Crossroads 2010: A few key moments
A few key moments Saturday from Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Guitar Festival at Toyota Park:
11:45 a.m.: Emcee Bill Murray emerges to demonstrate that even he has learned a few things since the last Crossroads festival, in 2007, by playing a very out-of-tune version of Buddy Holly’s “Not Fade Away,” before a smiling Eric Clapton strolls onstage to rescue him. Everyone’s laughing, the sun is shining, and Clapton urges the audience to say “a quiet prayer” to keep the predicted thundershowers away.
12:07 p.m.: Clapton re-emerges to play call-and-response – or is it cat and mouse? – with Sonny Landreth’s guitar on “The Promise Land.” It’s fierce stuff, a good sign that Clapton is ready to mix it up (not always a given in the last two decades). “Well, how about that?” Landreth says after his lengthy head-to-head with Clapton ends. “Not bad for 12:15 in the afternoon.”
11:45 a.m.: Emcee Bill Murray emerges to demonstrate that even he has learned a few things since the last Crossroads festival, in 2007, by playing a very out-of-tune version of Buddy Holly’s “Not Fade Away,” before a smiling Eric Clapton strolls onstage to rescue him. Everyone’s laughing, the sun is shining, and Clapton urges the audience to say “a quiet prayer” to keep the predicted thundershowers away.
12:07 p.m.: Clapton re-emerges to play call-and-response – or is it cat and mouse? – with Sonny Landreth’s guitar on “The Promise Land.” It’s fierce stuff, a good sign that Clapton is ready to mix it up (not always a given in the last two decades). “Well, how about that?” Landreth says after his lengthy head-to-head with Clapton ends. “Not bad for 12:15 in the afternoon.”
1:20 p.m.: Hubert Sumlin, Howlin Wolf’s secret weapon, brings his own oxygen tank on stage to get through his brief set, but his singular style elicits smiles from his doting protégés, Robert Cray and Jimmie Vaughan. In a land of fleet-fingered guitarists, Sumlin is a throwback to a time when every note was measured for maximum impact.
1:50 p.m.: The eloquently understated Bert Jansch – a hero to Jimmy Page, Neil Young, Beth Orton, and Clapton, among others for the innovations he brought to acoustic guitar playing in the ‘60s -- looks very alone up on the big stage, singing his traditional ballads. But he never raises his voice, and his brilliant finger-picking casts a hypnotic, calming spell. It’s not the ideal venue for his music, but he’s undaunted, and the warm applause that sends him off suggests that the 66-year-old master hit the mark.
2:55 p.m.: ZZ Top plows into the thick John Lee Hooker/Slim Harpo riff of “La Grange,” complete with air drumming from Billy Gibbons and Dusty Hill mimicking Frank Beard’s fills. Even without resorting to their ‘80s MTV-era shtick, the three Texas hombres bring some levity to the proceedings.
3:20 p.m.: Gary Clark Jr. is the day’s first big revelation. Despite some sound issues, the Austin, Texas, singer-guitarist plays with arena-wide urgency over a barreling rhythm section. “You’re gonna know my name,” he sings. Point taken.
3:57 p.m.: Vince Gill always strikes me as a class act. He’s primarily known as a country songwriter and singer, but he’s a deft guitarist, able to hold his own even with Albert Lee and Keb Mo alongside him. But it’s the rockabilly-era great James Burton who gets the set’s signature moment when he ignites a cover of Junior Parker’s “Mystery Train.”
4:45 p.m.: Citizen Cope. Why? Love his song “Bullet and a Target,” but his mumbled neo-folk ramblings are out of place here.
5:25 p.m.: Bill Murray – who is on fire all day as emcee -- enters as a caped Elvis and unfolds a Blackhawks flag. Yes, this is what is called a crowd-pleasing moment.
6:20 p.m.: Buddy Guy shares the stage with Jonny Lang and Ronnie Wood, and they launch into a ragged but right version of the Rolling Stones’ “Miss You.” Nobody wants to sing – Lang tentatively mimics Mick Jagger’s wordless “woo-ooh” vocal hook – but the guitarists have a ball twisting around with the melody.
7 p.m.: Like Ronnie Wood, Warren Haynes seems to make everyone around him feel and sound better with his affability, warmth and complementary instincts as a guitarist and singer. Haynes found himself without a gig Saturday when the Allman Brothers had to cancel last Wednesday to accommodate Gregg Allman’s liver transplant surgery, but he hung around to help anyway. He plays a stirring version of “Soul Shine” with Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi.
