Photos and Review by Max Stewart

Carlos Santana is one of those rare guitar icons that when you hear him play, you immediately recognize his tone and style. That is a rare feat for any musician: an unmistakable sound from an instrument and not voice. His playing is the lynchpin to the sound of Santana, his band that got their start in San Francisco in 1966.

Santana is currently on tour with another band that came up in the Bay-area, albeit in a different era: Counting Crows. Unfortunately for their Georgia show, the Counting Crows had to bow out of due to members being sick.

Santana had no problem taking the reigns for the night at Gas South Arena in Duluth, GA, providing firepower and his distinct Latin-meets-rock sound to the masses. The setlist featured a nice variety of songs from early-era Santana, including from 1970’s Abraxas (“Black Magic Woman / Gypsy Queen”, “Oye Como Va”, “Samba pa ti”, “Hope You’re Feeling Better”) and the band’s 1969 self-titled debut (“Everybody’s Everything”, “Jingo”). Obviously, Santana’s career had a mighty second life in the late 90s with the release of Supernatural, and the tunes “Smooth” and “Maria Maria” were later in the set and brought the arena crowd to their feet.

Although he did mention the fact that in his older years he had some pain and would occasionally need to sit, Santana emphasized that it would not stop him from giving every ounce of energy to his performance. And at 76, Santana showed absolutely no signs of letting up and he was still able to make mind-blowing guitar runs and stylized vibrato from his signature PRS guitars.

Santana’s large ensemble band provides the support throughout the night, with his own wife, Cindy Blackman Santana, on the drums. His band also features Andy Vargas and Ray Greene on vocals, Benny Rietveld on bass, David Mathews on keys, Karl Perazzo and Paoli Mejías on percussion, and Tommy Anthony on guitar/vocals. What a fantastic way to tour in your veteran years, alongside your wife and a top-tier band.

Although some attendees may have been disappointed in the fact that Counting Crows did not make it, Santana more than made up for it with a night a spicy guitar licks and danceable grooves.