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.