Eric Clapton Announces U.S. Dates; More to Come?

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It appears that at 71 years of age, Eric Clapton will still be performing live; he’s just being a bit more selective on the rigorous demands that full blown tours have.

Today (November 28), Slowhand announced that he’ll be doing four U.S. dates in 2017 under the banner “A Celebration of 50 Years of Music”: two at New York’s Madison Square Garden on March 19 and 20, and two at the Forum in Los Angeles on March 25 and 26. The shows are being presented by Chase. Advance tickets go on sale this Thursday, December 1. The general public sale begins Saturday, December 3. Click here for details and tickets.

In September, Clapton announced three dates at his home away from home, London’s Royal Albert Hall, on May 22, 24 and 25. They will be his only U.K. shows of next year. The shows sold out immediately though re-sale tickets are available here.

It’s unclear whether Clapton will add dates in other markets around the world.

It’s expected that the U.S. dates will feature the same band members as the London dates: Paul Carrack, Steve Gadd, Nathan East, Chris Stainton, Sharon White and Michelle John.

The dates were announced by the Clapton blog Where’s Eric. Guitarists Gary Clark, Jr. and Jimmie Vaughan will be special guests at the shows.

Clapton has previously discussed retiring from live performing. His only 2016 dates were five concerts in April at Tokyo’s Nippon Budokan.

On September 30, Clapton released a live recording, Eric Clapton Live in San Diego with Special Guest JJ Cale, from a May 15, 2007 concert in San Diego that features Cale – and other guests. Cale – Clapton’s idol, who died in 2013 – appears on five of the tracks. Other guitar greats who join in are Derek Trucks, Doyle Bramhall II and Robert Cray.

Earlier this year, Clapton released a solo album, I Still Do. (Read our review here.)

Watch Clapton perform a favorite at MSG in 2015…