If you happened to miss out on Wednesday night’s show of Carlos Santana and Steve Winwood at Verizon Wireless Music Center, don’t worry – I’ve got the recap right here and waiting. It was definitely a different kind of concert for myself. It was a night filled with a crowd largely in their 40’s, the bad smell of dehydrating booze drinkers, and a ton of messages from a performer. Yeah, there was also some music by two of the last century’s best vocalist and guitarists.
Promptly at 7:30, the show began with Steve Winwood. I wasn’t largely familiar with a lot of his work until I actually started listening. A lot of his music is filled with jazzy beats and wonderful lyrics, and less we forget about that voice! Tonight was no exception, and Winwood and his band brought the good stuff.
Winwood actually showed his multi-instrumental side by playing both guitar and keyboard/organ throughout the set. The music itself was not without too. All of the wonderful guitars, bongos, drums, saxophone, and keyboards brought out a wonderful sound and a great vibe. With the majority of his songs being up beat and wonderfully charged by not only himself, but his band to back him up, Winwood made his presence felt in Noblesville.
Naturally, Winwood’s top two hits “Higher Love” and “Gimme Some Lovin’” were highlights of the evening with the band and the crowd fully getting into the songs. For the much younger crowd, it’s a familiar tone that is suddenly recognized when heard and just adds to the wonderful atmosphere.
Even though the set had been much, much smaller than expected (The whole band had set up on a small half-moon area of the stage), they definitely carried a great vibe and continued it on through the show. The crowd was into it the moment Winwood stepped on stage with immediate applause and it didn’t lapse through the show. To me, Winwood might have been the highlight of the night.
Once Winwood left and Santana began to get ready, I felt this great sense of hope. I had originally hoped to receive a wonderful string of music that dated back to Santana’s early days and also mixed well with his much current hits – Namely the Supernatural album. I had a great sense of holding a lot of stock in this show since it was that 1999 release that garnered my own nickname of Carlos. (Yes, I am a Santana – And the freaking crew wouldn’t let me backstage even after showing ID!) I had long since known that Santana was a wonderful musician and his music transcended the generations.
However, what I got was a string of disappointment.
The show, lasting only a little over an hour and a half, only featured three major hits that Santana has done in the last ten years. While he is known for his great guitar playing, and mind you that it is very amazing, the show is wasted on little vocals and Latin themed music instead of that string of songs we (or I, rather) oh so wished to hear.
Another sad point to the night is that after doing my research of the show, I had expected to hear at least maybe one or two of the new cover songs that are to be released on the new album. However, none of those songs played were those off the new upcoming album.
While I have great respect for Santana as not only a great musician, but someone who had impacted many major stars that play today, much of the show is also lost on his speeches throughout the evening. Carlos would go on through the night “preaching” about such things as the legalization of marijuana (after which I had a man offer me pot citing that “It’s a Santana concert, man! It’s what’s supposed to happen!”), the bashing of our current President – including the troops and using said pot tax money for schools, and to convince people of their own worth via “Love and Light.”
A lot of the old-age Hippie messages get lost on the new-agers like me. I did enjoy the fact that Santana still maintains that anyone can make a difference in the world. Unfortunately though, the other messages are not only pointless in this day and age, but they also do not translate well to the mass of the much younger generations that were at the show, including those younger like myself and my girlfriend, who also happened to be at the show with me.
While the instrumental music was played very well and often had a very upbeat tone, and was even very catchy at times, the two lead singers’ talent was more often wasted and overlooked in the fact that they really only did five songs that had vocals or where they could really be utilized. Even with the current upcoming album, the singers were more than capable of carrying the tunes of those cover songs, but were instead more like stage props only to be used when necessary.
In all, while I did enjoy the feel of the show, I felt that the sixty plus minutes dedicated to mostly instrumental music was a little much. For a man who’s made his modern living with a set of amazingly well written as well as musically well performed songs was a little bit of a waste of talent, to say the least. It seems like Santana would be mostly advertising the release of an all instrumental album instead of a cover album with this tour.