7:10 p.m.: Los Lobos’ Cesar Rosas grins and growls his way through a randy version of Howlin’ Wolf’s “300 Pounds of Heavenly Joy.”
7:20 p.m.: The blues is about mortality, and nothing drives that home more poignantly than watching Johnny Winter struggle through Jimi Hendrix’s “Red House.”
7:55 p.m.: Jeff Beck offers a futuristic take on Muddy Waters’ “Rollin’ and Tumblin’,” with tribal drumming, vocoder-ized vocals from his keyboardist, and a mighty roar from bassist Rhonda Smith, who is the set’s MVP.
8:45 p.m.: Bill Murray on as Jimi Hendrix, complete with afro and scarves, to introduce the headlining set: “Clapton, very groovy.”
9:25 p.m.: Great to see Beck re-emerge to play with Clapton on Elmore James’ “Shake Your Moneymaker.” Wish they had done more together, but Beck’s slide guitar nicely feeds and comments on Clapton’s lusty vocal.
9:30 p.m.: Steve Winwood arrives, and Clapton rises to the occasion. They stand shoulder to shoulder playing guitars on Blind Faith’s “Had to Cry Today” and take the festival to its peak moment, a 15-minute version of Hendrix’s “Voodoo Chile.” Winwood’s Hammond organ is haunting, a whirl of psychedelic colors, and Clapton solos with the beatific, eyes-closed intensity of old.
10:30 p.m.: After the rush of Winwood-Clapton, the festival’s relatively crisp pacing hits a wall, and it’s a 15-minute wait before Clapton, Cray and Vaughan re-emerge to usher on B.B. King. The 84-year-old blues patriarch is in no hurry, and while his rambling finale has its charms, it doesn’t quite match the emotional focus he brought to his Crossroads 2007 set. At Crossroads 2010, King’s appearance is more of a coda than a punctuation point.
For more, my review of Crossroads 2010 is HERE.
greg@gregkot.com
--how about chris stainton's fabulous keyboard work?! how is it that he has barely aged since his great playing on "maddogs and englishmen? it was a really enjoyable day, despite the heat and $5.00 h2o's.
Posted by: maggie | June 27, 2010 at 02:28 PM
I left around 8:OO P.M. The venue was horrible-especially the fact that there were no free water fountains-it was incredibly hot-the music sound system was horrible!!! After spending 50 dollars on 5 dollar a piece bottles of water-I said forget it!!!! Very disappointed in what I thought would have been a great experience.
Posted by: Bonnie | June 27, 2010 at 09:21 PM
if you were there from 10:30 like i was, bonnie, yeah it was wearing thin around 8. you'd already done 10+ hours. it WAS hot, no kidding.
i pushed through it, beat to CRAP by 11:30 definitely.
EVERYthing ached including my poundin' head.
lotta stairs to climb to get to the friggin' toilets!
but, got in my car, popped 3 ibuprofens, knocked down almost a liter of water and my headache was gone by the time i got home....then i was starting to remember the insanely GREAT things i saw.
thanks mr kot, for reminding me here.
but...nothing about doyle bramhall's imo very cool departure into noise-rock during his solo set? my friends didn't like it. i very much enjoyed it.
maybe at the time, you were climbing those same stairs to the john?
and the sound imo did NOT suck, if just being a bit loud in front of the mid-field speaker set up. piercing my brain actually. ear plugs, problem solved
Posted by: ChgoRay | June 27, 2010 at 10:17 PM
While I was not there this year, it does not surprise me that James Burton was the show stopper during Gill's set. He really is one of the baddest guitarists around. And, I agree with you, Gill is a true gentleman.
As for B.B. ramblin' a bit, please...half of those guys there wouldn't have known what to do with their lives it it weren't for him. He deserves every blues lovers respect.
Posted by: Bob C. | June 27, 2010 at 11:01 PM
Looking at Sheryl Crow's expression as she sang backup for Citizen Cooe - like a lovesick 7th grader, explains why he was there as probably the most soulful performer of the day, I was very disappointed that his set was so short but he was one of the hightkights of the day.
