Eric on the Constellation: SHOWTIME

The stage was set, the band rehearsed and EQ’d by the sound guy and the lights were being programmed. There was a wait until the show started in the evening and I was a little nervous. I knew my parts and I was a little worried that I would forget some of the lyrics. However, after a practice again in my cabin, I was confident that I would put on a good show. I was quietly excited. This was a big thing for me, I'd taken a long time to develop the show in conjunction with my agent and tested it on Princess cruises while I was employed as a guitar of vocalist. The entertainment team there had been very supportive of my show and the audience who had witnessed the birth of the show loved Eric Clapton. In fact, whenever I played Eric Clapton on a cruise ship, I got such a great response.

I have to give credit to my friend Mark Poulter, who was the one who suggested that I would make a good Eric Clapton tribute in the first place. I initially thought about doing a Mark Knopfler tribute (Dire Straits), I'd even bought a red and white Stratocaster guitar just like Mr Knopfler. However, the guitar turned out to be not very good plus, Mark Knopfler plays right handed yet he is a left-handed person. It means that he has more dexterity with his left hand than his right. So when he plays the guitar in his own unique way, it's very difficult to emulate as a right handed guitarist myself. It's not impossible but it would've taken me a long time to study and to develop my right hand technique and left-hand technique by Mark. Fortunately, my friend Mr Poulter had said to me one day “you know who you'd make a good tribute to?” “Who?” I'd said. "Eric Clapton… you look a bit like him, and you play a bit like him and people love his music. He’s international.” And he was right. Whenever I played Eric Clapton on ships, people got very excited, presumably because the clientele on cruise ship ships of the right age group to appreciate Eric and and many people I've met have seen Eric live in concert in his heyday. I envy them that. So based on the feedback from so many guests and the entertainment team I realised that this show was a real possibility - that it might be quite popular and successful. The tricky bit would be convincing the cruise companies as I've heard that they are looking for more tributes to people like Ed Sheeran, Adele and modern artists. Of course, the old Music is much better. No offense Ed or Adele! You're both awesome.

Once I've got an agent interested, it was about developing my show and a second show. Cruise companies like to have options and so my other show is a guitar heroes show. But that's a topic for a future blog post!

I stood backstage in my costume, based on Eric's look in the early 90s when I think he was at his absolute peak of performance – he beaten his drug addiction, his alcoholic addiction, he was in a stable relationship and he had in his own words "clarity" in his playing. Plus, I love his guitar and vocal sound in the 90s. I never set out to imitate Eric but I did want to celebrate his music in my own way. I knew the audience would want to hear his style of guitar playing, which many great guitarist revere anyway because he always plays just what's necessary and he has certain trademark riffs and technique which I needed to be able to emulate.

Brown Loafers

My Eric Outfit

The band began congregating back stage with me, now in my steamed Eric suit, based on his early 90s look. My electric guitar was on and ready, the Cruise Director wished me luck and went on stage, greeted the audience and asked them if there were any Eric Clapton fans in the house - a loud cheer came up. That gave me confidence. I was introduced, the band began to play the intro to Bad Love. I waited. The stage was dark. I knew my cue and I walked out silhouetted against the band, reaching my pedal board, I cranked up the volume and hit my first note - we were off! We rocketed through the song and when we’d finished - loud applause and a couple of whistles. They liked it!

Bad Love opening the Eric Clapton Tribute Show

The show progressed well and the audience didn’t expect one or two of the songs and so I got a louder cheer for them. It’s good to keep the audience on the edge of their seat.

Ian Michael Frost playing "Wonderful Tonight" on the Celebrity Constellation

As I expected, Wonderful Tonight was the most well received song. I’ve heard many people say this was their wedding song. I also love performing this one - it’s a classic and beautifully simple!

Ian soloing on "Sunshine Of Your Love" on the Celebrity Constellation

I have to leave certain songs to the end… one in particular… LAYLA. When I start playing the opening riff the crowd always go a bit nuts. I get a small understanding of what Eric Clapton feels like when he plays his signature tune - quite a buzz! I got great feedback from guests, the entertainment team and the orchestra. All I had to do was repeat the show later that evening, and the second show always goes better as the first one acts as a second rehearsal. I think it was a success!!

The next day, at the buffet for breakfast, I got a weird sensation that people were looking at me. Up to that point I appeared to be just another passenger but now they knew. “Morning Eric!” They would say “loved the show!” Haha. “I’m not Eric” I said “but I am glad you thought I was good enough to represent him on stage”.

Thanks to all the people at Celebrity Cruise for helping me deliver a show that people enjoyed so much. I am very grateful. If you were one of my audience - thanks for coming and feel free to message me on her or any of my social media channels. Links are top right of this page.

See you on the next blog post everybody and thanks for reading.