Clapton at Chuck E. Cheese's

June 18, 2004 8:28 AM

Clapton at Chuck E. Cheese's
posted by ColdChef (29 comments total)

It's truly frothy stuff, but then again, a super-celeb apparition in an out-of-context location can be a somewhat jarring and delightful experience. For instance, Sunday morning, when the employees and customers of Chuck E. Cheese's on Veterans Boulevard were treated to the arrival of rock icon Eric Clapton.
posted by ColdChef at 8:29 AM on June 18, 2004

I thought he threw his kid out a window or something. Did he get a new one?
posted by Mayor Curley at 8:38 AM on June 18, 2004

Boo.
posted by ColdChef at 8:53 AM on June 18, 2004

I hope he brought coupons. Every Sunday paper in the land has coupons. Only suckers pay full retail at Chuck E. Cheese.
posted by Keith Talent at 9:05 AM on June 18, 2004

In other news Pete Townshend has also been seen at Chuck E. Cheese but it was purely for research.
posted by bondcliff at 9:05 AM on June 18, 2004

I, for one, would pay cold hard cash money to see Chris Walken lurking at the end of that cheese-maze at Chucky's. He could live there on a little cot and fill his evenings entertaining the children.

"Sit.. down Billy... You're... going to miss the pizza."
"Mommy! The robot is making me a'scared!"
posted by robocop is bleeding at 9:07 AM on June 18, 2004

(hence, the faux-paparazzi photo included herein;
Where is the pic?
posted by thomcatspike at 9:07 AM on June 18, 2004

clapton was a pretty good player. in 1969. then he found heroin, came to believe he was a black delta bluesman, and i think Mayor Curley has it pretty much covered from that point on.
posted by quonsar at 9:11 AM on June 18, 2004

clapton was a pretty good player.

I also hear Michelangelo could paint, and Einstein was pretty smart.
posted by chicobangs at 9:20 AM on June 18, 2004

Actually, I used to manage a Chuck E. Cheeses, and I live in an area with quite a few mid-level celebs. We saw Springsteen, Bon Jovi, Maury Povich, Kevin Smith, etc. quite a bit. And I know I'm missing a few people.....
posted by John Kenneth Fisher at 9:26 AM on June 18, 2004

Also? Geraldo. But that guy is a real jerk.

When I worked in a movie theater here we often saw the above, plus Max Weinberg, Chazz Palmenteri, Queen Latifah, etc.

(and since I mentioned one person being a jerk, I must say that Springsteen was always incredibly nice to everyone, though he tried hard not to be noticed.)
posted by John Kenneth Fisher at 9:28 AM on June 18, 2004

No way! You mean he doesn't sit around drinking Cristal and eating foie gras all the time? GET OUT!

Mayor Curly- fuck you. Seriously. That comment's beyond tasteless.
posted by mkultra at 9:29 AM on June 18, 2004

occurs to me my comments above are a bit "look at me, I brushed celebrity!" I meant it more of a ...."so?"

Of course celebs go out and try to live lives as normal as possible. Is it really that notable as to deserve an FPP?

(nothing personal, Coldchef)
posted by John Kenneth Fisher at 9:35 AM on June 18, 2004

Clapton is Go(o)d.

The song "Tears in Heaven" is a tribute to his first son, who was tragically lost in an accident in 1991. A window was left open by the housekeeper and then the son, Connor, ran out of it. See Snopes.
After the Rainbow Concert (excellent show), he got off the heroin. Then, after Just One Night, he got on the bottle. The next year, he dried out. Later, he founded the Crossroads Centre in Antigua to help others deal with their addictions. A partial biography, the best I've seen in under 400 pages.

I guess you could say I'm a bit of a fan. And even though he isn't actually a black Delta bluesman, he did a pretty good approximation for From the Cradle.
posted by leapfrog at 9:37 AM on June 18, 2004

I think Mayor Curly's comment was merely tasteless. To qualify for BEYOND tasteless, the Mayor would have to have suggested that he can't wait for this kid to die, so we could have another cool song like "Tears in Heaven." That would be beyond tasteless.

