Customer Reviews

Eric Clapton: Crossroads Guitar Festival 2010 [Blu-ray]

5 star:		(66)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(15)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

Crossroads 2010 is around four and a half hours of pure great guitar playing, filmed nearly perfectly, with fantastic sound. This is an amazing concert film.

I was at Crossroads 2010; the really great parts of the concert are here on this DVD. The really low points were gratefully left off, namely Citizen Cope and Johnny Winter (Winter was virtually carried on stage, and was so far out of tune and rhythm, Derek Trucks had to rescue him). November 9, 2010 is the release date of this DVD, any reviews prior to that date are simply conjecture on what may or may not be on this DVD, and are likely about the theatrical release of this film. I would also say that the Best Buy bonus disc is not worth chasing after. Another reviewer mentioned the songs included those were all my least favorite performances of the day, and mostly belonged on the cutting room floor anyway. Behind the scenes footage, during the standard four and a half hours there is just enough behind the scenes shown. The talking head pieces are more than enough for my taste. I'm not interested in more.

There are thirty performances on this two disc DVD. Every guitarist is famous in one circle or another; these are big names in the industry. Yes, Eric and BB are the best known. The sound choice on the DVD is simple - straight stereo for the purist or DTS surround. Both sound great. The sound mix was done to perfection. They chose to package this DVD in the old DVD-Audio cases, slightly larger than a CD case, and with a snap shut mechanism to open.

This is concert coverage at its best. Camera movement is kept to a minimum, shots are steady, rarely is focus missed, and there aren't a million short cuts trying to follow the music or tons of cuts back to crazy hippie dancers in the audience. The film tries very hard to let the music speak for itself and focus on the performers. Unfortunately there are a number of interviews or talking head moments in the film. About half are good and informative, the rest are really annoying. Sadly there was some voice over during performances by Sonny Landreth, Bert Jansch, and Earl Klugh. In a way, the editor is saying, folk music, jazz, and instrumental is boring, he needed to spice things up with commentary. The film opens with a hokey drive around Chicago in an old convertible. I would have preferred one more song instead of this lead in.

Every Bill Murray introduction is included. At the concert, Bill was hilarious. On DVD, I'm not sure he is that funny. The finale, which felt like fireworks to me, was cut short. BB King and around twenty guitarists played Sweet Home Chicago - the sound was amazing.

There is a huge difference between sitting one hundred yards away, listening to the PA mix, and the fine intimate clear mix the film captured. Some energy was lost in the mixing, but mostly clarity of the voices was hugely improved.

My highlights for the day - Sonny Landreth, Robert Cray, Derek Trucks, Susan Tedeschi, Keb' Mo', Jeff Beck (his new bassist is amazing), and BB King. By far the highest energy performance of the day was Buddy Guy. He was lit up that day, and it shines through on the DVD. The lowest of the low, Johnny Winter, Citizen Cope, Jimmie Vaughan (I despised his horning in on Robert Cray's performance when Hubert Sumlin pointedly says Robert is going to do this next song), and ZZ Top (at the concert they phoned in their performance, it was impossible to hear any vocals - in the remix for the DVD that was corrected). And I know this is heresy, but Eric Clapton did not perform very well during his set. He was outstanding when he sat in with other performers. But when it came time to do his set, his voice seemed very tired and that he just wasn't into the performance. I saw Clapton a few years ago and had a similar feeling.