Posted by: Mike | June 28, 2010 at 06:39 AM
I can see how the sound was bad if you were sitting on the sidelines. I don't care how far back I am from the stage. I always get centered seats. The sound was great from there.
Posted by: J | June 28, 2010 at 08:53 AM
It was all pretty hard to believe. Sonny Landreth came out and blew the crowd out of the frame in the first fifteen minutes and I wondered how can it get better? And it did. I saw Clapton last year at the United Ctr and he was pretty good. Last night he was playing like a man possessed. Move out of the way Dave Matthews and Gov't Mule; Winwood and Clapton's cover of Jimi's Voodoo Chile has GOT to be the standard for that number. One of the suprises for me was Vince Gill, James Burton and Albert Lee playing rockabilly tunes. Like fine wine.
And Bonnie who complained about the $5 waters...why didnt you go into the ladies room and fill the first empty bottle up like everyone else? Duh?
Posted by: Gonzo | June 28, 2010 at 10:01 AM
We arrived at 9 am and stayed through to the end. It was about the music not the $5 bottle of water. There was an endless collection of music history being displayed on the mainstage and in the village (95 year old Honeyboy Edwards performing "Crossroads" in the village was enough to send chills down my spine).
Buddy Guy, Ron Woods & Johnny Lang blew the crowd away and Eric Clapton was as about as gracious a host as anyone could be. In a time when autotuned artists are the only ones getting airplay, be grateful you are still able to see and hear these legends perform live. I agree w/J, plenty of water in the restrooms to fill your bottle.
Posted by: Dennis | June 28, 2010 at 12:35 PM
While I am VERY glad BB was there.........it was not quite the ending I had anticipated.
The musicians handled it with great class however. As for Steve Winwood...........always amazing and always good for Eric Clapton!
Posted by: Marie | June 28, 2010 at 01:38 PM
@Gonz - tries to fill my first water bottle in the mens room and they nothing but HOT WATER coming out of the taps - diabolica!
Posted by: robert | June 28, 2010 at 01:47 PM
I was at Crossroads, and the performances were awesome and memorable and I'm glad I went, but I have to agree with other posters, the water situation was borderline criminal by Toyota Park. It had to be well over 100 degrees in the GA section with the summer sun beating down. Bill Murray repeatedly advised the crowd to stay hydrated, but at five dollars each??? Even at two dollars a bottle, they'd have cleaned up. To charge more than double a reasonable amount in what amounted to a giant iron skillet baking the thousands of people trapped therein, is nothing more than shameful. Just shameful.
Is trapped too strong a word? They could have left at any time, right? Sure, just walk away before the best acts because the venue is more concerned about making money at any cost than doing the right thing? Remember back in when the gas stations were charging $4 for a gallon of gas after Katrina, and we accused them of gouging? This was even worse because it was a health and safety issue and because there's no shortage of water! There's a lake full of the stuff maybe ten miles away! And yet, at $5 for a 20-oz. bottle of water, that works out to over $30 A GALLON! For WATER??? If you look up the word "gouging" in the dictionary you'll probably find a reference to Crossroads 2010!
If they wanted to charge $9 for a beer (and they did), that's one thing. $5 for soda or even Gatorade is high, but not out of the realm of reason. But $5 for water is reprehensible. There were undoubtedly a lot of people who left in dire straits, many others who passed out and needed medical care purely as a result of someone's greed. If nobody died,they are incredibly lucky.
There should be an investigation into who made all that money. If it didn't go to charity like the ticket sales did, somebody has some answering to do. Even if it did go to charity, I don't think Crossroads wants to raise funds at the cost of people's health and safety. And if Eric brings the show back to the same venue in 2013, that's something that has to change.
Posted by: SeaTurtle | June 28, 2010 at 03:57 PM
The show was amazing! Period. However, I agree with many others about the water situation. It is criminal to charge $5 for water. In those types of temps they should be passing out free water to make sure people do not pass out. I want to know if the performers had to pay $5 for water. Do they know what was going on out in the crowd? Since when did Crossroad become the poster child for Capitalism of Rock n Roll. I loved every moment of the music, but I thought Toyota Park and the rules that were sent, for an all day concert, were way too harsh and over-board. You could not bring in your own water, even if it was unopened, and security were like Nazi stormtroopers about smoking- it was outside. Unreal. I want my rock n roll back, I want my concerts to be fun and free from so many rules, regulations, and rip-offs. I am sending Clapton a letter in regards to the water situation and hope he reads it. He may not, but I need to let the big man know how the crowd was treated at his event.
