Standing At The Crossroads Guitar Festival
Published June 11, 2004
At this point I wandered over to the festival side of Fair Park, so I missed the next five artists. I heard I missed a great performance by The Robert Cray Band. On the other hand, I did catch a performance on a smaller stage by Roscoe Beck, Greg Koch, and John Calarco, which was very good. I'll save those pictures for when they become more famous! The displays were mostly commercial, but there was also an exhibit of famous guitars that are going to be auctioned by Christie's, with the proceeds going to Clapton's Crossroads Antigua rehab center. There were several guitars that belonged to the late Stevie Ray Vaughan, B.B. King's "Lucille," and many others, including a few that belonged to Eric Clapton. It was set up as a shrine, and people did seem to revere the guitars.
Apple had a big display and sponsored some autograph and photo opportunities with Pat Metheny and John McLaughlin. I hoped to get a chance to ask Pat Metheny about the custom instrument he played, but decided not to strain the advantage of my press pass too much and settled for cutting in line for a picture instead.
Few performers got as much crowd response as Joe Walsh, and no wonder. While most of the performers at this guitar festival are just guitar players, Joe Walsh put on a real show, playing and singing a few of his most popular songs, with great stage banter between songs. Also, though my best photos missed them, he wore fantastic bright-yellow shoes.
I thought it might just be me, but I couldn't figure out why Vince Gill was even on the schedule. Sure, I saw him play at the Grammy award ceremony, but I wasn't really impressed. A friend mentioned that Gill is actually a very good guitarist, but his tim on stage was marked by too many lead guitarists and a general muddle of sound. Like Joe Walsh, Vince Gill sang some of his popular songs, but I don't like country music and knew none of the songs, so that didn't do me any good.
- Standing At The Crossroads Guitar Festival
- Published: June 11, 2004
- Type:
- Section: Music
- Filed Under: Music: Blues, Music: Jazz, Music: Rock
- Writer: Phillip Winn
- Phillip Winn's BC Writer page
- Phillip Winn's personal site
- Spread the Word
- Like this article?
- Email this
Save to del.icio.us
Comments on this articleComments
P, very nice job and the pics are great! thanks!
Metheny's guitar is called the Picasso and is make by luthier Linda Manzer.
i want one.
Mark, That first song, played with the Picasso, was beautiful, so much so that occasionally I took my eyes off the guitar. Not for long, though.
That is one sweet instrument!
Eric, funny thing is, I have a nice digital SLR, but no real telephoto lens. The ZZ Top shot at the end is what the view was like from my seat with my camera.
But a guy sitting in front of me noticed I have a Canon digital SLR, so he pulled a nice 300mm telephoto lens out of his bag and let me use it for a while. We can thank this anonymous Canon user for eight of the photos on this page, because they wouldn't look like they do without that lens.
Now, I've got to get a 300mm lens!
...there is no question that Larry can play well, and his new album, Sapphire Blue will probably be a good one.
Been out since January. It's not bad I guess, but I get a little tired of everybody wanting to do a blues album. Overall, I find the album a bit too slick, but then I tend to prefer gritty blues. There are a few jazzy licks, which is what I buy Larry Carlton albums for, but it's not his best work.
phillip, i'd be willing to bet that he opened with "Into The Dream" from Imaginary Day.
i keep hoping he'll put out a whole record of stuff just using that guitar.
Mark, I haven't heard that album in quite a while, but you're right. I dug the CD out of the closet, ripped it, and it's a match!
So where is J.J. Cale? One of the absolute highlights (along with Joe Walsh), the one who influenced Clapton's career more than anybody else, one of the greatest guitar legends alive, who wrote songs like "Cocaine", "After Midnight", "Call me the Breeze", Cajun Moon", "Carry On", "Sensitive Kind", and many more, and you don't even mention him in one word! Do your homework, buddy!
TOny (#9), I mentioned every single person who played on Sunday -- JJ Cale played on Saturday, and I was not there.
Do your homework, buddy!
My god! What a brutal schedule for any human to survive. If I was there all day, by the time Carlos Santana or Clapton made it on I would be completely out of my mind!!!!! I wouldn't be able to figure out what was going on....
peaceloveguidance
Hiablo de il Venestini.
I am sorry I meant to post under Anthony.
Phillip,
How did you interlace your piece with pictures amongst the text?
Thanks,
Lono (the other Crossroad author)
My father was at the Crossroads Festival as a vendor. He is the founder of Rowan Custom Guitars, some of the most beautiful guitars I've ever seen. Please visit his website at www.rowanguitars.com
Thanks!
Hey all,
The DVD will be out October 19th. It's going to be a two DVD set.
lono
You lucky bastard. I felt blessed just watching this great festival on DVD. Nice review and great pictures.
Add your comment, speak your mind
(Or ping: http://blogcritics.org/mt/tb/16458)
More than anything, this concert demonstrated to me that I need (1) a better telephoto lens for my camera, (2) to take a tripod or monopod with me everywhere, and (3) to get out of my seat and get closer to the stage, using my press pass like it was meant to be used.
I was too busy enjoying the show to want to argue with security guards, though.