- Palacio Sant Jordi. May 10, 2026
[The photograph accompanying this review was provided by promoter Live Nation, who did not specify which concert on the tour it corresponds to. Eric Clapton is not accrediting press photographers on this tour]
The welcome ovation was quite eloquent: there was a desire for Eric Clapton, who had not performed in Barcelona for 22 years. And on Sunday, in a sold-out Palau Sant Jordi, the 81-year-old British guitarist did what is best expected of a legend: he respected the legacy with solvency and elegance, cooking the blues slowly but with energy. He made it clear right away with a couple of electric solos, one in Badge, a throwback to the days of the Cream trio with which he opens the concerts on this tour, and another in Key to the highway, the version by bluesman Charles Segar. Right after, he duetted with left-handed guitarist Doyle Bramhall II on I’m your hoochie coochie man, the Willie Dixon classic that Clapton finished with the memory of his fingers working on the guitar neck. The version of I shot the sheriff, by Bob Marley, which suits Clapton’s slow hand so well, closed a first electric set, always with the notable contribution of a band of seven musicians, including two backing singers, Katie Kissoon and Sharon White, who took on a significant role throughout the concert.
The tour prioritizes legend and music, with a notable sound, especially when the guitars speak, and the audience appreciated it with silence when appropriate and ovations when the songs ended, or by singing some choruses, like that of Layla. The staging of the tour is austere, in the sense that there are no extramusical elements, with the exception of the screens. The austerity, by the way, does not soak into the ticket prices: from 119 and 181.50 euros for standing room.
The final solo ofI shot the sheriff, slow-handed, yes, but still quite fierce and amplified by the deployment of drummer Sonny Emory, gave way to an acoustic part. Clapton, seated, did an exciting version of Robert Johnson’s Kind hearted woman blues, and another by Jimmy Cox, Nodoby knows you when you’re down and out, century-old blues that Sant Jordi accompanied by applauding. It was Clapton remembering the masters who made him who he is and linking this heritage with his own songs like Golden ring and a Layla which he performed slowly, following the rhythm of Nathan East’s double bass. The lament of Tears in heaven, the ballad he composed following the death of his four-year-old son in 1991, he sang without dramatic flourishes, perhaps even with too much distance, but the audience rewarded him with a very long applause.
The poison of Robert Johnson
Another version of Robert Johnson, the foundational Cross road blues, but this time with the electric guitar, was one of the best moments of the final stretch. It was Clapton firing off the verses with conviction while the band grew measure by measure and added solos in a jam that could last for hours and which linked by invoking more of Robert Johnson’s poison: Little queen of spades, well played in dialogue with Chris Stainton’s piano and Tim Carmon’s organ.
It wasn’t about breaking expectations, but about fulfilling them by doing what was expected. For example, playing Cocaine, the JJ Cale song that Clapton turned into a hit blues-swing and which was as much an apology for cocaine use as the opposite (when Clapton added “dirty cocaine” in the middle of the chorus). Now, played before the encore, it basically provokes musical joy, as if the lyrics mattered little or nothing, especially because what counts is the display of the entire band, together and separately.
Clapton, who at no time addressed the audience, closed almost an hour and a half of concert with another version, Before you accuse me, by Bo Diddley. The bright lights of the Palau Sant Jordi showed the satisfaction of the public, who applauded who knows if it was Eric Clapton’s last concert in Barcelona. In any case, a good memory left by a legend.
