At this point, Carlos Santana has nothing to prove to anyone. Five decades of being a legendary guitar player means that Santana, at the age of 70, could easily sit back and rest on his laurels. But he doesn’t. Instead, he tours…a lot. It doesn’t matter that he hasn’t released an album in over 10 years because Santana’s massive catalog of music has long been in the realm of timelessness. He also knows exactly what people who come to see him play want to hear, and on Saturday, March 3rd he gave them exactly that at Portland’s Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
In between long residencies in Las Vegas, Carlos Santana hits the road. The show, for the most part, stays the same, but that hardly matters. After all, Santana’s show is about as tight as it gets. In Portland, him and his band made sure there was something for everyone. Kicking off with a powerful wall of rhythm from two percussionists and one drummer, the band threw everything they had at the classic, Woodstock-era instrumental “Soul Sacrifice”, which hasn’t aged a bit. They would keep a monstrous groove going with the Afrobeat-influenced “Jin-go-lo-ba” and the laid back vibes of “Evil Ways”. These older songs, along with covers like John Coltrane’s jazz opus “A Love Supreme” would satiate the those who came for the jamming with plenty of organ, guitar and drum solos. Those who are more familiar with Santana’s poppier later hits would dance along to the sensual and playful songs “Mona Lisa”, “Maria Maria”, and, of course, a version of “Smooth” during the encore. With two talented singers, the band more than compensated for the lack of Rob Thomas. Everyone came together when the band launched into a cover of Swamp Dogg’s funk soul tune “Total Destruction To Your Mind” that blossomed into a wild classic rock medley of “Dancing In the Street”, “Proud Mary”, “Satisfaction” and “Day Tripper”. Through these songs and more the band put fourth their message of love and unity through music.
At the center of it all was Santana and his unmistakable guitar playing. His tone hasn’t changed much over the course of his long career, mainly because it is completely timeless. For every song Santana was front and center, slicing through the groove with his sharp solos. His speed, precision, and Latin-tinged, bluesy psychedelia was on full display as he ripped into choice cuts from his epic 1970 album Abraxas with almost the same vigor he had back in those heady days. By the time the band bid goodnight Santana had melted faces and triggered a full on dance party. It doesn’t matter that Santana will most likely continue to play the same set night after night, because simply getting to watch this master at work is a privilege. Many of the guitar gods have passed on or hung up the ax, but in Portland, Carlos Santana made it loud and clear that he plans to keep shredding for as long as he can.
All photos by Greg Homolka.
