Seventy and still going strong – Eric Clapton heads to Japan in April of next year for a five-night residency at Tokyo’s famed Nippon Budokan. The shows are set to take place on April 13th, 15th, 16th, 18th and 19th, and tickets go on sale December 5th.
Clapton celebrated his 70th birthday with an all-star show in New York in May, followed by his 17th residency at London’s Royal Albert Hall – a seven-show stretch documented in the recently released concert film Slowhand at 70, which hit retail last Friday (11/13). The second concert of the run marked the blues legend’s record-breaking 200th appearance at the venue since he first performed there with The Yardbirds in 1964. The Telegraph called his performance “technically flawless and occasionally spine-tingling.”
In a 2013 interview with Rolling Stone, Clapton confessed that retirement might be in his future. “When I’m 70, I’ll stop,” he said. “I won’t stop playing or doing one-offs, but I’ll stop touring, I think.” And in an interview with Uncut magazine last year, he explained, “There are tons of things I’d like to do, but I’m looking at retirement, too. What I’ll allow myself to do, within reason, is carry on recording in the studio.” Could the guitarist already be changing his tune? Or at the very least, can we expect more longer-term residencies in the future? Nothing’s been announced yet, but we’ll keep you posted.
Check out a clip of Clapton’s performance of “Cocaine” at Royal Albert Hall earlier this year:
