Cross purposes and Brotherly love

For four festivals, the charm of Crossroads has been the opportunity to see favorite musicians -- guitarists to be specific. But the best part about it is to have them play with and off each other. So if you're watching a set of someone who is not exactly a favorite (i.e., John Mayer), chances are he'll be joined by someone you do like (i.e., Keith Urban) within a half-hour or so.

It was really one choice matchup after another, starting during Eric Clapton's opening acoustic set with Vince Gill and Andy Fairweather-Low on "Lay Down Sally." Booker T., Steve Cropper, Matt "Guitar" Murphy" and Blake Mills tore it up on "Born Under a Bad Sign." Robert Randolph spent all of Buddy Guy's set with the Chicago bluesman and his teen protege Quinn Sullivan. And it's as much fun to watch them interact as listen to what they conjure up musically.

One-ons: When not on the main stage, the combos kept coming in the front corner enclaves on each side of the stage for "one-offs." The amazing Sonny Landreth with the spot-on Derek Trucks. Doyle Bramhall II and John Mayer paid tribute to Doyle's late dad with "Change It," a song written by his father with Stevie Ray Vaughan. Emcee Dan Aykroyd even got into the act -- with a big assist from Keb' Mo' -- on "Got My Mojo Working" the first night. The second night, Keb' tore it up with a bonafide bluesman, Taj Mahal.

Biggest surprise: Keith Fuckin' Richards! The lights go out. We think they're going to come back up on the final set of the festival -- E.C. and his band. But instead there's Keith, smirking away. Everyone's head explodes. Then he takes the lead on "Key to the Highway" and the Chuck Berry cover "Sweet Little Rock 'n' Roller." We tried as hard as we could, but no one was beaming more than Clapton.

Second biggest surprise: After providing the perfect capper Friday night, The Allman Brothers' Gregg Allman, Warren Haynes and Trucks reconvened in the one-off portion of the stage the second night. That was surprising in and of itself, but when they started the cover of Neil Young's "The Needle and the Damage Done," just wow. It really hit home considering the Crossroads drug treatment facility in Antigua is the reason the festival exists at all.

Least welcome surprise: Not really, but Mark and I were having a discussion about when we'd see Keith Urban. He prognosticated that maybe Keith would come out with John Mayer on Friday and I very quickly discounted that. So much laughter ensued when that was exactly what happened and it was a spiffy cover of "Don't Let Me Down" at that. Guess this is the one time you're right for 2013, Mark.

Clearing the decks: Intentional or not, the acoustic set that kicked off this year's Crossroads gave Eric Clapton a chance to get some chestnuts out of the way early. "Tears in Heaven," "Lay Down Sally," "Wonderful Tonight." Check, check, check. And Eric moves on.

Eternal show-stopper: Gary Clark Jr. He's an astonishing talent of staggering proportions which was fully realized during his own set the second night. His brand of music can't be easily classified, referenced or pigeon-holed. Maybe that's why he hasn't been the superstar that he has every right to be, but I'll bet you can sit any and ever aficionado of music down, and they'll come away with wide-eyed appreciation of his talents.

Second thoughts: I've never been the biggest Robert Cray fan in the world. I've seen him several times before and I've always thought he's very talented, vocally and musically, there wasn't that emotional element there for me. Definitely rethinking that after Crossroads. He's got it, he brought it, I'm sold. Robert Cray's a bluesman.

The courteous host: There was no gun slinging from Clapton. He brought tasty licks whenever he came out during a set, whether it was with B.B. King, Cray and Jimmie Vaughan or with jazzy Kurt Rosenwinkel. The best of the bunch was by far with The Allman Brothers on "Why Does Love Got to Be So Sad" on Friday. It's so in their wheelhouse for Eric to play with the Allmans and it sounds ever so sweet. I've been lucky enough to experience that a couple times, and I certainly hope that pattern holds in the future.

Hello, old friend: Coming into the festival, I was most excited about Robbie Robertson playing with Eric on the final set of the night. They started with "He Don't Live Here No More," a song Eric guested on from Robbie's latest album. Then the tribute to Levon Helm, strangely accomplished without Robbie saying his name via "I Will Be Released." And he came back for the grand finale, "High Time We Went," which was unfortunately beset by technical difficulties. It was deflating to not be able to hear many of the solos by all the guitarists.

Coping mechanism: It was all planned. Break time during Citizen Cope. Then that guy comes on with Doyle Bramhall II. Unfair business practice! And while that's a drawback (to me), Doyle -- who by the way was rockin' a serious younger Robbie Robertson vibe for me both nights -- did get to burn up the stage once again during that set with Clark Jr. on "She's Alright." II and Jr. should definitely form a band. How about the moniker "Seconds, Anyone?"

