''Eric Clapton is God'' again.
Long ago, Clapton's skills on the electric guitar so impressed legions of followers in mid-'60s England, that ''Clapton is God'' line appeared as graffiti on walls around Britain in appreciation.
No one scrawled praiseworthy messages in black paint on the walls of Hard Rock Live in Hollywood at the Seminole Casino and Resort following Clapton's stunning two-hour blues concert Monday night. But that's probably because his fans are older now and more respectable than '60s British hooligans. Or, with top tier tickets going for $400, maybe no one had any money left over for a can of spray paint.
Whatever the case, Clapton, at 63, is great again. God-like on his instrument. He's not afraid to share the stage with virtuosic, like-minded musicians either who are able to match him, especially pianist Chris Stainton.
The good news is that Clapton's ''got his mojo working,'' as he sang on the show closing Crossroads, by ditching the polished '80s yuppie rock and the '90s unplugged soccer-mom music that has sustained too much of his recording career. He devoted his entire sold-out concert Monday to a celebration of the blues. He did electric blues, Delta blues, acoustic blues. Also, Robert Johnson blues. J.J. Cale blues. And Derek and the Dominos blues, which can be called Clapton's blues, too.
What he didn't do were any of his hit singles unless they had the blues running through them such as the back-to-back songs written in tribute to his ex-wife Pattie Boyd that came near the end of his set, Wonderful Tonight and Layla -- the scorching original blues-rock 1970 version, mind you, not the acoustic MTV Unplugged snoozer of 16 years ago. He doesn't talk to his audience, either, except for ''Thank you'' every so often. That's Clapton, though. His guitar has the personality.
Meanwhile, a fan in Section 200 cried out for I Shot the Sheriff, Clapton's 1974 No. 1 hit cover of a Bob Marley reggae song, but the star wasn't going there or into drivel like the slick country-pop hit Change the World he performed on recent appearances in South Florida. Frankly, his band, highlighted by the incredible Stainton, second guitarist Doyle Bramhall II and Pino Palladino on bass, were too exceptional to waste on such simple, banal material.
Instead, Clapton, in good voice, opened with Tell The Truth, Key To The Highway and Hoochie Coochie Man to let everyone know this wasn't going to be a greatest hits cavalcade. The shuffle Motherless Children, beat-heavy Don't Knock My Love and another blues shuffle, Before You Accuse Me provided other highlights.
Clapton's doing Cocaine again, too, and though the 20-year-sober legend inserts a cautionary ''dirty cocaine'' into J.J. Cale's original lyric, the raucous song never has sounded more commanding and enticing. Here's hoping Clapton's recording this tour for posterity on CD and DVD.
