ERIC CLAPTON AND STEVE WINWOOD ANNOUNCE U.S. DATES

ERIC CLAPTON AND STEVE WINWOOD ANNOUNCE U.S. DATES

2/12/2009

A year after their pair of critically acclaimed concerts at New York's Madison Square Garden, Eric Clapton and former Blind Faith bandmate Steve Winwood have announced a 14-city U.S. tour kicking off on June 10th in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

Eric Clapton - Steve Winwood dates (subject to change):
June 10 - East Rutherford, NJ - Izod Center
June 12 - Philadelphia, PA - The Wachovia Center
June 13 - Washington, DC - Verizon Center
June 15 - Columbus, OH - Schottenstein Center
June 17 - Chicago, IL - United Center
June 18 - Saint Paul, MN - Xcel Energy Center
June 20 - Omaha, NE - Qwest Center Omaha
June 21 - Denver, CO - Pepsi Center
June 23 - Dallas, TX - American Airlines Center
June 24 - Houston, TX - Toyota Center
June 26 - Glendale, AZ - Jobing.com Arena
June 27 - Las Vegas, NV - MGM Grand Garden Arena
June 29 - Oakland, CA - Oracle Arena
June 30 - Los Angeles, CA - Hollywood Bowl

The Clapton-Winwood Madison Square Garden shows received raves and featured a blend of hits and lesser-known tracks by Blind Faith, Cream, Traffic, Derek and the Dominoes, blues greats, along with their respective solo careers.

Clapton says his desire to play with Winwood began during the Cream days: "If I'd had more power of personality and more authority, I would have insisted that we had a keyboard player, and I would've chosen Steve Winwood. I mean, it kept being a fantasy of mine that Steve would join Cream, but I just didn't feel confident enough to broach the subject. Maybe I did a couple of times, but I think I, maybe I was, it was discounted."

The setlist for the duo's February 28th, 2008 show was:
"Had To Cry Today" (Blind Faith)
"Lowdown Dirty Shame"
"Forever Man" (Clapton) (Clapton & Winwood trading vocals)
"Them Changes" (after Buddy Miles)
"Sleeping In The Ground" (archival Blind Faith track)
"Presence of the Lord" (Blind Faith) (trading vocals)
"Glad" (Traffic)
"Well Alright" (Blind Faith after Buddy Holly)
"Double Trouble" (Clapton, after Otis Rush)
"Pearly Queen" (Traffic)
"Tell the Truth" (Derek and the Dominoes)
"No Face, No Name, No Number" (Traffic)
"After Midnight" (Clapton)
"Split Decision" (Steve Winwood)
Solo acoustic Clapton: "Rambling On My Mind" (Robert Johnson)
Solo Winwood on organ: "Georgia On My Mind"
"Little Wing" (Derek and the Dominoes) (trading vocals)
"Voodoo Chile" (long, slow version) (Jimi Hendrix)
"Can't Find My Way Home" (Blind Faith )
"Dear Mr. Fantasy" (Traffic)
Encore:
"Crossroads" (Cream)

Last year Clapton appeared on "Dirty City," the first single from Winwood's recent album, Nine Lives. Over the summer, Winwood opened for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.

Eric Clapton performs tonight (February 12th) in Osaka, Japan. On February 21st and 22nd he'll team up with fellow blues legend and former Yardbirds alumnus Jeff Beck in Saitama, Japan.