Clapton and Friends Tour

Clapton and Friends Tour

by Eric Clapton

Presentation album	August
Beginning of the tour	3rd July 1986
End of the tour	November 9, 1987
Total concerts (by continent)	* Asia : 5 Europe : 24 North America : 16 Oceania : 3
Concerts in total	48
revenue	+ $ 7,415,604

Eric Clapton Tour Chronology

Behind the Sun World Tour (1985)	Clapton and Friends Tour (1986-87)	Clapton Knopfler Tour (1988)

The Clapton and Friends Tour [ klæptɒn ænd frɛndz tʊə ] was a worldwide concert tour by British rock musician Eric Clapton . The tour began on July 3, 1986 in Sandvika . The tour served to market the studio album August , released in 1986 . During the tour, Clapton toured the continents of Asia, Europe, North America and Oceania and performed a total of 48 times in four months of intensive travel. From 1986 to 1987 the British rock musician played in stadiums, arenas, clubs and at various festivals. The tour ended on November 9, 1987 in Osaka .

A mixture of new pieces as well as blues classics and Clapton hits was performed. On some dates on the tour, guest musicians performed with Clapton. Even Phil Collins was instrumental in the tour as a drummer and background vocalist. The “Clapton and Friends” cast consisted mainly of four to five people. During the entire world tour, the British rock musician performed in front of more than 360,000 spectators in twelve different countries around the world. There were revenue of more than 7.4 million US dollars achieved and several concert recordings released.

Tour events

backgrounds

In a 1986 interview, Collins explained how the collaboration between himself, Nathan East, and Greg Phillinganes came about : “[...] There is a substantial drop in pressure. All I have to do is play the drums. […] Greg and Nathan, the other two musicians in the band, are great musicians. Nathan and I played together on Philip Bailey's album [ Chinese Wall ]. And told us that we would like to continue working together. And he happened to be playing on Eric's albums that I didn't produce and Eric wanted him and Greg in his group. [...] And suddenly everything came together. And we played on Eric's new album and it was just a great opportunity. And someone said, 'How about some gigs?' and I was supposed to have my July / August vacation with my children, but they are not available. […] A couple of weeks with Eric; a pretty relaxing tour […] ”.

Tour progress

Clapton started his tour on July 3, 1986 with a concert at the Øyafestivalen festival in Norway . A day later he attended the Roskilde Festival in Denmark before performing as part of the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland . A concert during the Jazz-à-Juan festival in France followed. On July 14th and 15th, 1986, the Briton played as a solo artist in the UK . At the end of November, Clapton had four concerts in two clubs. Ticket prices for the two concerts at New York's Ritz Club were only $ 20. The four concerts in the United States completed the performances as part of the Clapton and Friends Tour in 1986. In that year, the Briton played ten concerts on the tour.

In 1987 the tour began with eight concerts in Great Britain, six of which took place in a row at London's Royal Albert Hall. In mid-January, Clapton toured France, Belgium and the Netherlands with one concert per region. From January 20 to 23, 1987, the British artist gave four concerts in Germany . With three concerts in Italy , Clapton concluded the European section of the tour on January 30, 1987. From April 11 to April 27 of the same year, Clapton played twelve sold-out concerts in the United States. At the end of October, the Briton traveled to Australia for three sold-out performances before ending the tour on November 9, 1987 after five concerts in Japan .

In the United States, Clapton sold 195,422 of 195,422 available tickets for its twelve concerts for $ 3,405,024. In Europe, the British rock musician played to an audience of more than 134,997 and grossed more than $ 2,990,114. In Australia, Clapton performed in front of 33,591 concertgoers and generated revenues of US $ 1,020,466.

occupation

The following support groups , guests and musicians performed during the tour .

Eric Clapton - guitar , vocals Mark Knopfler - guitar, vocals (guest) (UK) Robert Cray - guitar, vocals (guest) Keith Richards - guitar (guest) Steve Winwood - vocals (guest)

Sting - vocals (guest) Phil Collins - drums , vocals (US + EU) Steve Ferrone - drums Nathan East - bass guitar , backing vocals Greg Phillinganes - keyboards , backing vocals

Alan Clark - keyboards Robert Cray Band - opening act Big Town Playboys - Support Act Peter Blakely - opening act

Setlist

The band and Clapton performed a mixture of new songs from the studio album August as well as older hit songs and blues classics over the course of the tour . The setlist remained almost unchanged during the two years and was usually 14 to 16 songs long, depending on the venue. A concert usually started with the recitation of the songs Crossroads , White Room, and I Shot the Sheriff . New songs from the August album followed, such as Miss You , Run , Holy Mother , Behind the Mask , Tearing Us Apart or Hung Up on Your Love . Other hit songs that Clapton played during the tour included After Midnight , Badge , Let It Rain , Sunshine of Your Love and Cocaine . Aside from the ear opener Crossroads , Further on Up the Road and Same Old Blues were the only blues tracks performed. If Collins or Knopfler were at a concert, In the Air Tonight or Money for Nothing were played. In most cases a concert ended with the title Layla .

