crossroads guitar festival

saw it last night. sure was a rough start. I can play Gloria better than they could.
Robert Cray, a guitar hero of mine, was just awful. once Los Lobos got on stage and loosened things up the show got much better.
being a long time Traffic fan I really enjoyed Winwood singing with great voice and ripping up the stage with his fantastic guitar playing. I had no idea. Beck's player....I am in love.
and B.B. is still hanging in there. I get tired of his talks but his playing was fine.
over all, I liked hearing the few clinker notes just about everybody hit and the minor roughness of playing together. it made it so much more real...instead of the super human guitar licks flawlessly played. I like a few mistakes.
Vince Gill remains the best. what a talent.
and Mayer's statement was cool. he has good tone but I cannot get past that emo singing and halloween guitar faces he does.

It's amazing what editing can do!

At the festival, Los Lobos' set struck me as 'canned' compared to many of the other artists - like they'd polished every note. On the video it looks a lot more like a jam.

Winwood was the one who really got off to a rocky start and then recovered - the actual first tune they did was "Pearly Queen", and it was terrible. No wonder it's not on the video. Winwood seemed to be in a different key than the rest of the band - literally. Derek Trucks walked over behind the organ so he could see Winwood's hands and try to adjust, but it just wasn't happening. But after that, things got a lot better, and Winwood's ended up being one of the best sets of the day. I wish they'd shown him and Eric doing "Can't Find My Way Home" - that was really good.

The really rocky stuff was left out, as it should have been - Allison Kraus (her sound management was terrible), the guy who'd won the Guitar Center contest for best "blues" guitarist (who didn't do blues and kept popping fuses), Willie Nelson bringing Sheryl Crow out for "On the Road Again" (looked like she didn't know the tune), etc. But that stuff has its place in a live festival... gave me time to go stand in the beer line without having to worry about missing sometihng amazing.

What really surprised me about the video was what it didn't capture - Johnny Winter's version of "Highway 61". On video it was pretty good... live it was mind blowing. The energy that came off that performance was really second to none. We were about 20-30 feet from the stage and could see the stage left wing. By the end of that tune the entire wing was full - all the stars were out of their dressing rooms, all the roadies, all the assorted hangers on... probably 150 people (and I'm sure there were lots more in the other wing) all standing there staring with mouths open; it was an amazing performance, and that electricity wasn't captured at all.

Another great performance that wasn't on the tape - Sonny Landreth doing "Hell at Home" in a call & response jam with Clapton. It was the third tune of the day, about 20 minutes into the show... it was about 4-5 hours before anybody came close to matching that.

I taped last night, and I'll watch it again this weekend. The video definately goes on my wish list; I want to see the other 3 hours they captured!

looks like the dvd is the way to see it-much more content :D

Does anyone know if the festival will ever be broadcast in its entirety? I bought the DVD but heard that about 7 hours were cut from it. Messy or not, I'd love to hear/see it all since I was unable to be there! Thanks for any info anyone may have!

:D :D :D

The really rocky stuff was left out, as it should have been - Allison Kraus (her sound management was terrible), the guy who'd won the Guitar Center contest for best "blues" guitarist (who didn't do blues and kept popping fuses), Willie Nelson bringing Sheryl Crow out for "On the Road Again" (looked like she didn't know the tune), etc.

Actually the Nelson/Crow performance was on the DVD. I agree it was bad, though I'm not a fan of either and found both of them to be odd choices for a guitar festival. Nelson's other song on there (can't remember the name) was just awful.
What really surprised me about the video was what it didn't capture - Johnny Winter's version of "Highway 61". On video it was pretty good... live it was mind blowing. The energy that came off that performance was really second to none. We were about 20-30 feet from the stage and could see the stage left wing. By the end of that tune the entire wing was full - all the stars were out of their dressing rooms, all the roadies, all the assorted hangers on... probably 150 people (and I'm sure there were lots more in the other wing) all standing there staring with mouths open; it was an amazing performance, and that electricity wasn't captured at all.

I wasn't there, so I don't have that first hand experience, but I felt that song brought a lot of energy. It was great, and I've never been a huge fan of Winter, and have always loathed Dylan. Anyway, looked like the band was having a blast and Trucks was grinning from ear to ear, and he doesn't do that very often at all on stage.
Another great performance that wasn't on the tape - Sonny Landreth doing "Hell at Home" in a call & response jam with Clapton. It was the third tune of the day, about 20 minutes into the show... it was about 4-5 hours before anybody came close to matching that.

This is also on the DVD.

Thanks Stormy - I can't wait to see the DVD. I'm hoping it'll be under the Christmas tree :)

I didn't mean to suggest that Winters wasn't good on the PBS show - he was - it's just that the editing made other acts seem on a par with him, when in fact he blew them away live.

How's McLaughlin on the DVD? I got the impression he went right over the heads of the crowd.

There was also a great comic moment during Jeff Beck's set... his bass player (Tal Wilkenfeld) was making "rock star" faces during most of her performance... at one point, Beck gets in front of her and makes this chipmunk face at her to get her to stop. :)

'rock star' faces? perhaps that was not on the TV performance video. I thought she made good faces. ones that show intent and a bit of fun and strain at playing a difficult passage. I did enjoy the obvious good repoire Beck and Tal had.
man, she is atalent.
at 16 yrs. of age she moves to the US with a guitar. then within two years has a Sardowsky imprimateur and plays with Beck, and the Allman Bros.

I am shocked so many acts were deleted for PBS broadcast. so did each player have more than a cameo performance?
Noteboat. my best friend was there with his 19 yr daughter. she loved the show.

Just got done watching it on my local PBS station. Overall I thought it was very good, and had a few surprises too. The Steve Winwood segment really rocked, and I think he brought the best out in Clapton. I agree with noteboat about Johnny Winter, always a pleasure to see him on stage. For as sick as he is he still played very well indeed :D Jeff beck is a master :D and his bass player ain't bad at all :twisted:She also plays very well :D I'm not a big Vince Gill fan, but he can sure spank that plank 8)

I'm not a big Vince Gill fan, but he can sure spank that plank 8)

Can he play guitar too?

Yes he can :twisted: Check it out :D About 235 or so 8)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8Tjp_dgWb4