 Let the Guitars play..
The 2nd Crossroads Guitar Festival 2007 with Eric Clapton and other kings and queens of guitar.
And then "God" said, "Let there be guitar playing", and there was. Eleven whole hours of it, from noon until 11 PM on the 27th of July 07. "God" of course, was Eric Clapton, and the event was the 2nd Crossroads Guitar Festival held in Chicago. It was probably the biggest guitar playing event since, well, the first Crossroads festival held in Dallas in 2004. Clapton organized both to benefit the Crossroads recovery center in Antigua.
Thanks to my friend Vinod, we got our hands on tickets three months ago.. soon after they went on sale. For an event of such mythic proportions, nothing can be left to chance.
 The event was held at Toyota Park, a soccer stadium. Our tickets were for the "General Admission" area, where we could park ourselves anywhere assuming no one else had already claimed that space. Our party of four arrived a little late, thanks to time spent ogling at guitars at the Fender tent outside the stadium, and waiting in line to replenish our bodies and wallets with food and cash, respectively. We found a reasonably good spot and we staked our territory with a blanket.. and braced ourselves for the heat of the sun and the dueling axes. There was no doubt that we would be scorched.
Things had just started, with Sonny Landreth leading the way. Not a great mover and shaker on stage, but he used a complex technique, a combination of slide and finger playing, that I think, required a tremendous amount of focus. The instrumental number, Native Stepson was all technique and finesse. Clapton also joined in for a teaser, Hell at Home. A great set of tunes to begin the madness with.
John McLaughlin was next, with his incredible stage presence and wonderful fusion of sounds. No doubt a wonderful session, but maybe with the audience (including us) setting down, things seemed to have slowed down a little. Allison Krauss followed, offering a change of pace. The folksy bluegrass was refreshing, with a set that included "Sad Song".
Doyle Bramhall || was next. I had not heard of Bramhall before, but it was mentioned that he collaborated with Clapton a lot on his records. Bramhall played left handed with a guitar strung upside down, similar to Jimi Hendrix's style. The music had some similarities to Hendrix too, as in the song "Rosie" which had an abundance of the wah-wah effect a la Hendrix's Voodoo Chile. Again a less than flamboyant performance, with Doyle actually playing some of the songs sitting down. But then, the music did all the moving and shaking, so there was no need for Doyle to provide those extras.
 The next set was from the Derek Trucks band, featuring Susan Tedeschi. Like Doyle, Derek was another Clapton comrade in arms, apparently collaborating on Clapton's albums in addition to having his own band. Another nonchalant performer, showing very little emotion as he played. But his guitar did the emoting, of course. If Clapton's guitar may have "gently wept" on "While my guitar gently weeps", Trucks' wept uncontrollably. The wailing of the notes immediately brought to mind the "mystery" solos on Eric Clapton and J J Cale's recent album "The Road to Escondido". I call them "mystery" solos because they didn't seem to have been done by either Clapton or Cale. Well, now that mystery was solved. It was unmistakably Derek Trucks behind those "wailing solos" on the album. The set featured "Sahib Teri Bandhi", a Hindustani tune that required the fluidity of the slide.
The next couple of sets featured a medley of stalwarts such as Robert Randolph (playing some fantastic pedal steel material), Robert Cray with his blues standards such as Poor Johnny, Jimmy Vaughan (Yes, the great SRV's brother.. too bad the other Vaughan was not around, because he would have belonged on that stage)
And then they announced the arrival of the "King"... of the blues, that is. B.B.King may be on the wrong side of eighty, yes eighty years, still had the magic. He started off by acknowledging Eric Clapton's contribution with this festival and then rendered "Thrill is Gone" beautifully. At the end of the song, he asked the audience "May I do another one?" to which the crowd responded loudly and clearly. B.B. left the stage to a standing ovation after the second song.
A few hours had passed since the show started, and I had ventured off to the food counter at the top of the stadium. As I was just getting in line, I heard someone introduce the guitar maestro of the new generation.. John Mayer. I was torn between the need to satisfy my hunger and the desire to watch Mayer, and my hunger pangs won. I was hoping to get my refreshments and go back to my seat quickly... alas, it did not happen that way. The line that I was in was the slowest, and by the time I got my slice of pizza, the Mayer session was over... and I was blind to it..except for a few brief glimpses without giving away my place in the food line. However, the good news was that just listening in was incredible. Mayer's selection included the hits from his recent album, Continuum. However, for this special occasion, he did provide us with more than a glimpse of his alter-ego, the blues guitar whiz. It is interesting that Mayer has been dubbed "Slowhand Jr." in some circles, but his guitar playing style resembles Stevie Ray Vaughan more. And though the late maestro of blues guitar was not there, his spirit was well represented by some blazing bluesy fretwork by Mayer.
