Concert review: Crossroads 2010
Eric Clapton performs at Crossroads Guitar Festival on Saturday. (Tribune photo by William DeShazer) View more Crossroads pictures HERE.
In the months leading up to his Crossroads Guitar Festival on Saturday at Toyota Park in south suburban Bridgeview, Eric Clapton had been saying it would be his last.
But deep into Saturday’s 11-hour showcase for some of his ax-wielding mentors, peers and disciples, a smiling Clapton changed his tune.“This was going to be the last one,” he said, “but I don’t think it will be. … We’re gonna have to do it again.”
You can guess the reaction from the sun-dazed capacity audience to that promise.
It’s not certain why Clapton changed his mind, but I’m betting it had a lot to do with the way the third incarnation of his charity concert unfolded (for key festival moments, see my Crossroads 2010 diary HERE). In each of these festivals, the British rock icon has appeared energized, affable and a good deal looser than when simply playing his own shows. His multiple appearances Saturday only affirmed the notion that Eric Clapton was placed on this Earth to play guitar with his friends. Why quit now, especially when he’s still playing at such a high level, with such obvious enthusiasm? The key to gauging Clapton’s engagement: Watch those legs twitch and bend when he solos. On Saturday, the twitch was in full effect.