Eric Clapton
Crossroads Guitar Festival 2019
A flock of A-lister artists perform at Clapton’s charity bash
It would be tempting to merely list the line-up on this album in lieu of a full review and just leave everything to your imagination. Nobody would argue that they’d be disappointed when you have tonehounds like Sonny Landreth, Bonnie Raitt, Derek Trucks, John Mayer, Jeff Beck and Gary Clark Jr waiting in the wings to entertain you. Recorded at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, over the two-day festival, this was the first time in six years that the Crossroads event had happened and so it’s no surprise that Eric and friends decided to make a spectacular job of it. From Sonny Landreth’s steamrolling opener with the instrumental Native Stepson you know you’re going to be treated to three discs of the best blues, soul, rock and the rest that the music world has to offer.
There are some dynamic duets throughout the album, too – Buddy Guy and Jonny Lang trading licks on Cognac, and Jimmie Vaughan and Bonnie Raitt duelling it out on Baby, Please Come Home is worth the price of admission alone. A highlight for us was Clapton teaming up with Peter Frampton for an emotional reading of While My Guitar Gently Weeps, but it’s not just the blues-rock establishment that dominates the stage. Newcomer 25-year-old Tom Misch, who first made his mark uploading his music to Soundcloud, leaves an impression with his moody instrumental Lift Off, and The Marcus King band brings the audience to their feet with a red-hot version of How Long. The whole event is available on DVD, too, which can only heighten the experience. Fab stuff!
Standout track: How Blue Can You Get? (Tedeschi Trucks Band) For fans of: Clapton, Beck and the assembled cast