From the desk (and BlackBerry) of Keith Parnell

EC tour press release from whereseric.com -

Updated 12 February 2009 with onsale information for all cities. Original press release issued on 11 February 2009.

On Heels of Three Exclusive Shows at MADISON SQUARE GARDEN, Duo Announce A Special 14-City U.S. Tour This Spring

After their historic three-nights at Madison Square Garden, Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood announced today an exclusive 14 city U.S. tour beginning June 10, 2009.

After a stunning collaboration at the Chicago Crossroads Guitar Festival in July of 2007 and much speculation, Steve Winwood and Eric Clapton announced three eagerly anticipated concerts at New York’s Madison Square Garden. Those shows featured the artists performing together in a varied set list with Blind Faith classics and solo hits from each artist. Critics acclaimed the shows as historic and some of the best Clapton Winwood work ever. The tour promises more of the same collaborative musicianship that made these men legendary award-winning artists.

Both Winwood and Clapton have long and prestigious musical careers with countless honors and awards to their names. Their musical paths connected in 1969 with the formation of Blind Faith, a group that pioneered the fusion of rock and blues into tremendous studio and stage success. Despite critical and popular acclaim, the band was short-lived with only one album and a brief 1969 tour that debuted July 12 at Madison Square Garden and ended August 24th in Hawaii. Since that final show, Winwood and Clapton have remained friends, but have only performed together a few times over the years for an occasional song at a charity event. The 2008 Madison Square Garden shows were the first full Winwood-Clapton concerts in 40 years. Additionally, 2009 marks the 40th anniversary of Blind Faith and 40 years since they performed to over 100,000 people in Hyde Park, London.

Steve Winwood is currently signed to Columbia Records and released an album of new music, NINE LIVES in 2008. Eric Clapton’s compilation album Complete Clapton was released in 2008 on Reprise Records. The duo’s captivating performance at the 2007 Crossroads Guitar Festival in Chicago can be seen as part of a 2-disc DVD available now from Rhino Entertainment. A forthcoming 2-disc DVD/CD of the duo’s Madison Square Garden shows will be released this Spring.

Ticket On-Sale Information: Check local listings. Tickets available at ticketmaster.com.

2009 TOUR SCHEDULE:

June 10 East Rutherford, NJ Izod Center
June 12 Philadelphia, PA Wachovia Center
June 13 Washington, DC Verizon Center
June 15 Columbus, OH Schottenstein Center
June 17 Chicago, IL United Center
June 18 St. Paul, MN Xcel Energy Center
June 20 Omaha, NE Qwest Center
June 21 Denver, CO Pepsi Center
June 23 Dallas, TX American Airlines Center
June 24 Houston, TX Toyota Center
June 26 Glendale, AZ Jobing.com Arena
June 27 Las Vegas, NV MGM Grand Arena
June 29 Oakland, CA Oracle Arena
June 30 Los Angeles, CA Hollywood Bowl

- - end of official press release issued on 11 February 2009 - -

ON SALE DETAILS

Concert information may not appear on ticket vendor’s website until 24 to 48 hours prior to sale. Please be sure to check back for updated information as the onsale dates approach as all information is subject to change.

10 June / Izod Center, East Rutherford NJ
Internet sales from ticketmaster.com and livenation.com
Telephone sales from Ticketmaster Charge-By-Phone 1-800-745-3000
Tickets on sale to the general public 21 February from 10AM

12 June / Wachovia Center, Philadelphia PA
Internet sales from ticketmaster.com
Tickets on sale to the general public 28 February from 10AM

13 June / Verizon Center, Washington DC
Internet sales from ticketmaster.com
Tickets on sale to the general public 20 February from 10AM

15 June / Schottenstein Center, Columbus OH
Internet sales from ticketmaster.com
Tickets on sale to the general public 21 February from 10AM

17 June / United Center, Chicago IL
Internet sales from ticketmaster.com
Tickets on sale to the general public 28 February from 10AM

18 June / Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul MN
Internet sales from ticketmaster.com
Tickets on sale to the general public 28 February from 10AM

