Blimp Time-Hop: Clapton Rocks Full House At 1st Portland Show

41 years ago today, Eric Clapton played a sold-out show at the Civic Center. The Backless Tour came to Portland on May 26, 1979. This was his first time at the CCCC and the great McKinley Morganfield best known as Muddy Waters was also on the bill.

lt was extra special for Maine Clapton fans as this trip to Northeast New England was a two-night stand. The first performance happened in my hometown at the Augusta Civic Center the evening before.

I remember being very envious to say the least, of one my buds whose parents allowed him to go. You see, we were 12 year olds at the time.

No way were my parents gonna let me be around all that high volume and all those high teenagers.

The only shows I saw there when I was a kid in the 70s were Bob Hope and The Shrine Circus every year on April vacation.

We can't find the setlist for Clapton's second night at the Cumberland County Civic Center. We were however able to find the one from the Augusta night. This was EC's first ever Maine appearance. There were a total of five times from 1979 to 1985 that this epic guitar god came to play for us here with four of those concerts at CCCC.

Backless was Eric Clapton's follow-up to his best known solo work, Slowhand. The album, released in November of ’78 features the songs Promises and Tulsa Time.

The Backless Tour was captured at Budokan Theatre in Tokyo at the very end of the 70s and lives on forever as the historic double-live album, Just One Night. 

This one'll absolutely get yer feet stompin'.