Eric Clapton & Friends in Concert: A Benefit for the Crossroads Centre at Antigua (1999) Online

Having being a long-time Clapton fan, I was intrigued by this video in aid of 'The Crossroads Centre' in Antigua that Eric set up to help alcoholics and drug users. The video begins with a chat to Eric and footage of the guitar auction in which Clapton gives his thoughts on his instruments and getting sober. Anyway when Clapton gets on the stage at Madison Square Garden in New York he launches into a fantastic version of Willie Dixon's 'Hoochie Coochie Man' with a blinding Strat solo. He then goes on to perform 'River Of Tears' from the Pilgrim album of 1998 which sounds fantastic. But I'm sorry to say that other than the first few songs that open the concert, the rest of the material seems a little bland and predictable. He plays a great version of 'Tears In Heaven' though and 'Change The World' which is a bonus probably for many people. And don't worry 'Layla' is included (electric version) which fans like me will love. The first guest Sheryl Crow performs two of her own songs with the Clapton band and a version of Hendrix 'Little Wing' that sounds pretty good. I must say that I fast-forwarded the Mary J Blige spot basically because I didn't like that part of the concert much. Also Bob Dylan comes on at the end of the concert and even that's a bit of a disappointment as 'Don't Think Twice' doesn't sound too good and then onto 'Crossroads' where Clapton and Dylan basically sound like a couple of pub singers! For an encore is the riff-tastic 'Sunshine Of Your Love' that sounds too heavy and overdone here. My final thought on this video is that fans like me will enjoy the popular stuff such as 'Layla', 'Wonderful Tonight', 'Old Love' etc, but nearly all the songs are either too laid back or too overblown which is quite a disappointment for balance. Also there wasn't really any other blues tracks apart from the opener 'Hoochie Coochie Man'. So all-in-all this is pretty average stuff - it starts off great but then seems to lose the balance a little. But hey it's for a good cause and fans will probably really love it. I'd just say that it wasn't bad viewing but it could've been a lot more fun and entertaining. This is a quite average, over-glossed concert. Shame.