DVD Number one, roughly the first half of the concert, opens with Sonny Landreth demonstrating that he is an incredible guitarist. There are so many close ups of him working the strings and frets, there is a major guitar lesson in there. The Robert Randolph & Family Band play some great slide guitar - Joe Bonamassa steps in for one song. Robert Cray with Hubert Sumlin and the awful Jimmie Vaughan (The Famous Thunderbirds and Stevie Ray's brother) perform two songs. ZZ Top follows up with two songs each - on disc these are nice, in the concert they were terrible. Doyle Bramhall II is involved in the next four songs. Sheryl Crow leads a bunch of artists for two songs - the saving grace is Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi. Bert Jansch is apparently a fantastically popular folk singer in Great Britain. He sat in a chair center stage with his acoustic guitar. His playing is impressive, but he was a significant buzz kill at the concert. One of his songs is represented here. Stefan Grossman and Keb' Mo' are spectacular doing some very quite simple blues. Keb' Mo' is an artist to listen to, he is amazing. Then there are two songs by the most confusing performer at this concert, Vince Gill. Fortunately, he was backed by some amazing guitarists. The talking head moments with Vince are mostly about how he isn't sure he belongs at this concert. Yes Country music arrives at a guitar concert. On the DVD the two songs are not bad. Earl Klugh turns in two amazing classical guitar jazz pieces. Klugh is a master on the guitar. Like Gill and Jansch, his music didn't blend well with the rest of the show. And finally, the most controversial artist of the day, closes out disc one with two songs. I hate John Mayer as much as the next person; he is a slime bucket extraordinaire. I've always hated the grimaces he makes on stage, mostly can't stand to watch him, and can't figure out why BB King even bothers with this nut. But, if I close my eyes and forget that this performance is John Mayer, he does an amazing job at this concert.

Disc two is the real gem in this DVD set. Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi are incredible. I love Susan's voice and her guitar playing. She carries the blues in a totally different fashion from all other female blues players. She's not the belt it out Koko Taylor type, but the subtle clean delivery. Thankfully the Trucks family was well represented on disc two. Warren Haynes does some great guitar playing and vocals. Los Lobos guys show up. The first five songs are just some great collaborative playing by great musicians. As the corner is turned to the last part of the disc, Bill Murray does his best introduction of the day. He essentially says, they got rid of the lousy bands, they're all in the bus and leaving, now it's time for only the good stuff. Well heck yes!!! Buddy Guy comes out swinging for two songs. I love the moment when Guy breaks a string (slow motion is so great on a DVD), Ronnie Wood tries to give him his guitar, Guy keeps singing and playing, and finally he's presented with his signature white and black polka dot guitar. Instantly he was off playing. I yelled Buddy Guy at the concert until I couldn't speak anymore. Today, I yelled it in my living room. Buddy Guy! Then Jeff Beck plays two amazing songs. His new group is fantastic. His new bass player isn't nearly as cute as his previous one. I'll take strong great bass player any day over a perky young Australian player.

Eric Clapton performs on the next seven songs. The Citizen Cope collaboration was the worst track of the entire two disc set - Hands of the Saints was pure listening pain for me. Dear Mr. Fantasy with Steve Winwood was so remarkable to me. Other artists tried some Jimi Hendrix songs (thankfully those massacres were left off the DVD), Winwood and Clapton did a decent job on Voodoo Chile.

By far the absolute best performance of the day was BB King sitting down with Lucille (oh the close ups of him playing are spectacular), Eric Clapton, Robert Cray, and Jimmie Vaughan to play The Thrill is Gone. Roughly fifteen minutes long, the song ends with all the guitarists still in the house playing along. It was a magic moment. Granted the director had to decide when to stop. However, in the concert BB goes on to tell a good ten minute story about women, and then the entire group of thirty or so musicians, did a twenty minute Sweet Home Chicago. I honestly felt like they had lit off fireworks it was that amazing.

Given the difficult choices of the music to include in a very long concert, I think the director did a very fine job capturing the feeling of the day. This is by far much better than the previous Crossroads DVD. For over four hours today, I relived that incredibly hot day in Chicago. This was my fourteen year old son's first rock concert ever. How many people can say, the first concert they ever saw live was Crossroads and have a fantastic DVD to remember it by? This is a special disc for many reasons.

yeah yeah yeah...go ahead and comment or say this review wasn't helpful...whatever, I don't care...but what I do care is about getting the most bang for my buck...this blu ray release (priced $27.99 at time of review) is also available for pre order at best buy for only 21.99 with FREE shipping and you get a bonus disk of 5 extra performances...now if I don't call that helpful to know I don't know what is.

