Post Description

The Crossroads Guitar Festival was a guitar fan"s wet dream, especially for those of us whose influences extend a bit past the Korns, Linkin Parks and other drop-D aficionados of the world. What we have here is a gathering of many of the world"s greatest living guitarists, who came together for a three day festival at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas, in June 2004, to help their friend and idol Eric Clapton raise some money for his addiction treatment center in Antigua, called the Crossroads Center. Although this is primarily a blues-guitar summit, there is enough variety of music styles to keep everybody happy. Not only do you get all of the blues legends like Buddy Guy, B.B. King, and Clapton jamming together, but you also get the guitar wizardry of Steve Vai, the jazz stylings of John McLaughlin, the folk of James Taylor, and the funk of Joe Walsh.

As with any festival of this size and variety, you would expect some of the performances to be great and others to be not so great. That was not the case with Crossroads, as almost all of the performances were extraordinary. I own about six different Clapton-featured concert DVDs, and this is easily one of his best performances in a long while. He seemed very inspired to be jamming with some of his guitar heroes, and this carried over to all of his performances. The icing on the cake was having Doyle Bramhall II playing guitar in his band. He helped to make "Cocaine", and "Have You Ever Loved A Woman" some of the best versions I have ever heard. Clapton was playing heavier, more distorted, and more energized than ever - as if he was rehearsing for the forthcoming Cream reunion. His jams with Buddy Guy, Robert Cray and Jimmy Vaughan were an absolute pleasure to behold.

DVD

Audio Transfer

? DTS 5.1 Surround
? Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
? Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo

 Video Transfer

? 1.85:1 Widescreen

 
Set List - Performers

Cocaine - Eric Clapton
Love in Vain Blues - Robert Lockwood Jr.
Killing Floor - Eric Clapton, Robert Cray, Hubert Sumlin and Jimmie Vaughan
Sweet Home Chicago - Eric Clapton, Robert Cray, Buddy Guy, Hubert Sumlin & Jimmie Vaughan
Six Strings Down - Eric Clapton, Robert Cray, Robert Randolph and Jimmie Vaughan
Rock Me Baby - Eric Clapton, Guy, B.B. King and Jimmie Vaughan
I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow - Dan Tyminski and Ron Block
Road to Nash Vegas - Dan Tyminski and Ron Block
Copperline - James Taylor with Jerry Douglas
Steamroller - James Taylor and Joe Walsh
Oklahoma Borderline - Vince Gill and Jerry Douglas
What the Cowgirls Do - Vince Gill and Jerry Douglas
After Midnight - JJ Cale with Clapton
Call Me the Breeze - JJ Cale with Clapton
The March - Robert Randolph & the Family Band
Green Light Girl - Doyle Bramhall II
Jingo - Santana with Eric Clapton
City Love - John Mayer
Rag Bihag - Vishwa Mohan Bhatt
Tones for Elvin Jones - John McLaughlin
Josie - Larry Carlton
Going Down Slow - David "Honeyboy" Edwards
If I Had Possession Over Judgement Day - Eric Clapton
Time Makes Two - Robert Cray
Give Me Up Again - Jonny Lang
Neighborhood - David Hildago
I"m The Hell Outta Here - Steve Vai
Desert Rose - Eric Johnson
Funk 49 - Joe Walsh
Rocky Mountain Way - Joe Walsh
I Shot the Sheriff - Eric Clapton
Have You Ever Loved A Woman (Blues in C) - Eric Clapton
La Grange - ZZ Top
Tush - ZZ Top
 
Running Time: 220 Minutes
DVD Release Date - November 2004
Performance Date - June 2004