Grand Finale (Mid Valley MVR 402/403/404/405)
Palace Of Auburn Hills, Detroit, MI – April 5, 2007
The Jerome Schotenstein Center, Columbus, OH – April 6, 2007
Discs 1, Palace Of Auburn Hills, Detroit, MI – April 5, 2007: Introduction, Tell The Truth, Key To The Highway, Got To Get Better In A Little While, Little Wing, Why Does Love Got To Be So Sad, Driftin’, Outside Woman Blues, Nobody Knows You When You Are Down And Out, Running On Faith, Motherless Children
Discs 2: Motherless Children (repeat of disc 1 track 11 – not listed on artwork), Little Queen Of Spades, Further On Up The Road, Wonderful Tonight, Layla, Cocaine, Crossroads (with Robert Cray)
Disc 3, The Jerome Schotenstein Center, Columbus, OH – April 6, 2007: Introduction, Tell The Truth, Key To The Highway, Got To Get Better In A Little While, Little Wing, Why Does Love Got To Be So Sad, Driftin’, Outside Woman Blues, Nobody Knows You When You Are Down And Out, Running On Faith, Motherless Children
Disc 4: Little Queen Of Spades, Further On Up The Road, Wonderful Tonight, Layla, Cocaine, Crossroads (with Robert Cray)
This 4CD set from the people at Mid Valley captures EC’s last two shows of his 2007 US Tour. Recorded on Apr 5, 2007 in Detroit and on Apr. 6, 2007 in Columbus, the vocals on the former seem to be more distant. The quality, albeit very good, may not be as good as some other Mid Valley audience releases, particularly of shows in Japan/Europe, but Hey!, I doubt that there are better audience recordings of these two shows than these, so I’d say this is another “must have” for any serious EC collector.
Both shows feature the same set list and do not feature Derek Trucks on guitar as he had left EC’s band by now to join the ABB. This is a personal opinion, but I don’t miss him much. Doyle Bramhall II does a great job from beginning to end and with less one guitar player, EC’s guitar playing is more prominent… and aggressive too!!! Just listen to the rendition of “Got To Get Better” on the last day….. A M A Z I N G !!!! The song is almost marred by some people shouting and shouting near the taper but they don’t get to distract you much. Oh well…
Also on this last date you will get to hear something you don’t hear very often: EC flubbing a line at the end of “Layla” just before the coda begins… proving he’s human after all.
It is great to see how EC revisits his extensive 40+ years’ catalogue of songs and plays songs that seemed to have been forgotten forever: “Tell The Truth” – powerful way of starting a show! – “Why Does Love Got To Be So Sad” – which sees a great interplay between EC and DB on both nights – “Motherless Children”…. Now I just hope he gives “Wonderful Tonight” a break and plays “Tell Me That You Love Me” from the Backless album instead…
Again, a very nice set to own, no doubt it is worth the investment.
