the MV recording unlistenable for me.

If you're a completist, you've already started downloading it. If you're a casual Clapton fan, I think this is worth having for the great setlist, solid recording quality, and historical value of it being the final date of the tour. (Let's hope it's not the final date of his *last* tour.)