Best surprise: Albert Lee, Vince Gill and Keith Urban. They just barreled through a covers set that included Rodney Crowell's "Ain't Living Long Like This," Ray Charles' "Leave My Woman Alone," Dire Straits' "Setting Me Up" and The Rolling Stones' "Tumbling Dice." It just seemed to end way too soon.

Best non-guitar performance: It's tough, there was some great warbling going on. But for me, it started and ended with Gregg Allman. I always feel so blessed when I have the chance to take in the Allmans. The musicianship is just perfect across the board, and no matter what their nucleus has been through, hearing him sing is like an old friend coming up with a hug and saying (or in this case, singing) just what you need to hear at that very moment.

Living the theme: Everyone should have a theme song. This particular pearl of wisdom came to me via "Ally McBeal," but haters shouldn't hold that against it. It's true: You hear your theme song and it bucks your energy up immeasurably, doesn't matter if you were already "up there" or not. My theme song is "Got to Get Better in a Little While." And you better believe when Clapton and company started cranking that one out, thoughts of lethargy after sitting in the same spot for five hours quickly dissipated.

Ladies, anyone?: If there's anything to be dismayed about the weekend of wonder, it might be the lack of women on the Crossroads front. We got to hear Susan Tedeschi warble with Los Lobos and Beth Hart almost sang the house "down, down, down" during Jeff Beck's set. We know Susan can wield her axe. And lest someone believe that women can't get 'er done, there was Beck's bassist Tal Wilkenfeld scorching her solos as the sole and shining example that sends such a theory crashing out the closest window.

Postgame show: Mere footsteps away from the Garden, I got to tell Clark Jr.'s drummer Johnny Radelat that he has my dream job (and my dream hair with that fro' that was whipping around with every beat). Was brow-beaten into introducing myself to Keb' Mo' (OK, glad I did that.) And got to tell Albert Lee that he was awesome (some wordsmith I turned out to be). You can accomplish a lot in a 20-minute period after a show if you set your mind to it ... and follow the right people.

Final words: Don't know who is going to be tasked with putting the DVD together for this one, but I don't envy them that job for sure. How do you pick? Which one of Clark Jr.'s perfect numbers do you go with? Do you choose "Why Does Love Got to Be So Sad" for the Allmans' electric set at the expense of Taj Mahal with the Brothers on "Statesboro Blues?" And what about the one-offs? You gotta take "The Needle and the Damage Done," right? Well, what about the crowd-pleasing "Midnight Rider"? See what I mean, that's just a few of the impossible choices that will have to be made. Well, I'll be watching and waiting and then judging them on their decisions.

Hoarding Rick Springfield

It was a red-letter day (not to mention my favorite actress Sharon Wyatt's birthday) when I got to see Rick Springfield on "Anderson Live" and with the Sound City Players on the same day.

I went to Anderson Cooper with my vintage General Hospital/Chiller bud Carol and coerced her into doing the "Tweet Seats," in which you basically have permission to Tweet throughout the show. Personnel post some of the Tweets on a videoboard as the show is going on and I racked up a bunch of Tweets during this time.

On this day, they were taping a segment on Katherine Heigl, then starting a show with co-host Marilu Henner, a very touching segment on hoarding and how tragedy and even genetics can really factor into someone falling into such habits. And then finally a segment with the secret "special guest," who wasn't actually much of a secret to most of the assembled women there.

The special guest was hidden behind a sign, and we had a pretty good vantage point of watching him while Anderson had five questions to figure out who he was. The second question about Rick's history with Linda Blair elicited laughs, even from Rick, when Anderson asked if he was Satan, and Rick gestured that some people have wondered that very thing.

It took the full five, but Anderson finally delivered the right answer and Rick came out for another segment. Anderson interviewed various Rick diehard fans, none of whom would actually ask him a question when they had the opportunity because they were too nervous. I don't know, if I had a crack at my first love after three decades of fanaticism, I don't think I would beg off so easily, but that's just me. All the non-questions were edited out when the show aired.

After the show, Carol and I had a nice lunch where we toasted Miz Sharon and shared stories over pasta and strong drinky-drinks. We never did make a drunken "Happy Birthday" video of dancing under tables or on top of cabs, though. Maybe that's a good thing.

The next part of the evening for me was the Sound City concert. Mark came in for the show at the Hammerstein Ballroom, and as it was general admission, we stood for about two hours before the show even started. With every guest coming out to play four to six songs with Dave Grohl, Taylor Hawkins and the rest of the Sound City regulars, they warned us it was gonna be a long night.

