In case you haven't heard (I hadn't until today), Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival is coming to the Chicagoland area. I guess it's an all-day music festival and, as you may have guessed, is guitar-centric. It's a little pricey ($90), but it's a pretty ridiculous lineup:
Eric Clapton
Jeff Beck
Steve Winwood
B.B. King
Willie Nelson
Vince Gill
Sheryl Crow
Buddy Guy
John Mayer
Doyle Bramhall II
Robert Cray
Alison Krauss and Union Station
Sonny Landreth
Albert Lee
Los Lobos
John McLaughlin
Robert Randolph
Hubert Sumlin
Derek Trucks
Jimmie Vaughan
According to the article, more performers are expected to be announced in the coming weeks, and collaborations are also planned, including a Clapton/Winwood set of Blind Faith songs, which in my mind is alone worth the $90.
Jester and I are definitely going, and I have good reason to believe that Bohmann will be there as well.
Details:
When: Saturday July 28, 2007
Where: Toyota Park, Bridgeview, IL
Cost: $90 (The tickets include parking. Profits from the festival will benefit the Crossroads Center in Antigua, a treatment and education facility founded by Clapton for the chemically dependent.)Tickets go on sale: Saturday March 31 at 10am CST (Ticketmaster)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
5 comments:
Clapton's "reunion" with Winwood will be cheesy and underwhelming.
It's all subjective, but I think that lineup looks like a death march.
Clapton is on tour with Robert Cray right now. He's apparently letting Doyle Bramhall III and Cray play a lot of the lead on certain songs, and even giving them the lead vocals on big hits, including during the encore.
Clapton has been mailing it in for a long time (25 years?), but now he's not even pretending. And that was an unintentional play on words.
Sonny Landreth and Derek Trucks are pretty good, but no Warren Haynes, no dice.
I love it when people post anonymously when they have something the least bit contentious to say.
Dear Anonymous,
Thanks for your insight. I saw Clapton last September at United Center, and I thought he was pretty good. Granted, it was the first time I've seen him, so I have no way to tell if he was "mailing it in," but it didn't seem like he was. He did have Doyle Bramhall II (not III) and Derek Trucks in his band, and Robert Cray opened up for him, but he didn't give anyone lead vocals on big hits (or at all, as far as I remember). He did let Trucks play the Duane Allman part on Layla, and Trucks (who is a phenomenal guitarist) nailed it.
I don't care if you think Clapton's reunion with Winwood will be cheesy because I'm a big fan of the one album that Blind Faith put out, and I probably won't get another chance to see Clapton and Winwood on the same stage playing those songs.
Yeah, it is kind of a death march, but where the hell else are you going to see Clapton, Winwood, Jeff Beck, BB King, Buddy Guy, and Willie Nelson all in one place? Just because they're old doesn't mean they're not good.
And it does have its share of younger guitarists that I'm pumped to see, including the aforementioned Trucks and Bramhall, as well as Robert Randolph (who I hear puts on a great show).
I post anonymously because I don't have a google/blogger username.
I didn't think my post was particularly contentious. Just giving my opinion on Clapton.
FWIW, nothing about Clapton being bad (in my opinion) is related to his age. I think Bob Dylan is doing fantastic work right now. As is Willie Nelson.
It's just an observation that EC's music is milquetoast. And has been for some time. The Blind Faith album marks the high point of his career.
As you noted, $90 is a lot of scratch for a concert. I'd rather spend it on other shows.
Have you been spraying Clapton is God at Brown Line stops?
You don't need a Blogger/Google account. You can click on "Other" and put whatever name your heart desires in there.
Agreed that EC hasn't made any original music that I particularly like since Journeyman. But luckily he doesn't play too much from the post-Journeyman up to Riding With the King stage.
Post a Comment