pbs rules!

last night i had the pleasure of viewing part of one of the PBS great performances. the concert was Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival. this was a one time performance that raised money for a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center.

the concert was kind of funny (granted i only saw part of the special). the crowd for this spectacular line-up was the stiffest crowd i've ever seen at a rock concert. they were like stone statues lined up on a big lawn calmly enjoying the music. there was a distinct absence of rocking out, twirling, screaming, and head-banging (did i actually write 'head-banging'?). you get the picture; it was a sedate crowd. i wonder if my friends and i will stop twirling as we get older (gasp!).

the music though was fantastic. robert randolph has got to be the cutest thing to hit the scene in years. he's so hot and in a very creative and original way. he's got a light in his eyes that really talented musicians get when they performl it's a sort of glazed over spirit gaze. he loves that slide guitar and it's so apparent seeing him on stage. he just sits there smiling and swaying and jamming out in his sporty hip-hop/country boy way. his music reaches up and i love that.

another performance that i caught while watching the show was the carlos santana duet with clapton. carlos santana has taken on such a sweet persona in his upper-middle age. he's got a very enthusiastic, encouraging vibe happening. he was all prancing around the stage with maracas and jamming to the heavenly sound of clapton's riffs. it was so great to see these legends performing together after all these years, all that energy and talent still shining bright. it's too bad the crowd was comatose.

watching this special reminded me what an important and wonderful service pbs gives to us. growing-up, we all watched and loved sesame street and mr. rogers. does anyone remember mathnet? before the food network and animal planet pbs was my lifeline to cooking shows and nature documentaries. and, i just love how they really cater to the older hippy crowd with programs like great performances. on what other tv channel can you see phish and grateful dead shows broadcasted to the general public? the people at pbs are doing a wonderful job and it's important for us, the viewers, to support them. this is like the only programming on earth that is not commercially driven which is such an awesome thing. at the same time, it must be really hard for them to keep afloat. to donate money to pbs just click here.