Of course celebs go out and try to live lives as normal as possible. Is it really that notable as to deserve an FPP?

I just liked the juxtaposition of the mechanical rat and the rock god. Should it be news any time a celebrity has a pizza? No.

Is this funny: OK, maybe it wasn't jamming, per se, but when that ridiculous mascot thing (I'm pretty sure it's a rat, isn't it?) and a legion of clean-scrubbed hosts and waiters (the Chuckettes?) came out to sing "Happy Birthday" to all the children celebrating their auspicious occasions, Clapton joined in, making him, I'm pretty sure, the only member of Derek and the Dominos ever to sing "Happy Birthday" at the Chuck E. Cheese on Vets.

Yes.
posted by ColdChef at 9:41 AM on June 18, 2004

but he hasn't been a rock god since cream.
posted by quonsar at 9:45 AM on June 18, 2004

No, fuck you mkultra. Seriously. Eric Clapton's a racist piece of shit. Blame it on the smack if you want, but Clapton went through a period of dengrating the people that he borrowed from to become successful.

(Yeah, yeah, that doesn't mean I should make light of a child's death, etc. And I feel bad for other people that knew the kid, but he's a disgrace.)
posted by Mayor Curley at 9:50 AM on June 18, 2004

Mayor C's comment is a bit tacky, but bondcliff's is fucking priceless.
posted by Ufez Jones at 10:00 AM on June 18, 2004

I think Mayor Curly's comment was merely tasteless. To qualify for BEYOND tasteless, the Mayor would have to have suggested that he can't wait for this kid to die, so we could have another cool song like "Tears in Heaven." That would be beyond tasteless.

Because that song sucked.
posted by jennyb at 10:14 AM on June 18, 2004

Actually Anne Peebles' version of it is pretty good. It's not really a bad song just overplayed. It's probably the most heartfelt song he's done since "Layla."
posted by jonmc at 10:22 AM on June 18, 2004

clapton was all guitar guts and fire in the early days, but by the time of layla, well, hell - all the great playing on that tune was duane allman's. the fire just went out and everything that followed, for my money, was simply the mechanical "close approximations" of a delusional junkie who desperately wanted to be somebody else. 'tears in heaven', an overplayed saccharine suckfest, succeeded only on the basis of the tragedy that spawned it. gah!

for a small fee, i can expound in an equally crude fashion on jimmy page, if you like. but not on jeff beck. jeff beck truly IS god.
posted by quonsar at 10:22 AM on June 18, 2004

for a small fee, i can expound in an equally crude fashion on jimmy page, if you like.

Yes, but then I'd have to kill you, and I'd hate doing that.
posted by jonmc at 10:48 AM on June 18, 2004

Hey, I saw Allah at an Arby's,
I saw Moses at McDonald's,
I saw the Ramalama from Alabama at the barbeque pit on University,
I saw Buddha at a Burger King,
I saw Confucius at Kentucky Fried Chicken
He said, 'Mojo, ... it's finger lickin!'
posted by chicobangs at 10:59 AM on June 18, 2004

I've actually seen the "They but toilet paper!" column referred to above. unfortunately, I was in a store with a "you puke on it, you buy it" policy.
posted by scarabic at 11:01 AM on June 18, 2004

The two Chuckie Cheeses by my house are more like Davud & Bustor’s (sic) for kids{sigh}. If you want the fully loud mechanical entertainment you have to go to the sticks to find it.
posted by thomcatspike at 11:17 AM on June 18, 2004

Clapton is the first classical musician of the blues.
posted by interrobang at 2:51 PM on June 18, 2004

Meaning old people like him?
posted by yerfatma at 5:36 PM on June 18, 2004

Perfect Sound Forever expounds on Jimmy Page. Please, jonmc, don't hurt me.
posted by kenko at 6:46 PM on June 18, 2004

coverdale/page.
posted by bargle at 7:45 PM on June 18, 2004