As the sun set on beautiful downtown St. Petersburg, people of all ages streamed into Al Lang Stadium wearing various shades of tie dye. With this year being the fiftieth anniversary of Woodstock if you thought that tonight a little bit of that magic from back then was coming back to life, you would be right. Carlos Santana who came to the forefront of music at this iconic event in upstate New York, would be performing here tonight alongside his incredibly talented band.
For close to two hours, Carlos Santana managed to turn back time to the delight of his many fans. He kicked off the show with appropriately with “Soul Sacrifice”, one of his earliest songs that he also played at Woodstock. As he was showing the audience his complete mastery of his guitar, behind him on the giant video screen played his performance from Woodstock.
He quickly followed it up with another instrumental “Jingo”, with seemingly every member of the band, Carlos included, had some sort of percussion instrument in their hands. After that, his singers had a chance to shine when he played “Evil Ways”. That quickly, everyone had the feeling that they were sent back in time to Max Yasgur’s farm 50 years ago. With a set this steeped in his classic hits it was a must that they played a slinky version of “Black Magic Woman” and a transfixing performance of “Oye Como Va”. After an inspired performance of his jazz infused song “Europa”, that left everyone transfixed with the wizardry he displayed on his golden Paul Reed Smith guitar, the show shifted from its Woodstock inspiration to that of party with Carlos himself being the master of ceremonies.
When he played “Game Of Love”, while the vocals were great, they weren’t at the level that stellar Michelle Branch delivered on the album. But not a single person in the audience minded for second. Seemingly everyone in the place was singing and dancing to this great song. Not a person in sight was sitting down when he played “Maria Maria”. During the performance he deftly and seamlessly switched between acoustic and electric guitar.
After a brief break, Carlos’s wife Cindy who is the drummer in his band came out and performed an amazing solo. After she was done, Carlos said to the audience “I bet your wife can’t do that”. Then they quickly went into a funky jazzy version of the John Lennon classic song “Imagine”, with Cindy delivering a vocal performance that meshed perfectly with the vibe that the band created. If the audience had any thoughts of slowing down, they weren’t given the chance when Santana played the Grammy award winning song “Smooth”.
Under a perfect starlit night, Carlos Santana took his fans on a two hour trip through the vast array of his career. Whether he was showcasing his considerable skills as a guitarist or leading his band on one of his many hit songs, his performance left fans breathless. Fifty years after his breakthrough performance at Woodstock, he is still just as in command of his chosen instrument then as he is today. If given the chance to see this icon, make sure you do as it will be a memorable experience.
Photos and review by Mark Matson
