Eric Clapton in a glorious setting, but we all wanted more

British Summer Time 2018

Friday 6th to Sunday 15th July 2018
Hyde Park, Park Lane, Kensington & Chelsea, Greater London, W2 2UH, England MAP
from £62 (varies by event)

Daily capacity: 65,000

Last updated: Fri 29th Jun 2018

In an alternative universe, Chas & Dave would be headlining Hyde Park; reality, however, dictates that we must watch them on the Barclaycard stage in the afternoon, on an impressive supporting bill for Eric Clapton. Whereas Roger Waters was the show on Friday and all other acts seemed unrelated, today's bill screamed Guitar, Blues and Dad Rock.

And there were many, many dads there, enjoying Steve Winwood's very jazzy afternoon slot full of his huge repertoire of hits- most prominently Spencer Davis Group's Gimme Some Lovin'. Earlier had seen Lukas Neil's Promise Of The Real taking time off from being Neil Young's backing band and Zucchero propping us up before Carlos Santana blisters through his Hyde Park set with excitement and energy.

Santana gave us over an hour of rock and joy. Ushered on to the crowd sounds of Woodstock '69 - staple classics such as Black Magic Woman and Oy Como Va were mixed with Coltrane's A Love Supreme - the sound was pulsating and diverse. And yes, revival hits Smooth and Maria Maria were also featured. More from Carlos later.

And then on to Clapton. Rumours of illness. Rumours of dying imminently. Selling out Hyde Park almost instantly. And he phoned it in. There was barely ninety minutes of music. Two Robert Johnson covers and only a few trademark Clapton numbers (Wonderful Tonight, Tears In Heaven, Cocaine). Even Layla was stripped back to an acoustic sit-down affair.

Whilst Clapton hasn't lost his bluesy voice nor guitar majesty - it's noticeable that the audience are never captivated aside from their fandom status. No coincidence that excitement builds again when Clapton brings on Santana for an encore - a cover of Joe Cocker's High Time We Went. Lots of cheers of "Yes" from the audience, and clamours for more encores (it was only 9:55) but that was it. Tis a privilege to see Clapton in a glorious setting - but we all wanted more.

review by: Raph Pour-Hashemi

photos by: Raph Pour-Hashemi