Jimmie Vaughan is opening up the eight-city run, which will be Clapton’s only North American tour dates of the year
-ANDY GREENE
Eric Clapton is returning to the road in September for an eight-city run of North American shows. It kicks off September 13th at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas, and wraps up September 26th at the Seminole Hard Rock in Hollywood, Florida. According to a press release, these will be his only North American dates for the year. Tickets go on sale this Friday on Ticketmaster.com, and will also be available on Vivid Seats.
His band will include guitarist Doyle Bramhall II, organist Paul Carrack, bassist Nathan East, drummers Sonny Emory and Steve Gadd, keyboardist Chris Stainton, and backup singers Sharon White and Katie Kissoon. Jimmie Vaughan will serve as the opening act.
Clapton has not performed in public since the start of the pandemic. But he did stir up quite a bit of controversy by collaborating with Van Morrison on his anti-lockdown song “Stand and Deliver.” “Do you want to be a free man,” he sang on the widely panned song. “Or do you want to be a slave?”
Clapton caused an even greater uproar in May when he released a public letter blaming the AstraZeneca vaccine for severe numbness in his hands in the days that made him fear he’d never be able to play guitar again. “I continue to tread the path of passive rebellion and try to toe the line in order to be able to actively love my family,” he wrote, “but it’s hard to bite my tongue with what I now know.”
As many doctors and medical experts pointed out, it’s impossible to say whether or not the vaccine caused his symptoms, and Clapton said he was suffering from peripheral neuropathy before he even received the shot.
Eric Clapton 2021 North American Tour Dates
September 13th – Fort Worth, TX @ Dickies Arena
September 15th – Austin, TX @ Frank Erwin Center
September 17th – Houston, TX @ Toyota Center
September 18th – New Orleans, LA @ Smoothie King Center
September 21st – Nashville, TN @ Bridgestone Arena
September 23rd – Atlanta, GA @ Gas South Arena
September 25th – Tampa, FL @ Amalie Arena
September 26th – Hollywood, FL @ Seminole Hard Rock
