Steve Winwood and Eric Clapton have been nominated for Grammys for their newly released live double CD set. They ended their 14 city tour of the US on a perfect night at The Hollywood Bowl 6-30-09. They walked on the stage around 8:20 to the sound of cheering fans and without fanfare went into the very powerful "Had to Cry Today". The set was similar to the Madison Square Garden set with a few nice refinements like substituting an acoustic solo on the piano of "The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys" instead of "No Face, No Number".  While it would have been nice to have seen "No Face, No Name, No Number" live "Low Spark" is one of Steve's signature songs. Even tho I've seen "Low Spark" performed with a band as many, many times, watching just Steve alone with the piano doing this song made the night very special. Another nice refinement was adding an acoustic "Layla" on which both guitarists were perfect but Steve stole the show as usual. Eric's guitar work on "Pearly Queen" made me think of what could have been possible if BLIND FAITH could have been allowed to exist longer than one tour, one album. Other highlights similar to the MSG video include "Voodoo Chile" on which Steve played with Hendrix on the original recording and of course the encore rock anthems "Cocaine" and "Dear Mr. Fantasy". Through out the night Abe Laboriel Jr. beat the **** out of the drums. He is like a octopus & makes enough noise for two Ginger Bakers. Perhaps the best drummer in the world backing Eric and Steve gives you three wonders of the world. I wish they had made the MSG video with Abe. I have seen Abe with McCartney a few times and he is always amazing. With Willie Weeks on bass you can't go wrong. Was that Eric Idle on keyboards? No it was the great Chris Stainton who just looks a bit like Eric Idle. The backup singers Michelle John & Sharon White were needed for fill in on a few songs but as a purist they and even Eric could have sat out on singing the BLIND FAITH songs. When I saw BLIND FAITH almost exactly 40 years ago it was Steve's voice only and I usually like to hear things the way I heard them on the record. So is it going to be boys, another 40 years before you do it again? No, recently they have set tour dates in Europe. Caught up with Steve after the show at the after party. Eric had to leave right after the last show. I understand that as I  like to leave work and go home when I'm done but Steve & his wife were very gracious. Steve signed a CD for a girl that was hangin' out with us and Steve shook our hands. Steve told me he has to concentrate on Europe for awhile as the Europians are feeling a bit left out as he has been spending so much time touring in the US. Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood played Madison Square Garden on Feb. 25, 26 and 28, 2008. A Blu-Ray disc & 2 DVD & 2 CD set have been released of that event. Clapton & Winwood also played for Countryside Rocks at Highclere Castle, Hampshire, UK on 19 May 2007. They played songs that they originally played in Blind Faith as well as some other music. They also played together in Chicago on July 28, 2007 as part of the Crossroads Guitar Festival 2. The DVD of CROSSROADS 2 was released November 20, 2007.

Paul McCartney has done a few concerts including a couple at the new Citi Field in New York July 17 & 18th. He has several concerts planned in Europe. Find out more at paulmccartney.com

A 40th Anniversery Woodstock Festival was held in Orange County, CA at Irvine Lakes August 15th. The all day event featured some of the best Tribute bands in the world including tribute bands for The Who, Jimi, Janis, Santana, etc. It's becoming quite a nice yearly event. For more about the 2010 Woodstock fest go to Irvine Lake - Fishing and Camping in Orange County, Southern Californiahttp://irvinelake.net/ & I'll see you there. 

Steve Winwood was Tom Petty's very special guest on Petty's summer tour of the US. Below is a picture of Steve on stage at the Hollywood bowl during the tour. Steve Winwood released "9 Lives" April 29th. This is his 9th solo release and is on the Columbia label. Best Buy has is selling an exclusive CD with DVD of an interview with behind the scenes footage shot at Wincraft Studios and some clips from Steve's past. Steve is touring the US & Europe for more info check out: SteveWinwood.com



 


Ringo Starr has released his new CD "Liverpool 8" his eight release & is touring this summer. Ringo, George Martin & son picked up the Grammy for "Love" at the Grammys. Paul couldn't be there as he had to be in court the next morning for the divorce proceedings.

Led Zeppelin played in London on December10th 2008 for charity.

Spencer Davis celebrated his 65th birthday by playing a gig at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood on 7/15/07. The free concert was to promote the opening of the Mods and Rockers film fest by the American Cinematheque. He played classic Spencer Davis Group hits and music from his new CD "SO FAR" which sounds great! Check the Spencer Davis Group website for more information. Spencer tours the world with his new band & played at LA's Greek Theater 9/17/06 along with Tommy James & the Shondells, Eric Burdon & the Animals & the Grass Roots. Promoters & radio ststions have been offering a considerable amount of money to get the original band members back together seeing as they are one of the only 60's groups in which all original members are still alive. A Spencer Davis Group Live DVD with the original line up is now available in the US.