Show day arrived and it was time to rehearse the band. Viking have a tight-knit band of 4 musicians - the traditional rhythm section, who play with the headliner or for the stage shows. No dancers on these ships either, just four production vocalists. The Cruise Director and Assistant Cruise Director had shows also with music provided by the resident band.
Setting the stage on the Viking Sky
My view of the Star Theater
It’s always intriguing to find out what sort of musicians I’m playing with and what they are used to in regards of written material and the use of backing tracks. Every backing band I have worked with have an entirely different understanding of how to approach my shows. There were a few technical problems with the tracks but once we had ironed that out we got on with the rehearsal. For the most part it was quite straightforward, but two of the songs have some interesting timings. “White Room” has Peter Edward “Ginger” Baker’s famous bolero-drum introduction which is in 5/4 time. This proved to be a little tricky to execute and needed several repeats. The second song that caused a little issue was “Layla” and in particular - the segue between the intro and the verses, where the verse comes in a little ahead of the beat. It took some work but we got there in the end!
Smoke and lights are always a good thing!
The ship set sail mid-afternoon and we made our way down the Thames towards the Thames Estuary. What a privilege to be aboard a luxury cruise liner as it sales down such an iconic stretch of water in such an historic city as London. The views were magnificent and I took advantage of the fact. Going up to the upper deck, I managed to get a good position to view the Isle of Dogs as we passed it (Canary Wharf tower) and on the other side of the river was the O2 Arena, formally known as the ‘Millennium Dome’. If any of you have ever seen the James Bond movie, “The World Is Not Enough”, you may recall the pre-credit sequence with Pierce Brosnan chasing Cigar Girl down the Thames and eventually ending on top of the Millennium Dome. I was re-living the scene in my head as I saw the O2 coming around the bend. Quite when it was rebranded as the O2 Arena, I'm not too sure. But seeing it from a high vantage point reminded me that it's actually quite tall!
Viewing the O2 Arena from the upper deck of Viking Sky
Ian performing "Lay Down Sally" on the Viking Sky
✨ SHOW TIME!! ✨
Ian performing "Sunshine of Your Love" on the Viking Sky
There was a lot of voices murmuring in the audience as I prepared myself backstage. I took a quick peek and I could see that there was a full house! Great, I thought - lots of Eric Clapton fans. I turned on my in-ear-monitors (headphones) and it was time to sling my guitar over my shoulder, wait for the Cruise Director’s introduction to finish and join the stage! Sometimes things go clockwork, seamlessly, and effortlessly. Sometimes things happen which you least expect. I turned the volume up on my guitar and picked my first note… PAIN! My ears were in agony. The monitors were turned way too loud and I couldn't adjust them as I had my hands full. As a result, I fluffed my first few notes. I was mortified! But as they say in the trade, “the show must go on!”. So working through the pain I got the notes back under my fingers and had to bear the ear-breaking volume and get through to the verse. I held on singing the loudest I’d ever sung, as I was powerless to adjust anything until the chorus or else risk completely destroying the song. For the chorus is where, at last, I could stop strumming for a brief second (and ironically sing “I’ve been waiting so long…” I had. I reached behind me to my belt pack and the control that would give me some relief… Praise The Lord. I’ve never been so happy to hear myself quietly in my ears! I just hoped the audience didn’t notice! I expect they did but the rest of the show went really well. Thank goodness for a kind and forgiving audience!!
Ian performing "Wonderful Tonight" on the Viking Sky
The song that gives me the most pleasure to play is Wonderful Tonight, which is where my show gets its name. WT has an amazing opening riff, simple structure and beautiful lyrics. I just love it! And so it seems, did the audience. There's something about the searing ballad that gets everyone in a relaxed and happy mood.
Tears In Heaven
Another massive crowd-pleaser is the sorrowful ballad, “Tears In Heaven”. I remember being a teenager and seeing someone at my school performing it on his acoustic guitar. At the time I thought I was quite good on the guitar for my age, but he was awesome and sounded just like Eric. I made sure to learn the song after that experience. Professional jealousy often occurs in the guitar world because so many people play and play well.
My guitar teacher once gave me a good piece of advice: there'll always be a guitarist who plays better than you, but there’ll also always be a plenty of guitarists who doesn't play as well as you. It doesn't mean that your offering is bad. Good music doesn't have to be complicated either.
Tears in Heaven is a little complicated but I've played it so many times it just comes naturally.
After the show, I downed my guitar, opened the stage door and ran (well jogged) round to the Star Theatre entrance to greet people as they left and thank them for coming to my show. I got so many handshakes and thank you’s. Everyone seem to have enjoy themselves which was so pleasing to know! Each guest seemed to have a favourite song of what I'd performed and there's always one or two songs which they say I should've performed haha. Well, with the surprising number of hits that Eric has had either under his own name or as part of bands like Cream, Derek and the Dominoes, Blind Faith or the Yardbirds - it's not surprising but I had to admit a few for a 45 minute show.
Maybe next time I'll add in a few different ones…
Thanks to Viking Cruises for the opportunity to perform on your lovely Viking Sky. TTFN.