Updated best buy bonus disc info

BEST BUY EXCLUSIVE EDITION BONUS DISC (DVD AND BLU-RAY):
01. Gary Clark Jr. - Don't Owe You A Thang
02. Sheryl Crow - Everyday Is A Winding Road
03. Citizen Cope - Son's Gonna Rise
04. Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi Band - Love Has Something Else To Say
05. Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood - Glad
06. Eric Clapton Interview

I agree with the first reviewer's opinion. However, the Best Buy Exclusive 3 Disc Set has expired. Now, they only have the same 2 DVD version as Amazon. If you can find one available, the bonus third dvd includes 5 extra performances, plus an interview with Eric Clapton. The 3rd Bonus dvd includes Eric Clapton & Steve Winwood's "Glad", Sheryl Crow's "Everday is a Winding Road", Derek Trucks & Susan Tedeschi Band's "Love Has Something Else to Say", Gary Clark Jr.'s "Don't Owe You a Thang", & Citizens Cope's "Son's Gonna Rise".

As far as the basic 2 dvds go, this is "Guitar Heaven". Like Buddy Guy states during one of his performances, "I don't know how you feel, but I feel like I'm in Heaven". I love all of this guitar festival. If you like guitar rock, it doesn't get any better than this. Bill Murray is an excellent host as usual. Plus, the mutual respect and camaraderie amoung the guitarists and musicians is great to see. Plus, there are great commentaries by some of the guitarists themselves. You can tell they are all glad to be there, performing with each other. It's a great atmosphere.

Some of my personal favorites include the performances by Sonny Landreth, from my home state of Louisiana. He plays the guitar in a Louisiana, Cajun/Zydeco style, called "Slydeco". Also, there's Robert Randolph & The Family Band. Robert is awesome on his pedel steel guitar. I like the tribute to Stevie Ray Vaughan "Six Strings Down" by Jimmy Vaughan and others. I like Hubert Sumlin, he's a living blues legend, and he's still full of passion for the blues. I like ZZ Top, Doyle Bramhall II, & Gary Clark Jr., all from Texas. I like James Burton from Louisiana, on "Mystery Train" & other songs. James Burton started playing guitar on the Louisiana Hayride Radio Program, when he was 14 years old. He was in Elvis' TCB Band (Taking Care of Business). Also, he was one of the first "sidemen" inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

I really enjoyed the Derek Trucks & Susan Tedeschi Band's performances, this is their first debut on a dvd, as a reorgainized new band. I love Derek's slide guitar playing. He is a master of the slide guitar, plus Susan is great on guitar, and a great vocalist also. I liked all the collaborations of different musicians playing together. I liked Warren Haynes, Sheryl Crow, Robert Cray, Vince Gill, Albert Lee, Buddy Guy, Ron Wood, Johnny Lang, Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, Steve Winwood, and all the rest. I really liked Buddy Guy's perfomances, especially the Stone's "Miss You", where he breaks a guitar string, and handles it gracefully, and then is handed another guitar. Plus I loved the grand finale, "The Thrill is Gone", by B.B.King (another living blues legend) & Ensemble.

If you liked the first two EC's Guitar Festival DVD's, then you'll certainly enjoy this one, for sure. These festivals just keep getting better and better. Thanks!!!

I purchased the DVD and watched it last night. I have the shows from past years and this one does not have the pop that the others do. The artist lineup had the potential to really wow the concert goer but IMO was a little lackluster. My biggest disappointment was the video editing which is probably the main reason this rated a 3. Too many out of focus shots coming into focus, shots of the audience clapping instead of focusing on the artist, jumping to new shots so fast it really took away from the performance. I think the guy was trying to be too artsy-fartsy in the editing room and really messed up a good concert for those of us who were not actually there. If you buy this do yourself a favor and just pay attention to the audio and you will love the concert. If you do not have the previous years you are missing out on some first rate shows.

