On Friday I got a message from my dad to ask if I was interested in seeing Eric Clapton at the Albert Hall the following night. His neighbour has a box and there was a seat going spare. I've been listening to Eric's music for many years and admire him as a guitarist, but was not really in the 'Clapton is God' camp. Still, I couldn't pass up this opportunity to see one of the greats in this iconic venue that I had not visited before.

The Albert Hall seems smaller in real life than it appears on TV. The box was opposite stage, but still not too far away. The support act was Arc Angels from Austin, Texas. Their blues-rock reminded me somewhat of Derek and the Dominoes with some nice slide playing. One of the guitarists is left-handed and they swapped guitars in the middle of one song just to show off a little. They were pretty good, but the sound was not quite good enough to make out the lyrics.

Eric took to the stage exactly on schedule with his band. I didn't recognise the first song, but it was followed by a series of classics from the Dominoes album, some Cream and solo pieces like I Shot the Sheriff and Cocaine. There was an acoustic set in the middle that included Layla. The encore was Crossroads and they left the stage to great applause, right on schedule.

Eric was a good as I would expect, mostly playing his trademark black Strat. He seemed to be using a tiny Fender amplifier sitting on the drum riser. Andy Fairweather-Low backed him up with some cool soloing himself. I was less impressed by all the keyboard solos from the two players. They got a bit repetitive. There were a series of door-sized screens behind the stage. These were used well on the acoustic set to show close-ups of the guitars, but were otherwise just distracting when just showing random patterns, presumably to set a mood.

The sound was pretty good. Better than for the support. The volume was about right. It doesn't have to be deafening as when I saw McFly with my daughter a couple of weeks back. The mood was pretty relaxed with the audience seated until the last song, but good applause and a fair bit of shouting, some by men professing their love for Eric. It was obviously a very well rehearsed show with little spontaneity. All very well done, but a bit lacking in emotional involvement. Clapton didn't say more than 'Thank you'.

It was only when we were leaving that someone noticed that the Duke of Kent was in the neighbouring royal box. I hope he and his family enjoyed it, but it didn't seem to hold the interest of two girls there who spent half the show taking pictures of themselves. I'll be back at the Albert Hall next month with my family to see The King and I.