While I give praise to Live Nation and Indiana for managing to bring two musical legends to this town, I have to say that the night was mostly a loss. I have to think that Winwood, while being the opener and having less space for their show, was indeed the highlight and stole the show. I greatly enjoyed hearing and seeing Santana for the first time, however, much of that show didn’t set well with me. I guess there’s always next year.
Are you kidding me? Lost messages on your generation? Disappointed that Santana played instrumentals? Get a grip! The show was great, the Latin rhythms were off the chart awesome, and the renditions of his hits were the best versions I have ever heard.
Carlos,
Good review. I think this old guy would have enjoyed the instumentals. Did they do “Blues for Salvador” or “Aqua Marine?” Good music!
Did Winwood do “Dear Mr. Fantasy?” One of my all time favorites.
Have fan,
Gator
I was there myself and felt Winwood was more enjoyable on the radio than as a live performance and his attempt to impress an audience with his guitar skill was a little late in his career to have an impact. I felt the same as you did of Santana.
I just came home from the Santana concert in Tinley Park IL on the 9th. After reading your review, I find, along with fellow members of my family who truly know what Classic Rock is, that the writer of this article knows nothing about music. He obviously has never played a musical instrument and has no capacity in his puny brain to comprehend the true value of a musical experience. Are you kidding? Are you complaining about too much of a instrumental component. That is Santana. Put down your book and listen to some music. I hope your next review is for the new Hanson tour.
@drew – I had never said that (when they were actually done) the music for the hits wasn’t good. I actually quite enjoyed the 3 hits that were played. I greatly enjoyed both Lead Singers’ voices and thought that they were underutilized and could have been more beneficial to the show instead of mainly there for the occasional song and/or shout out in harmony. The messages he spoke of were very much those of an older generation, and one that I truly feel doesn’t necessarily belong in modern day. The peach, love, and harmony that the hippie generation made popular is far too outdated. Instead of preaching those, let us preach that of equality – both in sexual orientation and religious denomination, or speak of music equality, or more importantly – Forget the wars across the seas – Let’s end the wars HERE before we do anything there. This is what I’m interested in – not the same things hashed out for the last 40 years. (Yes, 1970 was indeed 40 years ago…)
@Makosky – Thanks Mak! I will have to double check, but I’m not for sure any of those songs were played except maybe the Winwood song. The instrumental was not bad – just not what I was expecting from the show. I went in with a preconceived idea about what it might be like and got something totally different instead. Otherwise – It wasn’t that bad at all.
@Bob – Thank you for the reply. I, myself, am relatively too young to have been 100% familiar with a lot of Winwood’s earlier work. After hearing him perform, I do think that he is one of the greatest vocalists of the last 50 years and wouldn’t mind seeing him again.
@Tim Cullen – Thanks for your reply. In order to keep this as civil as possible, I wanted to take a different approach to your statement with one of my own:
I’m am certainly glad that your family is truly in the know of classic rock. Considering you would have had to have been around since the early 1950′s to truly understand it, I can understand where your notions of a 25 year old may be a bit skewed.
Allow me to enlighten you of my own personal background in the music industry – My mother had a very short stint in the Country Music Industry. I learned at a very young age to sing and love music and sang my whole life. The first time I played drums was at age 8. Albeit I wasn’t good, I chose to play the guitar some 5 years later and learned a handful of newer rock songs. I was in show choir for the duration of my high school career – meaning I know how to read and write music and have a very good understanding and respect for many different genres of music – Not at all dictating myself as a person who truly knows music.
However, my puny little brain was only just introduced to many, many more things classic rock in the last 5 years – But I have learned to enjoy it and accept it as one of the better forms of music of the generations.
Now – I have been to see well over 50 musicians play live. I have, myself – with the aid of a choir, played at two different Hard Rock Cafes. I am VERY positive I completely understand the value of a musical experience.
If you had read the review – Never did I say it was a bad performance. As a matter of fact – I went on to praise his work several times over. What I had done, though – was say that it wasn’t what I expected, and for that – I was disappointed. I had expected lyrical songs. Many songs from the last decade since I saw a small percentage of fans as young as I, or younger. I also expected to hear “Black Magic Woman” once.