20 June / Qwest Center, Omaha NE
Internet sales from ticketmaster.com
Tickets on sale to the general public 28 February from 10AM

21 June / Pepsi Center, Denver CO
Internet sales from ticketmaster.com
Tickets on sale to the general public 21 February from 10AM

23 June / American Airlines Center, Dallas TX
Internet sales from ticketmaster.com
Tickets on sale to the general public 21 February from 10AM

24 June / Toyota Center, Houston TX
Internet sales from ticketmaster.com
Tickets on sale to the general public 28 February from 10AM

26 June / Jobing.com Arena, Glendale AZ
Internet sales from ticketmaster.com
Tickets on sale to the general public 23 February from 10AM

27 June / MGM Grand Arena, Las Vegas NV
Internet sales from ticketmaster.com
Tickets on sale to the general public 28 February from 10AM

29 June / Oracle Arena, Oakland CA
Internet sales from ticketmaster.com
Tickets on sale to the general public 2 March from 10AM

30 June / Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles CA
Internet sales from ticketmaster.com
Tickets on sale to the general public 22 February from 10AM
Related links:

Clapton Concert Calendar

Set Lists and Fan Reviews from the 2008 Winwood / Clapton Concerts
A Note About Purchasing Concert Tickets:

Where’s Eric! advises fans to purchase tickets only from official ticket sources as ticket touts / brokers / scalpers are inherently unreliable. Ticket ads placed by Google and similar internet ads are not endorsed by Where’s Eric!. Fans are strongly advised against patronizing ticket re-sellers and do so entirely at their own risk. Official ticket sources can always be found listed with each date on this page of whereseric.com.

Music, Thoughts Blind Faith, concert, Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, tour

Brandon Savage tagged me with writing seven little-known things about myself and then tagging seven other people to do the same. So here goes …

1. I took 3 years of Latin in high school because I had dreams of going to medical school.
2. The name of my company, JASE, is an acronym from the initials of my two daughters: “Jennifer Annette” and “Sydni Elizabeth”.
3. My first (real) job was during the summer at a landscaping company when I was 15. I got fired half-way through the summer because they found out I wasn’t old enough to work. My first (not real) job was delivering newspapers when I was 14.
4. I quit band near the end of my 6th grade school year just before the spring concert because the concert was on the same night as one of my little league baseball games. Yes, my Dad let me decide! Thanks Pop.
5. I played baseball in college. And for a few years made money playing slow-pitch softball.
6. I’m an Eric Clapton F*R*E*A*K! Clapton. Cream. Derek and the Dominos. John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers. Yardbirds. Blind Faith. Plastic Ono Band. Delaney, Bonnie & Friends. If it’s Clapton, I can’t get enough.
7. My Dad passed away in 1999 after battling cancer. He is my idol. To most people that know me, that’s not a surprise. But it’s worth mentioning because too many children don’t have role models in their home. I did when I was young. And I’m proud of that fact.

And now, here are the seven people that I tag to do the same.

1. Nicole Blum - blog - twitter - JASEzone
2. Keith Ainsley - blog - twitter - JASEzone
3. Michelle Rogerson - blog - twitter
4. Nick Webb - blog - twitter - JASEzone
5. Rick Whittington - blog - twitter
6. Michael Tefft - blog - twitter
7. Guy Kemp - blog - twitter

Here are the rules:

• Link your original tagger, and list these rules on your blog.
• Share seven facts about yourself in the post - some random, some weird.
• Tag seven people at the end of your post by leaving their names and the links to their blogs.
• Let them know they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment on their blogs and/or Twitter and/or JASEzone.

Time for some fun!

Thoughts band, Blind Faith, blog, Bonnie, Brandon Savage, cancer, college, Cream, Dad, Delaney, Derek and the Dominos, Eric Clapton, Guy Kemp, JASE, John Mayall, Keith Ainsley, landscaping, Latin, little league baseball, medical school, Michael Tefft, Michelle Rogerson, Nick Webb, Nicole Blum, paper boy, Rick Whittington, softball, tag, Twitter, Yardbirds