Mumbai’s played host to the Bootleg Beatles and the all-female version of Led Zeppelin, Lez Zeppelin. Evidently, if we can’t see the real thing, the tribute act will do just fine. This fortnight, Eric Clapton look- and sound-alike Mike Hall brings his group After Midnight to the city for a performance of Classic Clapton, a two hour-long concert that will take us through Slowhand’s five-decade career and will feature all his biggest hits. Time Out spoke to Hall, who formed the group in his hometown of Newcastle in England, about what it’s like being the frontman of the “World’s No 1 Eric Clapton Tribute Band”.
When did you realise that you sound a lot like Eric Clapton?
I saw Eric playing with Cream at Newcastle’s Club a Gogo in 1967. I then formed a band at my school playing Cream songs. After school, I played in a few bands over the years but nothing serious. Then in 1985, I saw Eric Clapton on TV at the Live Aid concert. He played several songs including “Layla” and “White Room”. I thought he was just as good as ever. I decided to form a band specialising in his music. This is before the term “tribute band” was invented. We called the band After Midnight, after EC’s first solo hit. We quickly became very popular in the north-east of England. I had always been playing his songs and was a big fan of his music. I therefore found it fairly easy to cover his singing and guitar style.
How do you maintain the Eric Clapton look? Do you dye your beard and hair to match his?
Around the same time that I formed After Midnight, people started coming up to me in bars, in the street and on holiday and saying “you look like Eric Clapton” or even “Excuse me, are you Eric Clapton?” I had not changed my appearance in any way. This was just the way that I looked, with dark hair and a beard. I have kept the same look over the years, but recently Eric has cut his hair and beard shorter.
You’ve met Eric Clapton twice. What was it like?
He was an absolute gentleman. I met him backstage at the Royal Albert Hall, London, and also at the Birmingham NEC in the late 1980s. His keyboards player at the time, Alan Clark (ex Dire Straits), who’s also from Newcastle introduced me to Eric. We just stared at each other. I was very much in awe of Eric because he is my hero. I couldn’t think of anything sensible to say, but Eric was very nice to me.
What’s your all-time favourite Eric Clapton song?
If I had to pick one song, I would say “Layla”. This song has so much about it. It has one of the best guitar riffs of all time at the start. The lyrics are all about Eric’s un-requited love for George Harrison’s wife Pattie (whom later Eric married). It has this wonderful piano piece at the end – almost like a piece of classical music. It is also quite a difficult song to sing and play at the same time. The vocals are very high and the guitar work is tricky. Therefore I get a lot of satisfaction from playing it. We even do two versions of it – we include an un-plugged version of “Layla” in our set.
What of Eric Clapton’s vast repertoire can we expect to hear at the gig?
We will perform all of EC’s classic songs including “Wonderful Tonight”, “Tears In Heaven”, “Crossroads”, “I Shot The Sheriff”, “Cocaine”, “Lay Down Sally” and of course “Layla”! There will even be an unplugged segment. The whole of Clapton’s illustrious career will be covered including Cream, John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, The Yardbirds, Derek & The Dominos and the solo years – nearly two hours of classic Clapton. Amit Gurbaxani
Source : Time Out Mumbai ISSUE 26 Friday, August 20, 2010
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