Concert dates

date	city	country	Venue	Number of visitors	revenue
Europe
3rd July 1986	Sandvika		Middelalderparken	- (a)
4th July 1986	Roskilde		Roskilde Park	- (b)
July 10, 1986	Montreux		Montreux Casino	- (c)
July 12, 1986	Juan-les-Pins		Pinède Gould	- (d)
July 14, 1986	Birmingham		National Exhibition Center	36.291 / 36.291	$ 612,990
July 15, 1986
North America
November 20, 1986	Boston		The Metro Club	NN	NN
November 21, 1986
November 23, 1986	New York City		The Ritz Club
November 24, 1986
Europe
3rd January 1987	Manchester		Apollo Theater	14.250 / 14.250	$ 301,556
4th January 1987
January 6, 1987	London		Royal Albert Hall	36.450 / 36.450	$ 634,120
January 7, 1987
January 8, 1987
January 10, 1987
January 11, 1987
January 12, 1987
January 16, 1987	Rotterdam		Ahoy Hall	NN	NN
17th January 1987	Brussels		Forest National
January 18, 1987	Paris		Le Zénith
January 20, 1987	Dortmund		Westfalenhalle	14.875 / 14.875	$ 427,492
January 21, 1987	Hamburg		Gym	6,890 / 6,890	$ 201,392
January 22, 1987	Frankfurt		Festival hall	12.191 / 12.191	$ 398,577
January 23, 1987	Munich		Olympia Hall	14,050 / 14,050	$ 413,987
January 26, 1987	Milan		Palatrussardi	NN	NN
January 29, 1987	Rome		PalaEUR
January 30, 1987	Florence		Palasport
North America
April 11, 1987	Oakland		Oakland Coliseum	14.761 / 14.761	$ 273,079
April 13, 1987	Costa Mesa		Pacific amphitheater	18.765 / 18.765	$ 301,958
April 14, 1987	los Angeles		The Forum	15.975 / 15.975	$ 280,716
April 16, 1987	Denver		McNichols Sports Arena	16.211 / 16.211	$ 274,802
April 18, 1987	St. Paul		Civic Center	16.433 / 16.433	$ 285,382
April 19, 1987	Rosemont		Rosemont Horizon	17,338 / 17,338	$ 296,133
April 21, 1987	Indianapolis		Market Square Arena	13.129 / 13.129	$ 216,629
April 22, 1987	Detroit		Joe Louis Arena	17,435 / 17,435	$ 299,921
April 23, 1987	Cleveland		Richfield Coliseum	14.177 / 14.177	$ 248,098
April 25, 1987	Landover		Capital Center	18.025 / 18.025	$ 315,438
April 26, 1987	Providence		Civic Center	13.181 / 13.181	$ 230,668
April 27, 1987	New York City		Madison Square Garden	19.992 / 19.992	$ 382,200
Oceania
October 23, 1987	Sydney		Entertainment center	13.045 / 13.045	$ 398,201
October 24, 1987	Brisbane		Entertainment center	13.421 / 13.421	$ 423,190
October 27, 1987	Melbourne		Sports & Entertainment Center	7.125 / 7.125	$ 199,075
Asia
November 2nd 1987	Tokyo		Nippon Budōkan	NN	NN
4th November 1987
5th November 1987
November 7, 1987	Nagoya		The gym
November 9, 1987	Osaka		Osaka-jō Hall
Summary				364.010 / 364.010 (100%)	+ $ 7,415,604

Remarks

^(a) This performance was part of the 1986 Øyafestivalen festival.

^(b) This performance was part of the 1986 Roskilde Festival.

^(c) This performance was part of the 1986 Montreux Jazz Festival.

^(d) This performance was part of the 1986 Jazz-à-Juan Festival.

In addition to the official concert dates of the Clapton and Friends Tour , the British rock musician appeared on other projects. On August 14, 1986, Clapton played some improvisations with Prince after his concert in Kensington Roof Gardens. The next day, Clapton hosted a benefit concert on the Finchley Cricket Club grounds. On August 16, the Brit performed with Tina Turner . On October 16, Clapton took part in a sold out blues concert in front of 9,330 people. This was followed by a guest appearance at a concert by Lionel Richie at Madison Square Garden on October 27th. Two days later, Clapton appeared on the late-night show Night Life With David Brenner . Clapton ended 1986 with a benefit concert on December 23rd.

On March 27, 1987, Clapton played at the Cranleigh Golf & Country Club. On April 15, the British rock musician took part in the Würding of blues musician BB King in Los Angeles. On May 6th, Clapton played again with Richie. On June 5th and 6th, the Briton took part in the Prince's Trust concerts. On June 18, Clapton performed again with Turner. On July 4th, Clapton recorded the song I Shot the Sheriff for the VHS for The Cream of Eric Clapton . Another concert took place in Finchley on August 14th. On September 4th, Clapton performed with Ronnie Earl . On October 6th, all of the blues pieces for the South Bank Show were recorded with Clapton. On October 9th, Clapton performed with Buddy Guy in London. After that, the Briton continued the Clapton and Friends tour .

Publications

Official

• 1987: Live 1986 (Label: Radio Vision)
• 2006: Live at Montreux 1986 (Label: Eagle Rock)

Bootlegs

In contrast to the Clapton-Knopfler Tour or the Journeyman World Tour, the Clapton and Friends Tour was documented relatively sporadically. As a bootleg on DVD and video compact disc eight versions of various concerts of the tour are known. These are recordings of concerts at the Roskilde Festival, the Montreux Jazz Festival, the appearance in Pinède Gould, two versions of the concert in Birmingham, a concert recording from the Royal Albert Hall on January 12, 1987, as well as concerts from Rome and the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis, United States. As exclusive audio bootlegs on compact disc, there are over 30 different blackouts that document the Clapton and Friends Tour well, non-audiovisually.

reception

Critic Steve Wilson of the Australian newspaper The Age described Clapton's appearance in Sydney as "legendary" and "brilliant".