When you talk about the classic rock aspect of performances – Do you mean Jimmy Hendrix? Do you mean largely the groups that alwasy played more instruments instead of doing some lyrical songs? Because I’m sure Led Zeppelin never did a set composed of 60+ minutes of instrumental. How classic or to what classic do you refer?
Please keep in mind that many of us go to these shows and write about them because music is in our blood and we love what we do. I love listening to music, I love singing music, and I love writing about the musical experiences I have seen.
Maybe I’ll keep my book, guitar, and drum stick in hand. Maybe you should pick up a book. That way you wouldn’t make such badly portrayed accusations. And HANSON?! If you didn’t like the Santana review – You would get a kick out of that tour bashing. I’ll stick to rock and country – thanks.
Eric, I have to admit that when I read how disappointed you were that the concert was mostly instrumental, I thought to myself, “What does he expect? It’s Santana!” Now, I only have a general knowledge of his music, so I did some research and found out to my surprise that many of his songs have lyrics. Since I’m not educated in the genre of Classic Rock, I’m not sure if my opinion counts for anything when I tell you my take on how the concert should have gone, even though I wasn’t there.
My father, being a child of the late 60′s/early 70′s, KNOWS his music. He has probably the most diverse music collection of anyone out there, and he let us know it. Since my sister and I were little, he has educated us on what makes quality music and a quality performance (whether we wanted to hear it or not), no matter who it was. With that, I have come to understand on what does make a quality performance regarding Santana.
While Santana is known for his instrumental skills, I agree with you Eric, that 60+ minutes of that would be a bit much, especially since there is a plethora of his songs with lyrics. Mix it up a little. And when people go to see someone as great as Santana, more than three of his greatest hits should be played. THAT’S what great performers are famous for. Their hits. So play more than three.
I don’t know about you, but if I’m going to a concert, I don’t want any “preaching” about anything. I go for the music, not opinions. If I wanted that I would have stayed at home, had some Santana music playing in the background and turned on Fox News.
Ok, I don’t want to make this into a verbal sparring session, but I would like to explain myself and my commments. I am 25 as well, and I have been playing drums since I started high school. I also have my Bachelor’s in English. I grew up listening to Bruce Springsteen, Van Morrisson, Jethro Tull, Santana, Zepplin, The Doors, Pink Floyd, as well as many other terrific, to be termed now, “classic rock” bands. I could fill a small novel with all of the bands that I was exposed to at a very young age. Some of my earliest memories are focused around music.
I can’t say that I experienced all of these bands in their original 60′s form or have seen them live, so I am no “expert” either. Although these acts are all very lyrical, your commment about Zepplin is just straight wrong. Yes, they had their purely lyrical songs, but John Paul Jones would riff on the keyboards for 10-15 minutes at a time during songs just laying down the foundation for other-worldly virtuoso guitar solos by Jimmy Page and epic percussion by John Bonham. This would last just as long as any Santana instrumental interlude (See Led Zepplin’s DVD Song Remains the Same).
I do apologize if my comments offended you, but I was on such a high after the show. And, after reading your comments, I feel like you missed the real spirit of the music of Santana and the show itself. Perhaps, we saw totally different shows.
My comment about Hanson was a joke, meaning if you can’t accurately portray one of the greatest guitar players of all time, maybe you would be better off reviewing acts on the level of Hanson (not sure if you understood). Again, I apologize for the original offense.
My main point is that next time you review a concert, it may behoove you to dig a little deeper into the performer’s career so you can get a better appreciation for the music. Santana is a guitar player first and foremost and last night we saw a spectacular, high energy performance by one of the all-time greats.
Eric – I too was at that Tinley Park Santana – Winwood concert last night (7/9) and thoroughly enjoyed Santana & friends live for the first time in my 59 years. But my purpose in writing is to say to you, Eric – Kid, if you weren’t largely familiar with the legendary Steve Winwood’s many talents before you saw him in Indy, then you have got to run – not walk – to the nearest music store and pick up a copy of the Clapton/Winwood dvd “Live from Madison Square Garden”. You are in for a special treat and will kick yourself for not having tracked down this pair of musical geniuses when they took the MSG concert on the road in 2009. I was fortunate to take my guitar playing son to see them play the United Center in Chicago at it ws a show we will never forget.