I've got all three of these Crossroads festivals and 2010 is not the best of the bunch. Of course Eric is still top shelf, His performance with Steve Winwood on Voodoo Chile was terrific. The other stand outs where Susan Tedeschi's great voice and band. Jeff Beck's version of Nesen Dorma. Beck always is improving and is always doing something new. I know Derek Trucks is capable of far more than just sliding a piece of glass over the strings. There is way to much emphasis on Slide Guitar. I know it's a blues thing, but not every song. Enough already. David Hildago and his boys still light it up. The other great performance was Earl Klugh. Eric needs to allow more jazz players into the fold. Personally I think alot of these roots players are afraid of the musicanship of the jazz players. I missed McLaughlin. Mabey next year Eric, Larry Coryell or Mimi Fox huh? If it's a guitiar festival then lets see some other styles. Frankly there were alot of repeat type performances here. I love BB King with all my heart and he's getting on, but we've all heard The Thrill is gone. We've had enough of Killing Floor as well. To be honest, there are bunch of so called big stars featured here, which I'm amazed have a career at all. All in all it looked like a great event. We must keep the Blues alive and live music alive at any cost. Generally I got the feeling that they just showcased the usual performers because they felt that's what folks wanted. There was not the feeling or performances chosen that equalled that last two concerts. The last two I had I watched and still watched repeatedly but this one just doesn't give that feeling. Better luck next time. I hope the next festival, they might want to find some more innovative and newer talent. I also hope that the veteran players stop falling back on what they did and start thinking of new ideas. They should take note of Mr. Beck and Mr. Klugh. Mike Zinna Huntersville, NC.

Bought this blu-ray a few weeks ago expecting something great. Nope. Doesn't work for me. Very boring selection of songs by many great musicians. A major disappointment. Song after song. Just not there. Best I can recommend is the country set with Vince Gill. Now, I don't like country, but this had my foot tapping. The rest, well, what can I say? Already said it. Other comments - the sound was not great either. DTS, really? Could not get that great surround sound dynamic, at least out of my system. Same goes for the video blu-ray. Nothing spectular, which is what I expect. Now, this is not bad. But not worth recommending. Frankly, I think other reviews here are way over the top. More influenced by the musicians than the songs. I've seen lots of great blues and rock guitar concerts. This ain't it. Not even close.

If anybody saw Clapton and Bonamassa play together @ Royal Albert Hall, you would realize this DVD could have used a whole lot more JB and a lot less of a LARGE number of participants here..

Loved the item! I went to the crossroads. I got the DVD for my father who would have died to go.... The thing about the DVD is they cut off a great performance of Jeff Beck's bass player! That was the best I have ever seen, I remember at the concert the crowd went wild, to the point where you couldnt even hear the music anymore.

This is great stuff. A two DVD set with 40 cuts of music that nobody seems to make anymore. I am 63 and like most all jams that have been made over the years. I am partial to old rock and blues. Some of my old favorites like Eric Clapton, ZZ Top, and Jeff Beck, still play with the same feeling as always. Saw a short version of "Crossroads" on PBS and immediately checked Amazon to see if it was available. As luck would have it, it was there. Checkout the artists names. If you remember and enjoyed there sound from another time, you are going to want this 2 DVD set. Well put together. Enjoy.

Clapton is a master at "blues-bassed" rock, and he has been my guitar hero for years. However, when inspired, I still listen to other pioneers in the craft such as Django Reinhardt, Charlie Christian (with the Benny Goodman orchestra of the 1930's} and others from that Era. There's no "comparing..." it's apples and oranges...everyone has their own style of playing solos, and I say, "hooray!" What a great sample of talent we are treated to! They all resepct each other completely--they've all learnd from one another over the years--so it's all good! Just my thoughts, thank you...John