Although the Crossroads Guitar Festival 2007 DVD includes 38 songs, which cover more than four hours, it was still entirely too short. Just thinking about some of the performances that were not included, most notably more of Jeff Beck's 11-song set, left me pretty frustrated. For reasons unbeknownst to me, Beck only provided two of his explosive performances, "Cause We've Ended As Lovers" and "Big Block", for the DVD. I say it's high time that this guy finally releases his own concert DVD!

Beck's two performances were obvious highlights of this DVD for me. His band was comprised of Tal Wilkenfeld (bass), Jason Rebello (keyboards), and Vinnie Colaiuta (drums). When I first saw him and his band walking backstage on their way out to perform, I initially though that Tal was perhaps Beck's 14 year old granddaughter. It wasn't until I witnessed her incredible bass guitar prowess, along with a few revealing side view camera shots - let's just say she was dressed for a hot summer evening - did I realize that she was much more mature. It turns out she is actually 21 years old, and can she ever play the bass.

Like the first Crossroads Guitar Festival, there was something for everybody to enjoy at this show. Along with all of the predominantly blues-based guitar legends on hand, artists also ran the gamut from pop superstars, like Sheryl Crow and John Mayer, to country legends like Willie Nelson and Vince Gill. Bill Murray served as the festival emcee and provided some hilarious comedy bits between each set. My favorite was when he introduced Clapton dressed as the man himself, in full, psychedelic, Cream-era regalia. The only thing really missing this year was something as heavy as Steve Vai's 2004 set.

The production quality of this DVD was outstanding. Two exceptional DTS 5.1 surround and PCM stereo tracks are included, and the widescreen presentation looked superb. The camera work really captured the atmosphere of the show, and nearly made me forget I was watching it on my TV. A disappointingly thin booklet is provided that only includes the setlist, a few paragraphs about the Crossroads Centre, and some pictures from the festival.

The only bonus material was a short 7-minute feature that provides highlights of a few performances from the Crossroads Village Stage. I could have sat through another four hours of this stuff too, since it featured killer performances from some outstanding, lesser-known, artists like Tab Benoit, Orianthi, Todd Wolfe, and many others. The DVD I purchased from Best Buy also included a bonus disk containing two additional performances by Eric Clapton.

This is some great stuff folks. Do not hesitate to run out and buy it. I just wish they would put out an "ultimate edition" that includes every performance from both festivals. I don't care if it takes 20 DVDs and costs $200 - just bring it on. It would be worth every penny.

Performance 9/10
Production 9/10