Endorsed by the man himself, family, friends & band mates celebrate Eric’s record-breaking ‘24 Nights’ at The Royal Albert Hall, & best-selling LIVE album of all time, MTV’s ‘Unplugged’
Very special guests include Eric Clapton’s bass player, Nathan East, and legendary drummer Steve Ferrone (Eric Clapton/Tom Petty) who join founding members Will Johns (Eric’s nephew) and Noah East (Nathan’s son) on stage.
This will be the first time in over 30 years that East & Ferrone have revisited these historic performances together.
Needing no introduction, when schedules allow, Nathan East thoroughly enjoys not only playing with his 24-year-old son, but with an ever-changing list of the very best musicians, many of whom he has played with in Eric’s band. One of the most recorded bass players of all time, East was 16 years old when he got his first break and found himself on the road with Barry White. The next time the phone rang, Quincy Jones was on the line. The calls kept coming, and for the last four decades, East has been recording and performing with artists as legendary as Phil Collins, George Harrison, Michael Jackson, Toto, Whitney Houston, Beyoncé, Barbra Streisand, and Stevie Wonder. He is a founding member of the chart-topping contemporary jazz group Fourplay and has been one of Eric Clapton’s go-to bass players for over 40 years!
Known for his exceptional groove and deep ‘pocket’, Steve Ferrone’s six-year tenure with Eric Clapton included touring and recording on Journeyman, 24 Nights and Unplugged. He went on to join Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers in 1994, through to Tom’s untimely passing in 2017. He has also played with a myriad of top artists and musicians during a career spanning ‘at least’ five decades, including the Average White Band, Anita Baker, Bee Gees, George Benson, Johnny Cash, Tracy Chapman, Duran Duran, Bryan Ferry, Peter Frampton, Whitney Houston, Chaka Khan, Christine McVie, Pat Metheny and Marcus Miller.
With the successful 2023 reissue of the Royal Albert Hall concerts, dubbed “The Definitive 24 Nights” and 2025’s ‘extended, remixed and remastered’ “Unplugged…..Over 30 Years Later” this next generation of musicians believe it’s the perfect time to celebrate this historic and popular period, from an extraordinary career.
“To be able to play this music with those who were there in the first place is almost impossible to comprehend” says nephew Will Johns. Their bond, depth of understanding and level of musicianship is off the charts. Great stories as well! Of course, we’re playing classics like ‘Cocaine,’ ‘Sunshine of Your Love,’ ‘Badge,’ and ‘Layla,’ but there are many great songs that haven’t been performed for some time from the Gold and Platinum-selling albums ‘Behind the Sun,’ ‘August,’ and ‘Journeyman,’ such as ‘Bad Love,’ ‘Tearing Us Apart,’ ‘Holy Mother,’ and ‘Run.’ The band is on fire because it’s so exciting to revive these great tunes and audiences love it.” Johns is British icon Pattie (“Layla”) Boyd’s nephew and got to know his “Uncle Eric” as a boy, which included an introduction to his two lifelong loves: fishing and the guitar. His father is the late, great Andy Johns, legendary record producer and engineer for the likes of Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, and Van Halen.
Twenty-four-year-old Noah East has played the piano since the age of four and has listened to his father play with Clapton since he can remember: “Our goal is to do justice to this incredible body of work, and given Eric’s blessing of this project, we have the confidence to interpret these songs in our own way. So many great musicians want to sit in with the band, so we’ve decided to invite ‘special guests’ as often as we can. To have my father and Steve Ferrone back out together, is such an honour. We will also be playing songs from MTV’s Unplugged for the first time and we have a few ideas what else we might ‘unplug’. It’s all about honouring the legacy but keeping it fresh. We can’t wait to play these shows!