And it started out that way, with some of the more eclectic punk and alternate guests -- like Lee Ving (best known in my circles as Mr. Boddy in "Clue") -- providing energy and sound, but I think both Mark and I wondered if we would make it through to the likes of Stevie Nicks and John Fogerty.

Prior to each set, some of their clips from the Sound City Studios documentary were shown on a big screen to whet everyone's appetite. So Mark was psyched when Rick Nielsen of Cheap Trick was shown. And truth be told, he provided quite a boost to the night. He was joined by Krist Novoselic (hey, I've seen two-thirds of Nirvana live!) Foo drummer Taylor Hawkins stepped out from behind the drums to do his best Robin Zander impression. He was having the time of his life. And it was stupendous to have Dave Grohl show off his formidable talents at the kit in the process.

The good news: It was so LOUD in there that there was no opportunity for people to have their own conversations and rain on the parade. The musicians were jonesing as much as we were too, for they sported some top-of-the-line hardware for the shows. Nielsen was rocking his famous '59 Les Paul and Fogerty trotted out his '56 Gibson gold-top Les Paul AND '57 black Les Paul custom. And Mark was amused by Grohl's pelham blue Gibson Trini Lopez model.

Now I always think of Rick as a musician who really loves his craft, but of course, to most of the world, he's considered a former teen idol. But when he was backed by musicians of the caliber of Dave Grohl and company, it really showed off the former to much advantage. First they did the song they wrote together for the Sound City album, "The Man That Never Was." Then a couple of songs from Rick's days at the legendary Sound City studios -- "I've Done Everything for You" and "Love Is Alright Tonite."

The latter number really got me going, and I was pogoing like I haven't since a Pearl Jam concert, all of the exhaustion disappearing during that time. I think I was amusing the people in my immediate vicinity too, which is a good thing, since you're about as close as you can be at a general admission show. They didn't even mind the occasional bump or flailing arm.

Rick really thrived in the environment, just getting to be part of the band rather than an "idol." Lots of great conversation between Rick and Dave during the set, their banter really showed off the mutual admiration society. They swung into "Love Somebody" and then a prolonged conversation about the most famous three notes in rock and roll before jumping into "Jessie's Girl."

We got John Fogerty after that, and although he didn't actually do tracks from his time at Sound City, it's hard to not be swayed to movement by "Centerfield" and "Bad Moon Rising."

And then the big finish ... Ms. Stevie Nicks, who apparently was battling pneumonia that day. She and Dave started off with a throaty "Stop Dragging My Heart Around" and she touched everyone's heart with the poignant story behind "You Can't Fix This," which she wrote after the tragic death of a young relative. Just as affecting was the most beautiful version of "Landslide" that I think I've ever heard and a striking take on "Gold Dust Woman" that I can't imagine being topped by Fleetwood Mac on their upcoming tour.

Then it was time to "pick up the pieces and go home." And that's when all the activity of the day just wiped us completely out. For at heart, it was easy to get into the spirit of the entire day. But physically, "even children get older ... I'm getting older too."

Some things ain't ever gonna change...

Not too long ago, I was reading this particularly pretentious book about how people love to reminisce about the past ("Retromania: Pop Culture's Addiction to Its Own Past" by Simon Reynolds). And while I took issue with a lot of the author's points, I freely admit that I love to reflect on past pop culture. It's one of my favorite pastimes. And because our culture IS so willing to do so, it's probably the reason why a lot of my favorite '80s acts have been making the rounds recently.

But I'm finding these chances to revisit earlier favorites brings me new revelations across the board. Last week's John Parr-Tommy Tutone-John Waite show -- strike that, make it Glen Burtnik-Tommy Tutone-John Waite concert -- illustrates the point beautifully. The event took place at the Mayo Performing Arts Center in Morristown, with a retro burger joint literally next door. (Apparently Don's also likes to live in the past, judging by the decor and stream of '70s songs piped overhead.)

So after downing some great burgers, we walked past a shrill clache of young women in heavy jackets and pantyhose (not sure if they had skirts on or not and wasn't about to check) and found out ... well, John Parr would not be in attendance and Glen Burtnik would appear in his place. Which led to two questions from those coming in after us. 1.) Who is Glen Burtnik? (I have to admit the name sounded really familiar but I could not place a song, even after a Google search) and 2.) Who is John Parr? (Come on, "St. Elmo's Fire" aka "Man in Motion" ... "Naughty Naughty.") Apparently his absence wasn't going to bother a healthy portion of the attending population.)

