“All that was left was a pile of burning guitars,” said Robbie Robertson at the end of the 2007 Crossroads Guitar Festival in Chicago. The eleven-hour event was jam-packed with fiery performances onstage, but a mellow vibe prevailed both in the crowd and behind the scenes. The day was warm and overcast, and Toyota Park was filled to the last row with shirtless onlookers and guitar fanatics, all sharing a common sense of being in the presence of greatness.
The scene backstage resembled a big family reunion as host Eric Clapton and John Mayer made themselves at home, both equipped with cameras. The Fender tent was the prime behind-the-scenes hangout, with its guitar-lined walls, velvet couches and of course, air conditioning. But most of the event’s guitar heroes could be found clustered together at the side of the stage intently watching their own guitar heroes. Early in the day Clapton, dressed in a BBQ-ready outfit of plaid Bermuda shorts and a golf beret, watched Robert Cray, Hubert Sumlin and Jimmie Vaughan alongside B.B. King, reminiscing with the blues legend about old recording sessions. A slightly star-struck Derek Trucks chatted up King while Sheryl Crow sat in the sound booth gazing at Mayer’s set. “I could feel the audience dragging in the beginning, but I knew how the movie ends,” Mayer said, referring to his blaring guitar solo on set closer “Gravity” and his version of the Ray Charles hit “I Don’t Need No Doctor.” (more…)