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Watch Carlos Santana and Eric Clapton close out Crossroads 2023 with a cover of Peter Green’s Black Magic Woman
Returning for the first time after a 3-year hiatus, the festival featured a star-studded lineup of more than 40 guitar heavyweights.
Image: Kevin Winter / Getty Images
Last weekend’s 2023 Crossroads Guitar Festival saw Carlos Santana and Eric Clapton paying tribute to the late Fleetwood Mac legend Peter Green with an stirring rendition of Black Magic Woman.
Returning for the first time after a 3-year hiatus, the lineup for this year’s Crossroads Festival could be described as—well, let’s just call it absolutely insane.
With more than 40 heavyweight artists (including H.E.R., Joe Bonamassa, John McLaughlin and Christone “Kingfish” Ingram) making their appearances throughout the two-day shredding extravaganza, the show closed out with an equally impressive showcase of guitar genius from Carlos Santana and festival organiser Eric Clapton.
The pair began with a tip of the cap to Peter Green, in the form of a cover of Fleetwood Mac’s Black Magic Woman, before finishing off with the Doors’ bar-band hit, Roadhouse Blues.
Throughout the set, Santana was seen using a single-cut version of his PRS signature guitar, while Clapton was armed with a colourful custom-built Fender Stratocaster inspired by his previous collaborations with New York Street artist, John Matos.
Check out fan-filmed footage of their performance below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVVAGhsvgXY&t=1s
Santana’s latest team up with Clapton might not come as a surprise given the man has recently named the blues rock legend as one of his ‘dream collaborators’.
Also included in the list was pop icon Taylor Swift, as Santana reveals in a Reuters interview surrounding the release of his new documentary CARLOS: The Santana Journey.
Asked who he’d like to collaborate with going forward, Santana said, “Well, definitely Taylor Swift, Adele, Beyonce, Metallica, AC/DC, U2. Of course, Eric Clapton. I’d like to enter into the music of the youngsters, you know? Whether it’s rap like Jay-Z. I wanna stay relevant – I don’t wanna be a ghost in a jukebox.”