Speaking Without Words

Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood blew the roof off of the United Center in Chicago tonight, laying down thick blues rock riffs and channeling their inner Robert Johnsons to bring their music to life. There is no need to expound on their careers or their achievements. Everyone knows they are great (or else they wouldn't be able to charge an arm and a leg for their sellout shows!), that does not need any time or space.

But what makes them great? How are these people different than any other guitarist who may be as technically skilled as these two old men?

The first thing is that they have the whole package. They 1) play the guitar as well as anyone, 2) sing as well as they have to be able to, 3) write/rearrange songs with more originality than other people at the time of release, and what I want to discuss, 4) they speak without words to everyone on stage.

Playing the guitar and singing are one thing, but truly having a conversation with the other members of the band is not quite as simple. Clapton and Winwood do more than play to each other. They really listen to each other. This is the trick that makes the best truly the best. Each time Clapton laied down a riff, Winwood complemented it with its counterpoint. Steve did not just play another riff, but he took what Eric told him and gave him something back to work with. The framework of each song had been laid sometimes up to 40 years ago, but each night is a new experience. You and your friends never have the exact same conversation everyday, just as every night, in front of 20,000 strangers, Clapton and Winwood have a 2+ hour conversation as fresh as the strings on their guitars.

It's this conversation we come to hear. It is the line of thought passing from the drums to the bass to the guitar to the keyboard to the piano and back again that we show up for. And the pros make it happen night after night. Everyone knows Voodoo Chile, but not the way Winwood and Clapton played it tonight and not the way they will play it tomorrow in Minnesota.

And its sad that there are so few musicians that really listen to each other and build upon each other left. The greats are beginning to park their tour buses and head for the retirement homes. So while they are still out there, go listen to a real good musical conversation while you still can. It's enriching and worth the price of admission. Clapton and Winwood hardly said more than a few words to the crowd and each other, because they never had to. They just spoke with their souls through their music.