Last spring in New York City, Eric Clapton once again assembled an unparalleled lineup of the world’s most celebrated guitarists for the fourth incarnation of his legendary Crossroads Guitar Festival. While the previous three festivals were all hosted in sprawling outdoor stadiums, Clapton took the festivities indoors for the first time this year to “The World’s Most Famous Arena” Madison Square Garden. You can now relive highlights from that epic, two-night display of guitar virtuosity with new video and audio collections on DVD and Blu-Ray.
This year’s shows featured performances by Clapton, the Allman Brothers Band, Blake Mills, Buddy Guy, Derek Trucks, Doyle Bramhall II, Gary Clark Jr., Jeff Beck, John Mayer, Keith Richards, Keith Urban, Los Lobos, Robert Cray, Sonny Landreth, Steve Cropper, Vince Gill, Warren Haynes and more.
Both the DVD and Blu-Ray versions feature nearly five hours of music across 45 tracks, plus conversations with the artists and other behind-the-scenes footage from this all-star concert.
For the first time ever, audio highlights from the festival have also been released on CD and digitally, featuring 29 tracks.
Among the highlights of the show were the surprise pairing of John Mayer and Keith Urban for the Beatles’ “Don’t Let Me Down,” Vince Gill and Clapton taking on “Lay Down Sally,” Keb Mo and Taj Mahal covering the Sleepy John Estes’ song, “Diving Duck Blues,” Gill performing “Tumbling Dice” with Urban and Albert Lee and members of the Allman Brothers – Gregg Allman, Warren Haynes and Derek Trucks – joined forces for a haunting acoustic cover of Neil Young’s “The Needle and the Damage Done.”
As you would expect, Clapton features prominently throughout the show, including with his own band for “Tears In Heaven.” The legendary guitarist also tore through the Derek and the Dominos’ classic “Why Does Love Got to Be So Sad” with the Allman Brothers Band, revisiting the time in 2009 when he joined the band during their annual residency at the Beacon Theater in New York.
Available now on Amazon.com and iTunes.