Web links

• Complete tour archive

Individual evidence

1. ↑ 1973 to 1986: Eric Clapton Band History and Lineups. In: Where's Eric! The Eric Clapton Fan Club Magazine. Retrieved June 18, 2016 . 
2. ↑ July 3, 1986 - Eric Clapton & Friends. In: Where's Eric! The Eric Clapton Fan Club Magazine. Retrieved June 18, 2016 . 
3. ↑ August - Eric Clapton. In: AllMusic Network. Retrieved June 18, 2016 . 
4. ↑ November 9, 1987 - Eric Clapton & Friends. In: Where's Eric! The Eric Clapton Fan Club Magazine. Retrieved June 18, 2016 . 
5. ↑ Setlists (Clapton and Friends Tour). Setlist Network, accessed June 18, 2016 . 
6. ↑ Phil Collins - Interview '86. In: YouTube. Retrieved June 18, 2016 . 
7. ↑ The Ritz, New York Tickets: $ 20. (PDF) In: Billboard Magazine. December 20, 1986, accessed June 18, 2016 . 
8. ↑ July 15, 1986 - Eric Clapton & Friends. In: Where's Eric! The Eric Clapton Fan Club Magazine. Retrieved June 18, 2016 . 
9. ↑ November 23, 1986 - Eric Clapton & Friends. In: Where's Eric! The Eric Clapton Fan Club Magazine. Retrieved June 18, 2016 . 
10. ↑ January 8, 1987 - Eric Clapton & Friends. In: Where's Eric! The Eric Clapton Fan Club Magazine. Retrieved June 18, 2016 . 
11. ↑ 23 October 1987 - Eric Clapton & Friends. In: Where's Eric! The Eric Clapton Fan Club Magazine. Retrieved June 18, 2016 . 
12. ↑ July 12, 1986 - Eric Clapton & Friends. In: Where's Eric! The Eric Clapton Fan Club Magazine. Retrieved June 18, 2016 . 
13. ↑ January 20, 1987 - Eric Clapton & Friends. In: Where's Eric! The Eric Clapton Fan Club Magazine. Retrieved June 18, 2016 . 
14. ↑ July 4, 1986 - Eric Clapton & Friends. In: Where's Eric! The Eric Clapton Fan Club Magazine. Retrieved June 18, 2016 . 
15. ↑ January 18, 1987 - Eric Clapton & Friends. In: Where's Eric! The Eric Clapton Fan Club Magazine. Retrieved June 18, 2016 . 
16. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Dates and ticket sales:
    • Amusement Business Boxscore - Top Concert Big. (PDF) In: Billboard Magazine. May 2, 1987, accessed June 18, 2016 . 
    • Amusement Business Boxscore - Top Concert Big. (PDF) In: Billboard Magazine. May 9, 1987, accessed June 18, 2016 . 
    • Amusement Business Boxscore - Top Concert Big. (PDF) In: Billboard Magazine. May 16, 1987, accessed June 18, 2016 . 
    • Amusement Business Boxscore - Top Concert Big. (PDF) In: Billboard Magazine. May 23, 1987, accessed June 18, 2016 . 
17. ↑ August 14, 1986 - Eric Clapton with Prince. In: Where's Eric! The Eric Clapton Fan Club Magazine. Retrieved June 18, 2016 . 
18. ↑ August 15, 1986 - Eric Clapton with Stan Webb's Chicken Shack. In: Where's Eric! The Eric Clapton Fan Club Magazine. Retrieved June 18, 2016 . 
19. ↑ 16 Aug 1986 - Eric Clapton with Tina Turner. In: Where's Eric! The Eric Clapton Fan Club Magazine. Retrieved June 18, 2016 . 
20. ↑ Amusement Business Boxscore - Top Concert Grosses. (PDF) In: Billboard Magazine. November 8, 1986, accessed June 18, 2016 . 
21. ↑ October 27, 1986 - Eric Clapton with Lionel Richie. In: Where's Eric! The Eric Clapton Fan Club Magazine. Retrieved June 18, 2016 . 
22. ↑ October 29, 1986 - Eric Clapton. In: Where's Eric! The Eric Clapton Fan Club Magazine. Retrieved June 18, 2016 . 
23. ↑ 23 December 1986 - Eric Clapton. In: Where's Eric! The Eric Clapton Fan Club Magazine. Retrieved June 18, 2016 . 
24. ↑ March 27, 1987 - Eric Clapton. In: Where's Eric! The Eric Clapton Fan Club Magazine. Retrieved June 18, 2016 . 
25. ↑ April 15, 1987 - Eric Clapton. In: Where's Eric! The Eric Clapton Fan Club Magazine. Retrieved June 18, 2016 . 
26. ↑ 6 May 1987 - Eric Clapton with Lionel Richie. In: Where's Eric! The Eric Clapton Fan Club Magazine. Retrieved June 18, 2016 . 
27. ↑ June 6, 1987 - Eric Clapton. In: Where's Eric! The Eric Clapton Fan Club Magazine. Retrieved June 18, 2016 . 
28. ↑ June 18, 1987 - Eric Clapton with Tina Turner. In: Where's Eric! The Eric Clapton Fan Club Magazine. Retrieved June 18, 2016 . 
29. ↑ July 4, 1987 - Eric Clapton. In: Where's Eric! The Eric Clapton Fan Club Magazine. Retrieved June 18, 2016 . 
30. ↑ Aug. 14, 1987 - Eric Clapton. In: Where's Eric! The Eric Clapton Fan Club Magazine. Retrieved June 18, 2016 . 
31. ↑ September 4, 1987 - Eric Clapton. In: Where's Eric! The Eric Clapton Fan Club Magazine. Retrieved June 18, 2016 . 
32. ↑ 6 October 1987 - Eric Clapton. In: Where's Eric! The Eric Clapton Fan Club Magazine. Retrieved June 18, 2016 . 
33. ↑ 9 October 1987 - Eric Clapton with Buddy Guy. In: Where's Eric! The Eric Clapton Fan Club Magazine. Retrieved June 18, 2016 . 
34. ↑ Top Music Videocassettes. (PDF) In: Billboard Magazine. June 11, 1988, accessed June 18, 2016 . 
35. ^ Eric Clapton Live at Montreux 1986. In: Where's Eric! The Eric Clapton Fan Club Magazine. Retrieved June 18, 2016 . 
36. ↑ Eric Clapton Video Bootleg. ECI Shere, accessed June 18, 2016 . 
37. ↑ Eric Clapton Audio Bootleg (1980s). ECI Shere, accessed June 18, 2016 . 
38. ^ Steve Wilson: Top Music Reviews . In: The Age . Sydney October 24, 1987 (English).