Over the years there have been any number of people who've expressed the opinion that Clapton needs someone else on stage to fire off, and while you might be inclined to interpret that as a putdown, I'd counter with the suggestion that anyone with the man's experience isn't going to be turning in a bad show but will need some form of external spark if you're going to get him to fire.
I'd been aware of Derek Trucks before he landed a gig with the Allman Brothers and comments that the kid almost seemed to be channeling Duane Allman (from brother Gregg, no less) meant I had high hopes that Clapton would be firing on all cylinders and surging through the Layla end of his repertoire rather than the Wonderful Tonight extreme.
From the opening number I knew we were in for a good night since the solo in the middle of went to Trucks, D rather than Clapton, E or the third guitar-slinger on stage Doyle Bramhall III.
While Wonderful Tonight ended up collecting a guernsey, the rest of the set featured a large chunk of Layla and other Assorted Love Songs, and we walked out very happy indeed, but I can't help wondering what people hoping for the poppier end of Clapton's repertoire made of it all.
Looking back over the years there have been plenty of hard core blues fans walking out of Clapton concerts shaking their heads and wishing the man would play more blues, so I suspect that the presence of Mr Trucks (and Doyle Bramhall) was a significant influence on the set-list.
And it would be remiss of me to move on without mentioning Mia Dyson's opening set, which was classy, with some excellent guitar work and drums by an awfully familiar-looking gentleman who turned out to be Angus Diggs.
Over the next two and a half years various influences combined to limit the chances to attend concerts. While the start of 2009 looked like a prime opportunity to head south and catch some concert action, a combination of the wake of the global financial crisis and uncertainty about whether the income from my father's estate would be sufficient to cover the executor's expenses and other outgoings meant I had to (reluctantly) pass on the chance to catch Neil Young, Leonard Cohen and Jeff Beck.