Posted by: bluzbr | June 28, 2010 at 05:40 PM
My impression was that the newer artists comfortably grabbed a hold of the torch this time. Mayer, Trucks, Randolph, Lang and the like didn't come across as newcomers anymore. They had that extra punch and drive. Vince Gill's set was excellent especially when Klugh joined in with his sweet tone. Albert Lee always amazes me. Great pickers here. Earl Klugh was a nice change of pace with his set.
Lang sounded great. Miss You was very refreshing to hear. Same thing happened the night before at Buddy Guy's Legends place. Buddy brought up Ronnie in the middle of Carlos Johnson's set at the club. Tremendous surprise. They played a couple of tunes. Buddy ripped it up during Muddy Waters' 40 Days and 40 Nights receiving great cheers from the packed house during his solo. Wood and Johnson traded licks back and forth. When Buddy asked what to play, Ronnie said, "We can murder anything".Then Buddy started into Miss You. Wonderful time. Cool jam. Buddy attempted to sing most of a verse here. Wish he did at Crossroads. Love his voice.
Came to see Beck and was not disappointed. Definitely convinced me as being the best of the best. And I've been an EC fan forever. Eric didn't seem to do anything different from previous Crossroad shows and concerts with Winwood. But, their performances were still outstanding.
Vaughn, Cray and Clapton were very gracious and patient with BB King's time on stage at the end. Too bad it came to that. But, it helped us beat the traffic getting out of stadium. Sorry BB.
It was a long, hot and enduring day. If Clapton does decide to do it again I hope someone provides a free water supply instead of having us fork out $5 for a 20 oz bottle to stay alive. How about at least a hose to help fill up water bottles faster next time.
We sat next to the soundboards. I thought the sound was extremely well done considering the logistics of pulling off an event of this magnitude. I heard everything well except for when the power amps to the mains went out. But it was corrected. It even sounded great standing in line in the upper concourse area at the two little water fountains.
Posted by: Paul K. | June 28, 2010 at 10:04 PM
Great show again! It was hot all day and I can't speak for the rest of the stadium but water around gate A was not a problem. They had a hydrant open down there for you to refill water bottles right next to the misting tent. They let us bring in 1 liter bottles when we came in as long as we took off the caps and I was also able to bring my 90 oz camelback so we were able to at least stay hydrated. Sorry for all those that had problems with the water! Hope they bring it back to Chicago for the 4th one but I will go see it no matter where they have it.
Posted by: Eric | June 29, 2010 at 01:59 PM
My friend and I drove a long way (8-9 hours) and sat in bumper-to-bumper traffic to get to this event and it was worth every mile and minute! Can't wait 'til the DVD comes out. As for the water, $5 is ridiculous, but by now (and after having attended many of these types of events) people should expect it. Once I had my first bottle, I just filled it up at the sinks in the restrooms. Might have not been as cold as the first, but water is water. Just takes a little common sense. When they start cutting off the water supply in the restrooms, THEN I'll get mad.
Posted by: Denise | June 29, 2010 at 06:24 PM
The lineup was beyond the valley of awesome with Jeff Beck providing an excellent but LOUD set. Always special seeing Clapton and Winwood together. As described, some were out of place like Citizen Cote, his set with Clapton was pretty much a waste of effort. John Mayer's hard rock set was interesting but uninspiring except you don't get that level of rock out of him very often. Agree that the cost of water was an unabashed ripoff, shameful. The food situation wasn't much better towards the evening with long lines and lack of food. The crowd was exceptionally well behaved given the circumstances. The stadium policies were draconian and unnecessary, particularly no in and out privileges. At least you could have gone to your car for food and to cool down a little. Hope they have it again but will definitely plan differently if its back at the dame place.
