Not seen for 14 years in the state where he famously found recovery, Eric Clapton will return to Minnesota for an Xcel Energy Center concert on Sept. 14.
The three-time Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee will be joined by Texas blues-guitar hero Jimmie Vaughan at the Thursday night gig in St. Paul, one of only a handful of U.S. dates he announced Monday.
Tickets go on sale Friday at 10 a.m. via Ticketmaster, with presale options starting Wednesday. Prices were not provided by the show's promoter, Jam Productions.
Clapton, 77, was something of a regular at Xcel Energy Center after the hockey arena's 2000 opening, playing there four times from 2001 to 2009. The last of those shows was with his old Blind Faith bandmate Steve Winwood as a tour partner.
In addition to opener Vaughan — who's been a regular at Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festivals — the rock guitar god of Cream, Derek & the Dominos, Yardbirds and solo fame will be joined on tour in September by another Texas guitar hero as part of his band, Doyle Bramhall II (Arc Angels, Roger Waters). Other members of Clapton's 2023 live lineup will include Paul Carrack of Mike + the Mechanics and Chris Stainton, who was a longtime keyboardist for Joe Cocker going back to 1970's Mad Dogs & Englishmen Tour (including the opening-night concert at the Minneapolis club now known as First Avenue).
Clapton has spoken and written openly about his several lengthy stays during the 1980s seeking help for drug and alcohol addiction at Hazelden treatment facility an hour north of the Twin Cities in Center City (now named the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation). His success there led to him funding the Crossroads Centre in Antigua in 1998, another treatment facility that he funds via those Crossroads Festivals and other events.