Okay…I don’t agree with you on your comment about the instrumentals…Santana’s greatest music was/is strictly instrumental. I believe you have not listened and studied Santana from the beginning. I was fortunate enough to see Santana in the very early Santana when they had young Neal Schon. THAT band kicked butt and probably could smoke Carlos’ current band.
I do agree with you on the preaching…artists/performers need to stick to their music and art and stay OUT of the realm of politics, religion and such. Just STICK to the music please.
Saw Carlos tonight at DTE Energy Theater,he was fantastic.If you know the scope of Santana’s career,then you already know how important the music(not the lyrics)are to the man.I think you presume too much to expect Carlos to feel as you do with regards to social issues.The man can speak about anything he’d like,he’s more than earned the right.By the way,one thing you can be assured of with Carlos,his heart is always in the right place.
@Devann – The comment about listening to a CD and putting on Fox News was priceless! Thanks for the input, I greatly appreciate it.
@Tim Cullen – I am largely familiar with Zep’s many minute solos. While they were definitely in the 15 – 20 minute range sometimes, They never did a set with very little lyrical let alone, very few hits. I feel that someone being largely around for more than 40 years now, the guy could have done some more lyrical sets. It was the one thing that disappointed me along with his preaching. I, by and large, greatly appreciated the chance to see a legend, and being a Santana myself, I felt he had a LOT to live up to.
It was a big event that didn’t set well in the pit of my own stomach. If I had gotten the chance to see Tom Petty, Clapton, or someone else do a show – I would expect the same out of them as I did Santana. By and large – I want my own favorite bands to come to town so I can have the chance to review them. One of my favorite modern bands is Avenged Sevenfold and I would have given their Ozzfest review a poor one because of their horrible set, musical display and raspy voice (for a man who does screaming metal). It’s not that I didn’t like the man, his music, or I don’t appreciate what he’s done – I just felt that in 40 some-odd years of music – 3 hits just weren’t enough in an hour and a half set. Thanks for your reply, though. I greatly appreciate the opportunity to debate opinions – Because when it comes down to it, it’s really just our own opinions of the show and how we perceived it to be.
@Dan – Being a HUGE fan of Clapton, I greatly thank you for the recommendation and will head out the first chance I get to pick up that DVD. If it’s anything as amazing as you make it sound – I feel I will be thoroughly pleased.
@CC – That’s just it – Other than maybe snipits from Woodstock, if you don’t buy particular sets (which run around $20 – $40 a pop) I haven’t heard large majority of his earlier stuff other than what I hear on the radio and what is on a few of the more recent CDs.
However, I feel that the music speaks for itself, and while Santana is releasing an album of only instrumental music after his covers CD, I think that it would have been more well suited to promote/release that one first if that’s what he was going for. He didn’t mention any CD releases, nor did he do any of his covers for promotion in this show. That was a huge let down for me, because I wanted to see his take on a lot of those classic songs, because I know if anyone can redo them better – He Could.
@Shmince – I think that music and lyrics combined are as equally important instead of just one or the other. You can have great instrumental, but if you put the right words to anything it amplifies its wonderful effect and I feel that’s what a lot of his music with lyrics has done. Some are objectively about women – But that’s understandable for his culture and the man himself, but the raw emotion of the music combined with those wonderful words just sends it over the top for me. I also love to sing – so that’s probably why lyrics are so important to me.
As far as the man having earned the right to say this or that – I can agree to a certain extent. It’s also like saying a man of science being able to discuss his radical views of religion just because he’s in the opposite field. You can’t have your cake and eat it too. Once again, I come to be entertained. I love moments of silence for soldiers lost, sure. I also feel a good cheer is due for many men and women who actively serve our country. My own best friend served in Iraq, and there’s no one who can tell you the importance of anything more than him and his family. However, that doesn’t mean that one should use his show as a soap box for those opinions. This is a modern age of technology. Millions of people around the world voice their opinions actively by blogging their ideas out and making their thoughts known on a more wide scale of the internet so that they don’t have to scope those areas when people pay $140 to see them perform music. Gross misuse of time and peoples’ money, if you ask me.
