Reptile World Tour

The Reptile World Tour (pronounced /ˈrɛptaɪl wɜːld tʊə/), or sometimes just The Reptile Tour was a global concert tour held by the British Rock musician Eric Clapton in support of his fifteenth studio album Reptile.^[1] The tour started on February 3, 2001 at London's Royal Albert Hall and ended on December 15, 2001 at the Yokohama Arena in Yokohama. The tour included notable nights like Clapton's first long concert stint at the Royal Albert Hall for the first time since 1996, rare appearances in South America, as well as first-ever performances in Moscow and St Petersburg, Russia, Mexico and Venezuela.

For the tour, Clapton selected a number of musicians who also recorded on the 2001 Reptile album. The basic line-up consisted of Andy Fairweather Low on rhythm guitar, Nathan East on electric and acoustic bass guitar, Steve Gadd on drums and David Sancious on keyboards and rhythm guitar. Other musicians like Billy Preston on Hammond organ, Greg Phillinganes on keyboards and Hammond organ, Paulinho da Costa on percussion as well as The Impressions only appeared on selected dates of the tour. The tour's set list also underwent changes during the tour. In 2001, Clapton said this was going to be his last major world tour.^[2] However, he did perform another world tour in 2011 to support his Clapton album.

Background

Europe

Clapton started the Reptile World Tour on February 3, 2001 at the Royal Albert Hall in London. Clapton played five out of six planned shows at the venue on February 3, 4, 6, 9 and 10, 2001. It was Clapton's first long concert stint at the English venue since 1996, when he played a total of 13 shows in a row. The concert on February 7, 2001 was cancelled as Clapton was ill with a sore throat and a cold. It was not re-scheduled. Clapton and his band played Sheffield, Manchester and Birmingham on February 12, 14, a 16, 2001 to conclude the leg or performances in the United Kingdom. From mid to late February, Clapton toured Portugal, Spain, France and Italy. On February 22, 2001, David Sancious first began to play the rhythm guitar on the song "Layla" on the tour.

In March 2001, Clapton performed further shows in Italy and France. He also played in Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden and the Netherlands. In April, Clapton finished the European leg of the tour with shows in again Sweden, Norway, Finland and Russia. The leg featured The Impressions for most of the shows as well as Paulinho da Costa on percussion. Doyle Bramhall II & Smokestack supported Clapton on the tour until April 3, 2001 at the Globen Stockholm. Afterwards, Clapton carried on without support for his final European shows.

North America

On March 12, 2001, Clapton's management and promoters announced the first leg of Clapton's performances in North America.^[3] The first leg of his North American tour began on May 10, 2001 in Dallas, Texas and ended on June 23, 2001 in New York City. Clapton played a total of 25 shows during his first leg and extended the North American segment of the tour due to high ticket demand.^[4] Clapton played another 20 shows in North America and a total of 45 shows in the continent, including a three-night performance at New York City's Madison Square Garden. The touring band did no longer feature Paulinho da Costa but Billy Preston on Hammond organ and keyboards instead. The Impressions rejoined Clapton for the Southern American shows of the tour. Doyle Bramhall II & Smokestack also supported Clapton for the North American leg of the Reptile World Tour. On May 14, 2001, American Blues guitarist and singer Jimmie Vaughan joined Clapton on stage in Houston, Texas and Clapton changed his set list featuring more Blues tunes than previously on the tour. From May 22, 2001 to June 11, 2001, Billy Preston did not perform with Clapton due to illness.

Clapton began the second leg of his North American tour on July 17, 2001 in St. Paul, Minnesota and played an additional 20 North American shows until the second leg ended on August 18, 2001 at Los Angeles' Staples Center. The second North American leg also featured support from Doyle Bramhall II & Smokestack. On July 24, 2001, Clapton was joined by fellow Blues guitarist Buddy Guy in Chicago, Illinois. On July 25, 2001, Clapton added Billy Preston's "Will It Go Round in Circles" to the set list. On August 5, 2001, Preston again cancelled a concert due to illness. On August 13, 2001, Clapton dedicated the song "Bell Bottom Blues" to Maureen Reagan, who had died a few days previous at age 60 at his Las Vegas concert. The North America legs consisted of 43 shows in the United States and two shows in Canada.

In North America alone, Clapton grossed a total of 44,346,504 million US dollar, making the Reptile World Tour the 7th best-selling concert tour of 2001.^[5]

South America

The South American leg of the tour consisted of eight shows, the British rock musician held with his standard touring band, except Billy Preston who has been replaced by Greg Phillinganes on the Hammond organ and keyboards for the performances. Clapton started the leg in Chile, with Miguel "Botafogo" Vilanova as the supporting act. On October 6, 2001, Clapton performed in Argentina, supported by the La Mississippi Blues Band and Memphis La Blusera and performed in Uruguay two days later. For Clapton's three shows in Brazil on October 10, 11, and 13, 2001, Roberto Frejat served as the opening act for Clapton. The British rock musician performed in Venezuela for the first time in his career with Biella Da Costa as the supporting act on October 16, 2001 during the tour and ended the South American leg of the tour on October 19, 2001 in Mexico City in support of the band Toto. The Reptile World Tour marked Clapton's second tour through South America since the 1990 Journeyman World Tour.

Asia

Clapton started the final leg of his massive Reptile World Tour on November 19, 2001 in Osaka, Japan where he played three nights in a row at the Osaka-jō Hall. On November 24, 2001 and November 26, 2001, Clapton travelled to Nagoya and Fukuoka for another two shows in Japan. From November 28, 2001 to December 11, 2001, Clapton played eight shows at the Nippon Budokan; only interrupted by a performance in Sendai on November 8, 2001. The British singer performed two more shows on December 14, 2001 and December 15, 2001 in Yokohama where the Reptile World Tour ended. All the Asian shows had no supporting act and again featured Greg Phillinganes on keyboards and Hammond organ instead of Billy Preston.

Set lists

Sometimes Clapton performed songs like "It's Alright", "Finally Got Myself Together" and "I Ain't Gonna Stand for It" just when The Impressions were included on concert dates. If the vocal group had not appeared on a gig with Clapton, he did not perform the song. Usually, Clapton performed 18 to 21 songs each show.

References