By DJ Astrocreep and Hannah Ross
Having grown up listening to cassettes of Santana’s music, there is a definite mix of both trepidation and anticipation on today’s journey across to Manchester. Being a fan for over 35 years means I’ve had a lot of time to listen and appreciate Carlos’ music but time marches on for everyone – how will he perform at the ripe old age of 77? There’s only one way to find out!
I’m surprised to find, on arriving at the arena, that there are no support acts for the evening. Instead, we just have two sets from one of the world’s best known guitarists, with some more than ample support alongside him on the stage. The acoustics in the Co-Op live building really are phenomenal, meaning the music doesn’t need to be cranked to 15, just absolute clarity of sound even up towards the back where I sit. The one positive from the lack of support is that everything is set perfectly from the off, there’s no need for the sound engineer to tinker with it as we go.
While a fair amount of the set is the same songs each night, a glance over other playlists indicates that the order isn’t necessarily the same, as also proves to be the case this evening. Comprising heavily of self-titled release ‘Santana III’ and fan favourite ‘Supernatural’, the set covers a lot of Santana’s career and gives ample time both for Carlos and his talented backing band to showcase what they can do. There are also snippets of other songs hidden in amongst the live set for people to pick out, both in solos and between the full band, which makes for an interesting time of trying to keep focused!
While the first set leans more towards his early days, it’s the cover of The Zombie’s ‘Shes’ Not There’ that first gets the crowd singing along properly and into it. With a bass solo from talented bassist Benny Rietveld about halfway through, it finishes with a flourish in fan favourite in ‘Corazon Espinado’. A quick 20 minutes to grab some snacks and a couple more drinks and it’s time once more for Carlos and company to retake their place on the stage.
Starting back up with ‘Soul Sacrifice’ and a drum solo from Santana’s wife, we get a huge trio of ‘Black Magic Woman’ on to ‘Oye Como Va’ and ‘Maria Maria’ for the second half of this second set which has pretty much everyone in the place stood dancing and singing along loudly. There is time for two encores, with ‘Evil Ways’ and ‘Smooth’ providing the closing entertainment and a fitting finale of what has been an excellent evening of music.
While Carlos has to spend a good portion of the evening sat while playing – he is now 77, after all – the years haven’t slowed him much, if any at all. His playing is still phenomenal, full of emotion and soul and it shows there is still plenty of life left in him yet. A superb performance from one of the world’s great guitarists.
- All photos © Hannah Ross/Über Rock.