The guitar legend Santana comes to the Cricket Wireless Amphitheater with special guest Salvador Santana Band on September 30th!
Though the audience was cold and damp from the rain, that soon changed when Santana warmed us up and showed why he's a rock legend and nine-time Grammy winner. As soon as he hit the stage, after opening act Robert Randolph and the Family Band, he was in full command of his band, his guitar, and mostly the audience. Most of all, though, Santana had full control of his own faculties and seemed to be completely relaxed during the band's nearly two-hour set.
If you expected to see another "Soul Sacrifice," band-defining moment, it didn't happen. But, it was a good show, and most in attendance were very impressed. He started with some cuts of "Supernatural," which got the sold-out audience to its feet. The mood died about 45 minutes into the set, however, when Santana played some smooth jazz. Though it was nice, it clearly wasn't his forte. He threw in a quick speech preaching peace and love, but quickly returned to the music.There was, however, something missing in a lot of the songs. Though the singer Santana recruited, Andy Vargas, hit the notes on the songs, he lacked the passion other singers Santana has worked with, like Rob Thomas or Gregg Rollie.
He shone on the songs that were rock. Especially those where he could jam with the band and rock out for a while.
Though his band, which seemingly had too many drummers, percussionists, conga and steel-drum players to count, played some perfectly fine Latin-styled tunes. But many of the recent shows at the National Hispanic Cultural Center, such as the Pancho Sanchez show, did that style of music better. Instead, the band was at its best playing the Latin rock that made Santana famous in the first place.