Odds & Ends: Eric Clapton, Eagles & Aretha Franklin

Already today we’ve seen announcements for Billy Joel playing Brooklyn’s Barclays Center on New Year’s Eve and Neil Young doing four January gigs at Carnegie Hall in New York City.  Now we have even more single-venue performances.

Promoter Done Events is looking forward to March 6 when Eric Clapton rocks Dubai’s Media City Amphitheatre.  Described as Clapton’s “only Middle East” appearance, the gig will follow Slowhand’s February run through Japan which includes four nights at Tokyo’s Budokan Hall.

“This is the first time that 17-time Grammy award-winning artist Eric Clapton will play live in Dubai, and we look forward to a packed Media City Amphitheatre for what promises to be a night of world class rock and roll,” Done Events COO Thomas Ovesen said.

An actual onsale date has not yet been announced but fans can register for an official presale by clicking here.

Aretha Franklin’s health has improved so much that the Queen Of Soul has a concert date on the horizon.  However, she won’t have to travel far for the gig.  The Detroit resident will appear at the Sound Board at the MotorCity Casino Hotel Dec. 21.

Franklin, who has suffered from health problems for much of 2013, hasn’t actually said what has afflicted her.  Back in May she announced she was clearing her June calendar so that she could undergo medical treatments.  Two months later she canceled a home-town area show scheduled for July 27 at the DTE Energy Music Theatre.

Earlier this month she summoned reporters to a hotel located in the Detroit suburb of Southfield where she entertained the scribes with a performance of Etta James’ “At Last” and said she was “glad to be back in it” – an apparent reference to her beginning work on a new album with producers Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds and Don Was.  Franklin was supposed to begin work on the album in July but pushed back the recording sessions so she could undergo those treatments for the medical condition she has yet to reveal publically.

Tickets for Franklin’s December gig at the Sound Board go up Nov. 7. Click here for info.

Fans in Dallas evidently cannot get enough of the Eagles.  The band’s July 28, 2001 concert was the first-ever event at the city’s American Airlines Arena.  More recently, the Eagles sold out its Oct. 11 & 12 shows at the venue.

Now comes word that the Eagles will once again nest in Dallas. The band will play America Airlines Arena Feb. 19, making for a record-setting 10 performances at the venue.

Tickets go on sale Nov. 9.  Check out this link for more information.