So Mr. Burtnik comes out to a wary audience and charms the hell out of us. He opens with the acerbic "Kiss Your Ass Goodbye," which if you can't get into the set off that, well, you're probably not going to anyway so head for the lobby now and don't ruin it for the rest of us. And then "The Trouble With Sally," a humorous but wistful autobiographical tale about Glen's daughter ... Sally.

Glen proclaimed himself the fill-in stunt man for John Parr, who missed his flight for the show. John Parr: A Man NOT in Motion! Naughty, Naughty!! OK, got that out of my system. Then he was joined by the ladies -- Emily Grove and Christina Shafer. And oh yeah, they give me a reason to recognize the name ... Glen co-wrote "Sometimes Love Ain't Enough" with Patty Smyth, who had a big hit with Don Henley on the ballad.

They capped their show with a montage (apparently put together in the car on the way to the show, talk about on the fly!) that included Peter Gabriel's "In Your Eyes," "Don't Dream It's Over" by Crowded House, the VERY well-received Steve Winwood tune "Back in the High Life Again," Mr. Mister's "Kyrie" and capped by, of course, John Parr's "St Elmo's Fire." You wouldn't know it was off the cuff the way it was delivered, which set a very high bar for the evening.

And then came Tommy Tutone (and I really wish I bought the CD he had available 'cause I don't know the titles). Mark gets to Googling to read up on people he doesn't know back story on and points out that his name is actually Tommy Heath and Tommy Tutone was the '80s band's moniker. But he still performs as Tommy Tutone so people know who he is.

Tommy Heath/Tutone also did a striking acoustic set (and I really wish I bought the CD he had available 'cause I don't know the titles and they aren't available on his website as yet.) There was "his version of a country song," which consists of the protagonist singing his tale of love/woe to two different women. And "Tiptoe In," a nod to Archie Bell and the Drells -- complete with little dance of tiptoeing across the room.

As Tommy explained, he likes to mix and match styles that don't sound particularly suited to each other, but wind up complementing each other perfectly. There was Jim Croce's "Operator," which he said was performed like the Clash, but also showed undertones of Elvis Costello and Van Morrison.

And thus bringeth the revelation. It's too bad that these artists were hamstrung by pop singles and the three-minute video format. Because there's a lot more to Tommy Tutone/Heath than a one-hit wonder, no matter how inviting and insinuating that song may be.

So then "867-5309 Jenny," which has the dubious distinction of being one of the catchiest one-hit wonders ever (in a good way, not "Safety Dance/Tubthumping"-catchy.) And out come the people who just went to hear certain songs from the performers, singing the lyrics at the top of their lungs. Dudes and dudettes, we did not pay our money to hear YOU sing, we came to hear the ARTIST perform.

John Waite went the full-band treatment, and he started off with my favorite solo song, "Change." That's a great way to get the crowd into the set, but as his voice got stronger as his show went on, I sort of wish it was later. But no time to fret or complain, because the rarely played "Tears" was on the setlist.

John's got this petulant but self-effacing manner that completely disarms an audience. Kind of reminds me of Rick Springfield, so it makes sense that those two performers are friends. (John appeared on one of Rick's fan cruises and also has sung backup on the new album, "Songs for the End of the World.") Some great interplay between John and his New Jersey-born drummer Rondo made me wonder about how contentious their practice sessions get.

The John Waite back catalog spans several decades, so there was a wide variety of material to choose from. There were Babys tracks such as "Every Time I Think of You," "If You Ever Get Lonely" and "Midnight Rendezvous." Late director Tony Scott got a shoutout and a dedication on "In Dreams" from "True Romance." Tina Turner has covered "Missing You," so it was very fitting that John performed her "Sweet Rhode Island." And his pipes more than withstood that workout too!

The whole set reminded me of the artists who understandably haven't been able to sustain their vocal range in the ensuing years and how absolutely that isn't so in John's case. (The next week, John said on a radio show that when he wasn't able to do that any longer, it would be a sign to call it a career.) Very glad it's not the case yet.

Oh, and revelation No. 2, it really sucks to be older and more mature, 'cause you're trying to be so considerate to the people behind you that it tends to override the impulse to stand up and rock the f out. It wouldn't have even had to be the whole time, as there was a balance between rockers and ballads. One vote cast here for small club shows.

As the '80s "addiction to pop culture" continues to bear fruit, I left the venue pondering the other artists I would like to revisit. Joan Jett definitely, that'a a long-standing wish. John Parr? I ain't missing him at all. Does Joe Jackson count? He's another one. The Go-Go's! I hope for more packaging tours that let us see some favorites who were pegged into MTV corners. That list could be endless. And of course, I hope to see Glen Burtnik, Tommy Tutone and John Waite some more!