Down at the Crossroads...

This past weekend, Sheryl and I went to Eric Clapton's Crossroads Festival in Chicago. Sheryl is a big fan of Chi-town, and I had only been there once, so I was looking forward to her showing me around.

We left around 9am Friday, and headed straight down to the Navy Pier to catch the 2:00 architecture tour boat. Wow! What a rush! Sorry to sound like a geographic moron, but I never knew that a river ran through Chicago! And the views were amazing from the boat, too. Whew!

After dinner at Harry Caray's restaurant, we headed to the "hotel". And wow. Let me just say that the next time I want to find a place in the Chicago suburbs where I feel like I'm paying by the hour, I would definitely go back... not very likely.

But the reason for our visit was Saturday at Toyota Park. The night heralded loud thunderstorms, and the weather outlook for the day was constantly threatening. But the rain never came. The clouds barely came, and it was hotter than hell.

We got to the park shortly after noon, and the music had already started. I was so excited! We kept telling ourselves that it was a marathon, and not a sprint. We used a lot of sunscream, I had bought a floppy expeditionary hat to cover my ears and neck, and we had our sunglasses and ear-to-ear grins.

When we got to our seats, Robert Randolph had just started. Our seats were straight away across from the stage (imagine end zone to end zone at a football stadium), 4th row from the field.

After an awesome Robert Randolph set, we decided to look for shade. We found a bit, and consumed a lot of water. Robert Cray played with some special guests, and we wandered around a little, watching Sheryl Crow perform.

It was the first time I'd seen Ms. Crow perform, and I was very impressed. She was a definite highlight... but then, the day was still young.

I had been looking forward to seeing ZZ Top and John Mayer. I had heard that they were great performers, yet had never felt the urge to see either one. ZZ Top played rather early in the day - around 2pm. I was really impressed with them, although I'd probably never go spend money to see them again.

Again, we wandered around, and eventually made our way back to our seats to see John Mayer, and the rest of the performances. I had a feeling that John Mayer was going to be good when I heard his trio was rounded out with Stanley Jordan on drums and Pino Palladino on bass.

And they ROCKED!

What a nice surprise. I think that's what this event was about - to see people perform whom you wouldn't normally see. I think I'm a fan, although I will be careful not to fall for the pop-py crap they've played non-stop on pop radio.

Buddy Guy played some smoking blues with Jonny Lang and Ronnie Wood. Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks hosted a mega free-for-all that included the guys from Los Lobos, and Warren from the Allman Brothers. Then another big surprise - Johnny Winter came out to jam. Unfortunately, he played horribly. I was bummed.

Nonetheless, the fireworks were just starting. Easily one of my favorites - Jeff Beck performed flawlessly. He played a bunch of new songs that I had seen him play last week in Detroit. I was hoping he'd play "A Day in the Life" so Sheryl could see/hear it, but unfortunately for me, he chose to play "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" instead. Sorry, I find that one a yawner. But he made up for it, playing "Rollin' and Tumblin", "Dirty Mind", and the Sly Stone song "Higher".

The man of the hour stepped up to the mic and plugged in after Beck. The sun had gone down, and although it was still hot, it was much more bearable.

Eric Clapton played a few songs, then introduced Jeff Beck who came out to play "Shake Your Moneymaker". Another snoozer in my book. But the night got better when Steve Winwood was introduced. Together, Clapton and Winwood played "It's Alright" and "Had to Cry Today" by Blind Faith.

By this time, I started to realize that if we stayed to the very end, we would be totally hosed trying to get out. Toyota Park was sold out, and 27,000 people would be heading to the gates at the same time. While Clapton and Winwood tore through an amazing "Voodoo Child" - the original slow, crushing version - I told Sheryl that I was ready to go whenever she was. We were torn by the parking situation, and Clapton being AMAZING. So as the jumped into "Cocaine", we made a beeline to the exit.

As we inched towards the car, I could hear the intro to "Dear Mr. Fantasy". Ugh!

We were exhausted, though. At 10pm, it had been a long, hot day. We were willing to give up the final hours-worth of performances. Besides... we were already planning to buy the DVD when it's released this fall!

Back at the shack, we choked down some 7-11 nachos and chicken tenders before diving into a deep deep sleep.

We were on the road home by 7am, and back at our house by 2:30. Home sweet home... a perfect coda to sweet home Chicago.