2001 represented Eric’s return to a massive world tour schedule that would take in most of the year. The tour, in support of Reptile, started off at London’s Royal Albert Hall. Then, it was on to Europe with stops in St. Petersburg and Moscow. Numerous American dates filled up the spring and summer. In the Fall, Eric returned to South America for the first time in 11 years. After the Mexico City performance, he flew to the U.S. to take part in the mega-benefit Concert For New York City. Eric ended the year with a tour of Japan. Overall, the shows were good. Spectacular evenings were few and far between. The tour was also characterized by changing personnel which would change the flavor of the performances themselves.
Pick from the list below to build your core collection for 2001:
Vagabond (MidValley / 5)
Over The Rainbow (Zig Zag / 5)
Eric’s triumphant return to London’s Royal Albert Hall. Both titles collect the 5 shows in very good audience recordings. The run debuted his new band: stalwarts East, Gadd and Fairweather Low plus David Sancious and Paulinho DaCosta. The Impressions sing backup and are featured in their own two-song mini-set. Interestingly, “I Shot The Sheriff” doesn’t come together for this lineup and is dropped from the set for the remainder of the tour. “Ain’t Gonna Stand For It” is a nightly standout. Features the debut performance of “Somewhere Over The Rainbow”. The final night of the run (10 February) is a real winner. The tour would get better as it went along, but these are still all around solid performances.
Alternative titles include any of these single shows:
Keys To The New Century (A Karat Records / 4) from 3 February 2001
Travelling Road Of Drift (A Karat Records / 4) from 9 February 2001
Bluespower 2001 (lun / 4) from 10 February 2001
Note that the sound quality is not quite as good as the box sets.
Twisted Lips (MidValley / 5)
A historic evening as Eric and his band take center stage in the Kremlin in the former Palace of Congresses, seat of the communist government. There are a few flubs, but the band turns in outstanding versions of “Bell Bottom Blues”, “River Of Tears”, “Don’t Let Me Be Lonely Tonight”, and “Stormy Monday”. This was the next to last show of the European tour.
Honorable Mention:
World Tour 2001 Live In Russia (Over The Rainbow / 5)
Eric’s first-ever performance in Russia. The Saint Petersburg crowd is respectful of the new material and the band turns in competent performances. The crowd responds enthusiastically to “Hoochie Coochie Man” and sings along and the band turns it up a notch in repsonse. A historic evening.
First Impression (EC Is Here / SB6)
Recorded on 21 May in Atlanta, Georgia it is reportedly one of the band’s favorite shows. The discs are from an ALD source. The Impressions guest on several numbers.
God Bless You (Mid Valley Records / SB5)
Another disc recorded from an ALD source. A good representative of the US Shows. The Impressions are not featured during this evening’s performance.
Argentine Chorus (EC Is Here / SB)
What I’m Talking (Sylph / 5)
An outstanding evening of music from start to finish. Eric had an “off night” the previous evening and as usual, came back with all guns blazing on the next. A nice audience recording from Castle Hall, Osaka on 22 November. If you’re only going to own one show from the 2001 Japan tour, this would be a very good choice. The Pilgrim set is powerful and Eric turns in excellent performances of “Hoochie Coochie Man” and “Five Long Years.”
Groovy Pink Shirt (MidValley / SB6)
This show was recorded and filmed for Japanese television on 4 December at Tokyo’s Budokan. Eric and band are on from start to finish. It features two outstanding versions of “Layla”: unplugged and plugged. The Reptile material has come into its own and stands up well against older hits and the epic songs from Pilgrim. A great version of “Somewhere Over The Rainbow” closes the show.
Honorable Mention:
Double Layla (EC Is Here / SB6)
Forever And A Day (Rozy Project / 5)
Recorded at the Grande 21 in Sendai, Japan on Nathan East’s birthday – 8 December. The recording is surprisingly good for a huge sports arena. Eric played well from the start but turned in excellent performances of some old chestnuts, particularly, “Bell Bottom Blues”. “River Of Tears“ continued to “wow” the audience. “Have You Ever Loved A Woman” featured a wah-wah solo for the first time in recent memory.
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