Eric Clapton has announced a major U.S. tour culminating in his fourth Crossroads Guitar Festival.
The Festival will take place April 12-13 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Before that, Clapton will visit more than a dozen cities across the U.S. starting March 14. The tour will end with the two-night Festival. All profits from the Festival will benefit The Crossroads Centre in Antigua, a treatment and education facility founded by Clapton for chemically dependent people. The Festival is presented by Chase.
“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. “The Crossroads performers are all musicians I admire and respect.”
In addition to the concerts, the “Guitar Center Road to Crossroads Exhibition” will be featured on the Terrace level @ Madison Square Garden and will excite fans with an incredible guitar-centric celebration of past Crossroads Guitar Festivals. This exhibition will feature the “Legends Guitar Walk," with some of the most valuable guitars in the history of Rock and Blues, including historic guitars from Guitar Center’s Legends Collection featuring Clapton’s two most famous Fender Stratocasters, Blackie and "Brownie," Gibson ES-335 as well as Stevie Ray Vaughan’s "Lenny" Fender Stratocaster, plus selections from Guitar Center, The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Experience Music Project.
Additionally, Fender, Gibson, Ernie Ball and Martin will host interactive exhibits where guitar lovers can plug in and play new products and classic favorites, while all visitors will be able to peruse memorabilia and watch archival footage of once-in-a-lifetime performances from prior Crossroads festivals on video walls throughout the exhibition. The “Road to Crossroads Exhibition” will open at 6:30 p.m. on Friday and 6:00 p.m. Saturday, and is free to all ticket holders.
Tickets for the Crossroads Guitar Festival will be offered as an advance sale to Chase customers beginning noon EST Monday, November 26, via ticketmaster.com through 10 p.m. EST Thursday, November 29. General public on-sale will begin noon EST Friday, November 30.
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Tickets for the Clapton 2013 U.S. Tour will go on sale November 30.
CURRENT CROSSROADS FESTIVAL ARTIST LISTING (Note: Two Different Nights of Music. Not All Artists Will Perform Both Nights)
Albert Lee
Allan Holdsworth
Allman Brothers Band
Andy Fairweather Low
B.B. King
Blake Mills
Booker T
Brad Paisley
Buddy Guy
Citizen Cope
Dave Biller
Doyle Bramhall II
Earl Klugh
Eric Clapton
Gary Clark Jr.
Jeff Beck
Jimmie Vaughan
John Mayer
John Scofield
Jonny Lang
Keb Mo
Keith Urban
Kurt Rosenwinkle
Los Lobos
Quinn Sullivan
Robbie Robertson
Robert Cray
Robert Randolph
Sonny Landreth
Taj Mahal
Vince Gill
ERIC CLAPTON 2013 TOUR and ITINERARY Band: Doyle Bramhall II (guitar), Steve Jordan (drums), Chris Stainton (piano and keyboards), and Willie Weeks (bass), along with newcomers Paul Carrack (organ and keyboards) and Greg Leisz (pedal steel guitar). Michelle John and Sharon White will join the touring band again as backing vocalists. The tour will also feature special guests, the Wallflowers.
Thursday, March 14 Phoenix, AZ U.S. Airways Center Saturday, March 16 Houston, TX Toyota Center Sunday, March 17 Austin, TX Frank Erwin Center Tuesday, March 19 Dallas, TX American Airlines Center Wednesday, March 20 Oklahoma City, OK Chesapeake Energy Arena Friday, March 22 Nashville, TN Bridgestone Arena Saturday, March 23 New Orleans, LA New Orleans Arena Tuesday, March 26 Jacksonville, FL Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena Wednesday, March 27 Atlanta, GA Gwinnett Arena Friday, March 29 Hollywood, FL Seminole Hard Rock Live Saturday, March 30 Hollywood, FL Seminole Hard Rock Live Tuesday, April 2 Charlotte, NC Time Warner Cable Arena Wednesday, April 3 Raleigh, NC PNC Arena Friday, April 5 Uncasville, CT Mohegan Sun Arena Saturday, April 6 Pittsburgh, PA Consol Energy Center Friday, April 12 New York, NY Madison Square Garden Saturday, April 13 New York, NY Madison Square Garden
Damian is Editor-in-Chief of Guitar World magazine. In past lives, he was GW’s managing editor and online managing editor. He's written liner notes for major-label releases, including Stevie Ray Vaughan's 'The Complete Epic Recordings Collection' (Sony Legacy) and has interviewed everyone from Yngwie Malmsteen to Kevin Bacon (with a few memorable Eric Clapton chats thrown into the mix). Damian, a former member of Brooklyn's The Gas House Gorillas, was the sole guitarist in Mister Neutron, a trio that toured the U.S. and released three albums. He now plays in two NYC-area bands.
