# Planes, Trains and Eric

Planes, Trains and Eric is a documentary film about Eric Clapton's Mid and Far East Tour, which the British rock musician held in 2014. The recording provides a mixture of interviews, backstage footage and live concert performances by Clapton and his band as they travel through Japan, Singapore, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates. A second, alternative release title goes by the name of Planes, Trains and Eric: The Music, The Stories, The People – Mid and Far East Tour 2014. It was released on DVD and Blu-ray disc on November 4, 2014.

## Background

When Clapton announced in early 2014, that he had enough of the touring business and travel when turning 70, speculation from the news of the world started to ask Clapton for reasons and an answer. In the movie, Clapton says that the release of Planes, Trains and Eric honors Japan and his love affair with the Mid and Far East, if he should retire from touring. He also talked with his long-time Japanese friend of Udo Artist: "Stop playing in Japan will be tough for me, because I like coming here very much. But I would like to stop one day".

## Content

The film starts out with an interview with Clapton. After the conversation, "Tell the Truth" is being played by Clapton and his band that consists of Steve Gadd on drums, Nathan East on bass guitar and background vocals, Chris Stainton as the keyboardist, Paul Carrack as a background singer and Hammond organ player as well as Sharon White and Michelle John on backing vocals. As the film moves forward, interview sequences and live performances of Clapton and his band change in regular bases. Only a couple of times, backstage footage and soundchecks follow the live concert action. While playing in Japan, Clapton received a special recognition award from Udo Artists, commemorating Clapton's 200th show in Japan as well as a total of 83 performances at the Nippon Budokan. With 207 live performances in Japan, before leaving to Singapore in early 2014, Clapton is the international record holder with the most concerts played in Japan. If Clapton retires from the touring industry after his 70th birthday, that would come up, remains a mystery, although Clapton and the band talk frequently about the possibility.

## Critical reception

Professional ratings :
| Review scores ||
| Source | Rating |
| Jpc | |
| Sächsische Zeitung | |
| Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung | |
The German online music retailer Jpc awarded the DVD release 4.5 out of possible five stars, which is rare for any music DVD to get a 4.5 rating from the store. The music critic Andreas Schiffmann from the German internet music rating platform Musikreviews.de calls the release a "three quarter highlight concerts with an amazing documentary in between about Eric Clapton in his golden age". Michael Donhauser, a journalist for the German newspaper Sächsische Zeitung notes, that this music documentary is "exceptionally formative" and goes on in his review, liking the "whole atmosphere" that is presented with this DVD. The review from the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, written by Andreas Platthaus, says that the concert film pictures a "happy and motivated Eric Clapton". Platthaus went on with his positive-only review for the German newspaper. AllMusic user reviews turned out to be positive as well. No critic reviewed the video yet.