Customer Reviews

Eric Clapton: Live at Montreux, 1986

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Why did Eagle Vision decide to remove "Run" and the encore with Robert Cray?

The Ramblin On My Mind > Have You Ever Loved A Woman encore track is awesome with a bunch of key changes, and Robert Cray on guitar.

A shame, but still a great DVD, much more complete than the other DVD from 1986 ("Eric Clapton and Friends").

As for the performance, it is top notch. Clapton had a great group of players in 86-87 with the four piece band of Collins/East/Phillinganes.
Greg Phillinganes provides the vocals for the chorus of "White Room" and the entire song of "Behind the Mask".

Some of Greg Phillingnaes synths are rather dated, but it doesn't detract from these excellent shows. Additionally, Phil Collins rocks the house with his smash hit "In The Air Tonight".

Can't recommend this enough despite its shortcomings. It would be five stars if it was complete.

Eric Clapton was in fine voice and his guitar-playing was top-notch as always in this concert from 1986. Unfortunately, there were also some factors that really detracted from my enjoyment of the performance. First of all, I hated the electric keyboards of Greg Phillinganes. That noodling, mellotron sound, which was so popular in this 80s, is featured far too prominently in the mix to the extent that he even has several solos. In addition, there is a giant dead spot in the middle of the show when Clapton performs several songs that were then new but which have not stood the test of time. They are just not very good. The song that Phillinganes leads with bassist Nathan East is simply awful. A surprise highlight comes when Phil Collins leads the band in a performance of his classic "In the Air Tonight," one of the few songs from his solo work that I care for.

Clapton's career since his return in the 80's has been an interesting musical journey throught his musical influcences from blues to rock to pop. He flirted with Pop during the early 80's and slowly began moving towards the blues again with his album Journeynan. This video is from the end of his pop period and it shows some fine playing from Calpton and the rest of the band. The performance is true to the era as some of the arragements are 80's influenced (as well as tye clothes!).

After all these years of hearing Clapton perform with blues/rock drummers like Steve Gadd it is interesting on hearing him with Phil Collins on drums. His drumming is quite recognizable and it provided a different back beat for Clapton to perform to. Collins druming was pop oriented and helped Clapton explore some new territories. The rest of the band kept playing with Clapton during the 80's and 90's - specially Nathan East on Bass.

Overall, the performance is, as expected, very good and it is nice addition to Clapton's video collection.

This DVD, for me is a frustrating, tantalizing taunt about what might have been. Clapton, Collins, East and Phillinganes all play well, and they play songs I like to hear. Clapton's tone is pretty good (except for a bit of silly slapback delay on the solos of a few of the songs), thick and beefy while still sounding like a Stratocaster.

There are problems with the sound at times. Clapton will start a solo but his guitar stays buried in the overall mix. The sound man was asleep at the switch, apparently.

The biggest disappointment is in the camera coverage. Whoever directed/edited the various cameras' footage was someone "unclear on the concept." Almost every time Clapton breaks into a solo, the camera cuts to a view of Phil Collins' back as he plays drums, or to the keyboard player or almost anywhere but Eric Clapton and his hands and guitar. So if you're a musician, you're going to find this a bit nerve-wracking (unless maybe you're a drummer, and likely even then).

If you're a non-musician (like the director of this video apparently was) and are a fan of Eric Clapton and want a concert video from the mid-Eighties, you may enjoy this a lot more than I did, although the quality of the video footage itself isn't all that great. (Eighties-technology video cameras.) Clapton's guitar solos' first few bars getting buried in the mix is a bit of a frowner, too. The band plays great and they seem to be having a good time, so it's not a total loss.

Caveat emptor.

clapton fresh from treatment at hazeldine in late 1984 developing his musical relationship with phil collins showing his chops at the small venue montreaux. Clapton had huge success with behind the sun (1985) produced by collins & ted templeton which gave him new confidence & direction. This 1986 show was performed shortly before the release of august (1986 album produced by collins) & showed how musically proficient clapton could be when free of a drug/alcohol induced haze. Collins also gave clapton a new edge rhythmically & vocally by introducing clapton to a very structured work-ethic. Clapton's vocals here are better then ever. The other interesting point is that the band is only 4 members (clapton/collins/phillinganes/east) & gives the music a balanced space. Collins is behind the set except for in the air tonight & doesn't overshadow clapton's celebrity or ego one bit. There are many good standards here including sheriff, white room, layla, & crossroads. Newer notable tunes are same old blues, miss you, & holy mother. I think collins really gave the older tunes a rhymic edge that hadn't existed before. His drumming is so aggressive and creates a mood that the music gathers around to a point that each note & chord change hinges on it. phillinganes & east are great too. The show is incredible & raw.

Superb concert featuring Eric Clapton with an incredible backing band including Phil Collins on drums, Nathan East and Greg Phillinganes. Set list is terrific featuring new songs from then soon to be released "August" cd. Only "Run" was left off this wonderful performance possibly due to lack of disc space. My favorite was "I Shot The Sheriff" and it clearly is one of Clapton's favorite songs. He gives it a real special treatment here in enthusiasm and musicianship. I cannot understand why anyone would complain about this concert except maybe "August" was not their album. Sound quality is excellent and picture could use some remastering for addl color if possible. Eric looks hot in his bright orange shirt.

Must have for Clapton fans. Good mix, great artists, although rather poor camera work at times.

i wanted this dvd in spite of the fact that phil collins was part of it as i didn't want a co-concert. but it turned out fine as phil was just part of the band and only took center stage, so to speak, in a small way. as to the concert itself, eric chose his support group well with greg phillinganes on keys and nathan east on bass - two of my personal favorites.it is almost impossible not to be magical with nathan east on bass. the only complaint i can possibly have is all the songs i wish he had performed but, if he did, they weren't part of this concert. eric was clearly feeding off the crowd's excitement. " wonderful tonight" is absent but that's okay.

Eric Clapton is one of our favorites. We have seen him in concert, but wanted to own some of his work on DVD to enjoy with family and friends. This DVD in particular, has some of our favorite music, such as "Crossroads," "I Shot the Sheriff," "Cocaine," and the ever favorite; "Layla!" Would highly recommend this DVD for anyone who admires and enjoys listening and seeing the best guitar player in the world! Simply Awesome!

not a typical Eric Clapton, he just was used for the name, mostly other jazz players