Two of the headliners of Jazz Fest 2014 played the same stage one week apart and yet couldn’t have been more different.
Photo by: Stephen Maloney
On the one hand, we were treated to a stellar and in depth blues set from Slowhand himself – Eric Clapton making his Jazz Fest debut.
On the other, Bruce Springsteen returned to the Acura stage with the E Street Band for a high energy set that would have blown the roof off if they hadn’t already been outside.
While both musicians have firmly established themselves in the rock pantheon, they each took a drastically different path to get there.
Clapton has always seemed more comfortable as a sideman, or at least working within the confines of a band. After all, he famously left supergroup Blind Faith to play guitar with Delaney & Bonnie and Friends in 1969.
Photo by: Stephen Maloney
Can you imagine Bruce Springsteen in any role other than the frontman of any band? Sure, he has played with other musicians, and he isn’t always center stage, but that’s where he always seems to be drawn.
If you walked into a party with both musicians, you would probably find Clapton in a corner with a group of friends he has known for 30 years, while Springsteen would be doing backflips into the swimming pool.
Introvert vs extrovert, yin and yang, point, counterpoint.
This isn’t to say that one is better than the other or that one Jazz Fest performance had more merit than the other, but it seems undeniable that the personality traits of the two rock titans dictated the energy levels of each show.
Clapton’s set started out on a relatively high energy note before mellowing out through an acoustic set. He felt comfortable enough in that groove to stretch his considerable muscles through “Pretending” as he smoothed the show back into electric territory.
The set was significantly light on Clapton’s radio friendly hits from the 70s and 80s, but he did play “Crossroads” and “Cocaine.”
In his review of the show, once and future Radiator Dave Malone couldn’t fault Clapton’s song choices:
“Of course people are going to get all irritated on Facebook if they don’t hear ‘Wonderful Tonight’ or ‘Tears in Heaven,’ and all that stuff,” Malone said. “But I was grateful that he felt comfortable enough to just play.”
Photo by: Stephen Maloney
Springsteen, on the other hand, never seems to shy away from his big hits, but he makes you work for them.
If you think you can go to a Springsteen show, hear “Dancing in the Dark,” then “Born in the U.S.A.,” then “Thunder Road” and be done with it, you’re massively wrong.
His hours long set wandered from Pete Seeger songs through traditional gospel numbers and back to the hits that had everyone dancing in the infield.
Maybe it boils down to the fact that Springsteen reaches out (literally and figuratively) to take you with him on a musical journey, while Clapton seems content to play great music for you.
Two different approaches from two very different musicians.
The question is, who appealed to you most at Jazz Fest 2014, Clapton or Springsteen?
