Eric Clapton's second Crossroads Guitar Festival was held on July 28, 2007, in Chicago, Illinois and like the original one was to benefit the Crossroads Centre in Antigua. We know from the first festival that the Crossroads Centre is an addiction treatment facility located on the beautiful Caribbean island of Antigua, and was founded by Eric Clapton back in 1998. We also know that the first Crossroads Festival was one of the greatest, blues-based, guitar-oriented festivals ever undertaken, and it produced one of the best concert DVD's of the year in the aptly titled Eric Clapton: Crossroads Guitar Festival.

Not to outdo themselves, this year's version of the festival was simply titled Eric Clapton: Crossroads Guitar Festival 2007. This one was not just similar in name, but it was also equal in stature. Again, many of the world's greatest living guitarists joined the legendary Eric Clapton onstage for this one day event, and amazed the capacity crowd that filled Chicago's Toyota Park stadium, which is normally home to the Chicago Fire professional soccer team.

Many of the same players from the first Crossroads Festival showed up for this one too. Two of Clapton's biggest guitar heroes, B.B. King and Buddy Guy, will always have an open invitation to these festivals, and they were featured prominently here. Guy and his band were even awarded the coveted closing slot of the night, although I would not have appreciated having to follow Eric Clapton at his own festival. He was not intimidated.

As with the first festival, I thought it was a mistake for Clapton to not close the show. At the 2004 festival, which took place in Dallas, Texas, he allowed ZZ Top to close the show in honor of their homegrown Texas prominence. This year, with the festival taking place in Chicago, Clapton respectfully deferred to Guy, who is perhaps the greatest living Chicago blues guitarist who is still going strong. That was certainly a noble and unselfish gesture from Clapton, but he was the clear headliner of these festivals.

I have to say, this was one of the most impressive Clapton performances I have seen in a long, long while. It certainly didn't hurt that he had guitar gods in the making Derek Trucks and Doyle Bramhall II playing alongside him in his band, which allowed for some of the finest guitar jams this side of his Derek & The Dominos stuff with the late, great Duane Allman. I am still kicking myself in the ass for missing last year's tour with these guys.

The absolute festival highlight was, without a doubt, Clapton's performances with his old Blind Faith bandmate Steve Winwood. They tore through three of the self-titled Bind Faith album's best know tracks, "Presence of the Lord", "Can't Find My Way Home", and "Had To Cry Today", which left me grinning from ear to ear with amazement. Winwood also performed his Traffic classic "Dear Mr. Fantasy", proving that he can easily hold his own with most of the guitarists at the festival, and then joined Clapton for a rousing rendition of "Crossroads".

The performances were so powerful and well received that Clapton and Winwood have already agreed to a three show run together at New York's Madison Square Garden, in February of 2008. I have an extra child to trade anyone for tickets to one of those shows. Call me - but hang up if my wife answers.