Thank you everyone for the continued comments. I love to hear them and debate them more with you. I will definitely be checking this article daily to respond to your comments, questions, or statements. I look forward to reading more again soon!
Hey everyone, Did Steve Winwood play any other hits such as Finer things, Valerie, Roll with it, Keep on running. Im watching them live in Montreal this week
I felt the same way about Carlos preaching, we came to hear the great sounds and they were good, he somewhat ruined things for me when he went on and on with his preaching, keep on playing Carlos but hold back on the preaching.
The author is an ignoramus.
I’m from Boston and saw the Santana/Winwood concert with my 12yo son last night. Today I went web-surfing to find the name of his tribute piece (which I haven’t found)…and found this sorry excuse for a review instead. What we have here is failure to appreciate. IMHO this review is a shining example of how ‘kids’ today believe music is about vocals, filled in by teeth rattling percussion, rather than a total instrumental ballet… which can also include vocals…and cow bell… and spoons…etc.
So right now, Eric and others are saying,,, ‘ahhh, another old guy who is stuck in the past’. I can’t convince you otherwise, but you’d be wrong in that assessment. Tim’s (and others) comments are perfect… Eric is best left to reviewing Hanson and Ke$ha.
@Richardx Travali – Wow. Your astuteness profoundly hit the nail on the head. Maybe if you weren’t such a tool you would go on about why I’m such an ignoramus instead of posting a pitiful excuse for a one liner in the off chance you’d offend me. Your ignorance dumbfounds me, and may you never cross the pages of my work again.
@Max Headroom – The point of a review is to put out opinions. While my opinion is not widely received, it is mine and I stand by it. I do find it insulting that you think that I would be better off covering a no-talent hack like Ke$ha.
As far as “kids” today, their music is rather droll and leaves something to be desired. I’m not exactly a kid and probably have a better understanding for music that’s NOT filled by teeth rattling percussion than probably you do. As a singer – I do believe that vocals make up a VERY important part of the show. I did not say he’s stuck in the past – but his messages are. His music (which I did NOT have any harsh words for) is still as good as ever – But I feel it left a little more to want without having done very much.
What I would like to do is continue to post reviews over artists I’m interested in seeing – Not just newer but older legends as well. Whether or not you agree with my opinions is something left to be seen. Until then, don’t assume I know nothing about the art until you’ve actually READ a review, done a review, and kept a clear unbiased head about it.
I attended the 7/31 Tampa Santana concert and read Eric’s review the morning after and he is dead on with his review. It was almost like he was reviewing the show I saw. I left the concert feeling something was missing, and could have been better. Steve Winwood was excellent.
I was at the 7/31 concert as well. I pretty much agree with you, Rich. Winwood was much better than I was hoping for, but Santana has been one of my fav’s since Woodstock! Not that he wasn’t good, but he came up short of my expectations. I enjoyed the music but, for the first 1/2 of his set his guitar was mostly drowned out by the drums and horns. That improved for the second 1/2, but he spent too much of the show walking around the stage and highlighting the band instead of playing. The riffs he did play were as good as expected… they were just too few and far between. As good as the band was, I went to hear Santana rip it up on the guitar. He just seemed a little too full of himself.
I disagree with Eric about what was the best of Winwood, who I also think was the better of the two. Low Spark of High Heeled Boys… Dear Mr. Fantasy… Can’t Find My Home… that was the music that made the whole night worth it for me. His voice was as good as ever, and his guitar has improved greatly over the years! All things considered, Winwood saved the show.
Rich and Tim … i attended the 7/31 Tampa show as well and felt kind of ripped-off. Santana only played 12 songs for us, whereas he had typically played 15 at other stops on the tour. The next night in West Palm, he played 16 songs including classics like oye como va and black magic woman, which we didn’t get to see.
I have no idea why Carlos short-changed us, i wanted to see a lot more of him.
Saw the show at Mohegan Sun. Winwood and Band were amazing! Totally better than Santana.
Santana was so loud, we left the show early.
I strongly agree with this excellent review.
By the way, I am one of the old timers, and have seen many rock shows over the years. I have never been impressed with Santana.
Who remembers C.S’s lame attempts to keep up with John McGlaughlin and his Mahavishnu Orchestra?