Seeing Eric Clapton live has long been on my "bucket list" of concerts.

It's not that I'm a huge fan, really. While I enjoy much of his work, a lot of it leaves me cold, but it's hard to dispute the influence this legend has made on rock music as we know it. Clapton also made blues more mainstream and approachable, and his first love could've hardly been more on display at Monday night's nearly sold out Marcus Amphitheater show.

I'll be the first to admit that I like Clapton's old stuff much more than his new material. Much of my favorite work by Clapton was released before I was old enough to buy a cassette tape -- and in some cases, before I was even born.

My very first "favorite" song was "Lay Down Sally," from Clapton's 1977 album, "Slowhand" (I was 3 years old). The other tunes in his voluminous catalog stretch from British Invasion-era rock to blues to pop-reggae to adult contemporary. Unfortunately, the 65-year-old icon has been doing a little too much of the latter recently, so I went into this show with a healthy dose of skepticism.

It's understandable that the master singer / songwriter / guitarist who created inspired songs like "Cocaine" (written by JJ Cale), "White Room" and "Layla" would eventually release music like the mournful "Tears in Heaven," and the sleepy two decades of forgettable music the followed.

But in a career that started in 1962, that's forgivable. I only hoped I'd see the 2010 version of Clapton play a lot of music from the years before 1980.

Fresh off a European tour, Clapton did play many the songs I came to hear, like "After Midnight," "Crossroads," "Layla" and "Cocaine," to a mellow crowd that wasn't as old as I expected. He really laid off the adult contemporary stuff, fortunately, but almost lulled me to sleep with all the blues.

Don't get me wrong, Clapton's blues is really, really good -- but from a pure enjoyment factor, I'm personally partial to his rock.

In a somewhat short, 100-minute set with a one-song encore, "Crossroads," Clapton sounded clear but looked surprisingly old. I wouldn't say the highly polished show sounded mailed in, exactly, but I got the sense Clapton could have performed it in his sleep. Indeed, "After Midnight" came off a little unenthused, though tonight's rendition of "I Shot the Sheriff," with its two extended guitar solos, was really good.

I was impressed that Clapton played the only guitar on stage, and his many, many solos were fluid and effortless. He can really make a guitar sing, and perhaps because the show wasn't particularly loud, it was easy to hear how his instrument became an extension of his body.

Clapton did slow it down and perform a few seated acoustic songs, including the "unplugged" and less cool version of "Layla," before wrapping up with a slightly sleepy version of "Cocaine." The crowd clearly wanted more -- but didn't get it -- and some booed after the short encore.

Roger Daltrey, most famously of The Who, opened Monday's show, and colleague Bobby Tanzilo reviewed it here. Honestly, Daltrey's show had much more energy and volume, leaving me wondering how much Clapton has left in him.

Tonight's Clapton show won't go down as one of my most memorable shows of all time, but I'm glad I saw him before he becomes a novelty act. For everything he's contributed to music, it was a real thrill to see a master perform his craft live. I would've like to see another 30 minutes of blues-free hits, but nevertheless, I can now cross Clapton off my concert bucket list.