Eric Clapton this week announced he was putting together the third installment of his hugely successful Crossroads Guitar Festival, a one-day music event that will feature Clapton jamming with his own band, as well as twenty-seven of Clapton’s favorite guitar-driven musicians.
The concert is scheduled to take place June 26 at Chicago’s Toyota Park.
“The Crossroads Festival is the realization of a dream for me, to gather a group of amazingly talented musicians to perform on one stage,” Clapton said in a statement. “The Crossroads performers are all musicians I admire and respect.”
Like the 2004 festival at Dallas’ Cotton Bowl and the 2007 festival that also took place at Toyota Park, the 2010 offering will benefit The Crossroads Centre, an addiction treatment center Clapton founded in 1998 in Antigua.
Returning to the roster are Jeff Beck, B.B. King, Jimmie Vaughan, Sheryl Crow, Los Lobos, ZZ Top, John Mayer, and Steve Winwood. Artists debuting at the festival this summer include the Allman Brothers Band and Brazilian bossa nova artist Joao Gilberto.
The 2004 Crossroads Guitar Festival was a sold-out event chronicled on a 2-disc DVD. According to Clapton’s Web site, that DVD has become a bestselling music DVD in the United States. Tickets for the 28,000 seats at the 2007 festival were also estimated as sold out, and the DVD from that event has gone multi-platinum.
Clapton will be a busy man into the summer: beginning February 25, he’ll be touring the national circuit for an 11-date run with The Who’s Roger Daltry. This comes hot on the heels of three appearances with Jeff Beck, beginning February 18 at Madison Square Garden and ending February 22 in Montreal.
Tickets for the 2010 Crossroads Guitar Festival are priced at $100, plus parking and applicable fees. Tickets go on sale February 20 via Ticketmaster.com, Ticketmaster phone charge, Ticketmaster retail outlets, and the Toyota Park box office.
Artists confirmed for the festival:
Albert Lee
Allman Brothers Band
BB King
Bert Jansch
Buddy Guy
David Hidalgo and Cesar Rosas of Los Lobos
Doyle Bramhall II
Earl Klugh
Eric Clapton
Gary Clark Jr.
Hubert Sumlin
James Burton
Jeff Beck
Jimmie Vaughan
Joao Gilberto
Joe Bonamassa
John Mayer
John Renbourn
Keb Mo
Pino Daniele
Robert Cray
Robert Randolph
Sheryl Crow
Sonny Landreth
Steve Winwood
Vince Gill
ZZ Top