Posted by: JP | June 29, 2010 at 07:54 PM
My flight from Minneapolis to Chicago was canceled so after my 8 hour drive in a horrible thunderstorm, I was able to manage ONE hour of sleep before arriving at Toyota Park....one hour. I'm 38 years old, not 25 anymore. Anyway, I had a BLAST!!!! What an epic show. The only two bummers I felt were the lack of water fountains and that fool Citizen Cope. WTF was he doing there and who let him on stage with Eric Clapton?!? Other than that, it was one of the greatest days I can remember. :)
Posted by: CanyouhearJimi? | June 30, 2010 at 07:41 PM
I thought the concert was fantastic. I thought the surprises were Vince Gill and John Mayer i dont like John Mayer but the Hendrix cover was kiler Clapton was fantastic especially voodoo chile. Jeff Beck I thought was the all around best performer he is so talented and how about that bassist. I was at the first crossroads and he again blew everybody's mind Want to take you higher. Buddy Guy's set had the best vibe he is defenitely the master showman. That being said all the acts were real good excerpt citizen cope I didn't get it.Maybe all the heat n'all. I had GA and the floor was insanely hot drank insane amounts of water. Despite the high cost to survive! The parking was free people! You go to any concert in IL. around Chicago and parking is at least $20 parking was free. I've been to over 300 rock concerts and today was definetly as far as the music was top 5. Thank you Bill Murray for being hilarious!
Posted by: Craig | June 30, 2010 at 08:57 PM
God what a bunch of whiners... It's too hot'''the GA PEOPLE FRIED. OH BOO HOO Can't stand the pain?
put your big boy pants/'panties and realize these are some of the greatest artists you will EVER see in your lifetime. OMG we had to climb steps? poor , poor pitiful you
8$ beer? 5$ water? bring cash
better yet? Bring a great attitude!
for me , it was FANTASTIC
CAPATALISM OF ROCK AND ROLL? i wanna see your innerchild and kick his little ass ...gimme a break
The "nazi smoke patrol"...? gimme another break...with humility, descretion, and courtesty from the 'redshirts' it proved no problem
IN FACT, ONE POINTED OUT A JOINT ON THE CONCOURSE FOR ME
....TASTY.
ALL and ALL YEAH BABY!!!! fantastic
Quit pissin and moaning
realize the magnitude of the artists and the awesome event
Posted by: Steven W Lawrence | June 30, 2010 at 11:45 PM
Thank you Mr. Lawrence! YES, it was hot, but look what we got to experience!! Some of the best live music I have ever witnessed and I would do it all again. Stop boo-hooing about friggin inflation and remember why you went in the first place!
Posted by: Courtney | July 02, 2010 at 08:11 AM
We weren't able to get tickets this year, but in 2007 we figured out that, once you had the bottle, you could refill it in the restroom with nice cold water....so we only paid 5$ once!
Posted by: Dan | July 06, 2010 at 09:22 AM
Loved the concert, highlights for me were Buddy Guy and Ronnie Wood, Steve Winwood, and especially Derek/Susan, they were amazing! Clunker were Citizen Cope (brought us all down), Albert Lee's daughter (huh??), and Bramhill (who I normally like). And the water problem...I cooled down with wet paper towels and cool water in the bathrooms until around noon. Then Toyota turned off the cold water in the bathrooms, which I consider criminal considering the heat that day. The water was so scalding hot that I couldn't wash my hands let alone drink it. This is not a whine, as a VIP guest, I had all the free cold water I wanted, this is a health issue and if this is how Toyota treats paying guests, I really hope Clapton chooses a different venue next year.
Posted by: Joy | July 09, 2010 at 09:50 PM
I was there!
Too bad they only had one misting tent, wish they had more.... Did anybody else notice the leaking fire-hydrant? We saw it BEFORE everyone else did, so we were able to get nice cold water without paying or waiting in line:)
Man, only in America...
Posted by: AllenG. | July 28, 2010 at 05:50 PM
Hi Crossroad!
well, i flew thousands of miles from germany to chicago, just to see "my" Eric...woowww....the music was great and ill never forget this event for my life! It was hot and i couldnt bring in my german cookies (Doh), but at that day, i didnt mind about money. And the best thing is: I bought the DVD here in germany and guess what? Im on it hehehe, saw me while ZZ Top is playing, because i got a place directly in front of stage!!!!
And there is sth else, i want to say thank you for the peacefully event! I was really surprised and hapy that all the thousand of people get out of the stadion very cool, without trouble, woooowww....
And chicago...woooww...if i could move there ill take my bags and would go striaght! Very nice city! Thank u Eric for the event and thanks to America:-)
Greets from Bremerhaven, germany
Sammy Blues
Posted by: Sandra | July 11, 2011 at 06:01 PM