 The next "round" of the six-string-vaganza featured a change of pace. The announcer declared that we had had enough of the misery, the "blues" and it was time for some Nascar moments (code for "country music").. and paved the way for the entrance of Vince Gill. In my opinion, Vince is one of the great country song writers of recent times. He has written and recorded some of the most melodious tunes in country music in the 90s. Country music often gets a bad rep for some light-weight song writing, but Vince has been doing his best to disprove such critics. And he also proved that he was a mean wielder of the axe himself with some deft country style soloing on "Liza Jane".
The country music set then went on to one of my biggest (and pleasantest) surprises of the evening... a performance by Albert Lee. Albert who, you might ask, as I obviously did. The white haired, bespectacled, cheerful looking gentleman seemed to be having as fun a time as anyone there even when he was playing rhythm in the background, but when he came to the forefront to sing his major hit "Country Boy", it was a jaw-dropping experience to me. Country style soloing is melodic and can be fast at times, but this was no ordinary fast paced guitar playing. What ensued was a barrage of sixteenth notes that did NOT seem to end..it was the kind of fretwork that would leave axemen like Mark Knopfler and Chet Atkins gasping for breath... it was that fast, and sweet.
Thanks to the souvenir guide that had brief biographies of the main performers, I found out that Albert Lee was a 5-time winner of the Country Music Guitarist of the Year award, and reknowned for his breakneck speed of playing. (Later, as soon as I could get to my computer, I decided to make up for time lost and ordered Mr. Lee's CD "Hiding").( In another piece on this site, I had wondered who was behind the electric fast solo on "Dead End Road" on the Clapton/Cale album "The Road to Escondido", and come to the incorrect conclusion that it was Clapton. As it turns out, Albert Lee had performed on that album as well, and it obviously was him. Another mystery solved!)
Mr.Gill and Lee were soon joined by Sheryl Crow who opened with "If it makes you happy" and went on to duet with Clapton with "Tulsa Time". Clapton and Albert Lee provided solos on demand, as Ms. Crow prefers to stick to rhythm guitar on the Fender Telecaster that seems permanently attached to her hip.
Crow was followed by one artist that has few imitators. Even if they tried, they would not be able to channel the one and only Willie Nelson. Armed with the acoustic guitar that seems to have weathered as many summers as Willie himself, the now white headed stranger did himself proud, summoning Sheryl Crow back on the stage to duet on "On the Road Again", a Nelson staple.
Los Lobos was next, and did a rousing set that included "Chains of Love". Surprisingly, they did not do any of the songs from "La Bamba" which I had thought was their biggest success to date.
 The sun was beginning to go down on Bridgeview, giving the crowd a little respite from the heat. But things were about to get hotter on stage, because it was Jeff Beck that took the stage next. The set was an extended one, and spectacular, maybe the best of the day. There may not have been fireworks or smoke bombs on the stage that day, but Beck provided all the pyrotechnics. He strode the stage like a colossus, displaying his amazing technique with the slide and the tremolo bar, Beck thrilled the audience with a session that contained the Indian melody "Nadia"(river) and an interpretation of The Beatles' "A Day in the Life". Mr. Beck also had a surprise weapon in his arsenal, his bass player, Tal Wilkenfield, a young girl of about 18 years of age, but with a technique as strong as Beck's. She matched Jeff move for move and note for note, even soloing on her bass at times, playing melodies like latin flamenco style guitar players. It was scintillating.
As the sky grew darker, compere Bill Murray appeared in an costume reminiscent of Clapton during his "Cream" days and announced that the next three hours would feature Clapton himself among others. We were about to enter the climactic end of the festival. Clapton opened along with his trusted lieutenants, Doyle Bramhall II and Derek Trucks. The set featured several classic blues melodies including Cocaine. The legends were joined on stage including RObbie Robertson from "The Band". Clapton and Robertson reprised their rendition of "Further on Up the Road" from the concert movie "The Last Waltz" featuring their dueling guitars. Steve Winwood entered the party as well, showing his versatility by playing keyboard and some mean blues guitar on his songs from the Blind Faith era, including "Cant find my way back home".
The set ended with a big bang with the song "Crossroads", aptly so. As the players took their bows, we were confused as to what happened to Buddy Guy. Did he fail to make it? Was there going to be an encore? As people started leaving, we were beginning to conclude that it was over, when all of a sudden, the stage became alive again, and Bill Murray announced that they were handing matters to the "local authorities", of course, referring to local hero Buddy Guy. Guy appeared on the stage, accompanied by Clapton, Mayer, Johnny Winter among others, and started off essentially a "jam session", with the legends trying to outdo one another with their blues guitar playing credentials. Guy, of course, was the consummate showman leading the set, and entertaining the crowd with his humor as well. The song "Sweet Home Chicago" appropriately brought the proceedings to an end.
 As the speakers grew silent, my ears still reverberated with the melodies from the afternoon. My brain would play them back over and over for another few days. It was an event to be remembered.. and in the case a guitar crazy fellow like me, it will be.. long after my fingers are too stiff to play the intro to "Crossroads".
More pictures: Exclusive Images
Videos on MSN: http://music.msn.com/crossroads
Moody Blue
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