MONTHS ago, when fans bought their tickets to hear the Allman Brothers Band at the Bea con for Thursday’s performance, they hoped it would be good but they had no idea they were going to witness one of the great moments in rock history.
It started in the second set when bandleader Greg Allman announced, “We’d like to bring out a really great player,” and guitar god Eric Clapton sauntered onto the stage toting a pastel blue Stratocaster.
Before Clapton, the house was in a total bromance with the Allmans for terrific versions of “Whipping Post” and “Statesboro Blues”; with the addition of EC, they went berserk.
Clapton didn’t just step out for the set opener, “Key to the Highway,” take a bow and split. He became a Brother for the rest of the show, howling vocals with Gregg, and trading licks with ABB resident guitar slingers Warren Haynes and Derek Trucks.
In all, they covered six songs in an hour. Extended solos were the backbone of the jams, in which Trucks, Haynes and Clapton tried to outdo each other in this six-string showdown.
The significance of this meeting goes back to the 1970 album “Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs,” and this set celebrated the Clapton/Duane Allman collaboration on that record with the core songs: “Key to the Highway,” “Anyday,” “Why Does Love Have To Be So Sad,” a cover of Jimi Hendrix’s “Little Wing” and, of course, “Layla.”
This 15-show residency at the Beacon is in honor of the Allman Brothers Band’s 40th anniversary and is dedicated to Duane. The synergy of the moment was huge and not lost on the fans who left the theater in disbelief that the event happened and they were lucky enough to have been there to hear and see it.
THE ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND At the Beacon Theatre, 75th and Broadway, through March 28.