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| Carlos Santana @ Shoreline Amphitheater (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Santana and Counting Crows brought a powerhouse Bay Area co-headliner bill to a diverse, capacity crowd at Shoreline Amphitheatre on Tuesday night. Lead singer Adam Duritz and Counting Crows were formed in the Bay Area all the way back in 1991, but Carlos Santana made their thirty-three years looks scrawny when compared to his October 1966 starting of the Santana Blues Band in San Francisco.
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| Carlos Santana @ Shoreline Amphitheater (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Given the deep Northern California ties and the concert’s setting in Bill Graham’s beloved Shoreline Amphitheatre, it seemed a perfect fit that Santana played a videotaped introduction by Graham from long ago as the introduction to the stage for the finishing set of the night. Santana began where it had started with a five-song barrage that included 1969’s “Soul Sacrifice,” “Jingo” and “Evil Ways,” along with 1970’s “Black Magic Woman” and “Oye Como Va” – which featured an excellent historical video running on the screen behind the band.
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| Carlos Santana @ Shoreline Amphitheater (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Carlos, who turned 77 in late July, was accompanied by a band that included his drummer/wife Cindy Blackman Santana, backup singer / keyboardist / son Salvador Santana, vocalists and multi-instrumentalists Andy Vargas and Ray Greene, guitarist Tommy Anthony, keyboardists David Mathews, bassist Benny Rietveld and percussionists Karl Perazzo, Paoli Mejias and others. Together, the large band brought an incredible international depth of sound to his catalog with elements of Africa, Mexico, the Caribbean and psychedelic San Francisco all living harmoniously together under the Shoreline big top.
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| Carlos Santana @ Shoreline Amphitheater (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Santana’s mastery of the guitar was on full display all night with the incredible tone and soul he brought from his white PRS guitar. A master-bender of notes, Carlos still showed his ability to hold a note just long enough to grow roots, flower and then be released into the sky. While his guitar prowess commanded attention on stage, his spirit of generosity was also very abundant. He often leaned back on his stool with the look of a proud father - directing solos and spotlights away from him and to the other members of his band with a wide smile. For a Guitar God of his stature, he took relatively few moments to focus the attention on him. Instead, he served as the essential main element of the large international sound and vibe of his group throughout their 90+ minute set.
While his guitar did most of his talking and Vargas and Greene did most of the singing, Carlos still brought his shaman-like spirit and wisdom to a crowd that welcomed the wiseman’s words.
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| Carlos Santana @ Shoreline Amphitheater (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
"We live in times where we have to come together. These days, people say you are either left-wing or right-wing. But we are one bird. What we want and what we need is unity and harmony. We need to bring back the spirit of the love-ins…Thank you for coming here and bless your life.” He then took to center stage under a green spotlight to ignite “Europa” with a huge solo. He ended the song with a playful guitar nod to the “Life is but a dream” moment of “Row Row Row Your Boat.”
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| Carlos Santana @ Shoreline Amphitheater (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Carlos next brought out two Bay Area Santana alumni, Keyboardist Chester D Thompson and singer Tony Lindsay, who joined the band for a trio of songs. Thompson – a Santana member from 1983-2009 - jolted “Make Somebody Happy” to life and his presence seemed to ignite even more of a fire from Carlos as he jumped forward from his stool to toss in a lightning bolt of a solo.
“Do we have an understanding?” Carlos asked the audience. “It takes courage to be happy. So, we have invited you to be happy and have fun. If you want to change the narrative and the paradigm, it takes the mighty power of joy. Bring your joy to the table. We invite you to make somebody happy. Make somebody happy. Make somebody strong.” With that intro, Lindsay handled the primary singing on a jubilant, upbeat “Life is For Living” and then joined the other vocalists in sharing duties on “(De le) Yaleo.”
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| Cindy Blackman Santana @ Shoreline Amphitheater (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
“Put Your Lights on” was an incredible experience to see live as floating candles were presented on screen as the crowd’s cellphone lights shined bright on the beautiful, warm evening. Santana responded back and forth with vocals from guitarist Anthony. Salvador Santana delivered a terrific keyboard solo to follow – accompanied only by light drum backing from Cindy Blackman Santana. The keyboard solo led into a rousing “Corazon Espinado” and then “Maria Maria” which Carlos dedicated to Eminem as his son handled vocals and encouraged the audience to jump. The song showed the evergreen nature of the Santana catalog and his ability to straddle across multiple generations.
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| Carlos Santana @ Shoreline Amphitheater (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
After “Foo Foo,” Carlos addressed the audience again “We’re right here at home. You’ve got some energy and we want it. Now f#@king go bananas!” the band finished the main set with a frenetic “Are You Ready?” They finished the night with Blackman Santana delivering a dazzling drum solo before 1999’s gigantic hit “Smooth.”
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| Counting Crows @ Shoreline Amphitheater (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Earlier, Adam Duritz and Counting Crows started the show under the early evening setting sun with “Hard Candy” and “Richard Manuel is Dead” before they unleashed “Mr. Jones” to bring everyone in the crowd to their feet. After the dance-inspiring energy, Duritz pulled back on the reigns for tender versions of “Colorblind” and “Butterfly in Reverse.” “Omaha” began with Charlie Gillingham’s accordion accompanying Duritz. Duritz was at his most orchestral and while his once-trademark dreadlocks are gone, his smile and confidence both seemed stronger than in the past.
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| Counting Crows @ Shoreline Amphitheater (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
“Miami” spotlighted the thundering drums of Jim Bogios and then saw guitarist David Bryson performing a big solo while holding his Gibson over his head and letting loose. Local piano maestro Danney Eisenberg joined on piano to accompany the band with a cover of Grateful Dead’s “Friend of the Devil” – a perfect choice for the Shoreline venue with the nickname “The House The Dead Built.” Duritz harmonized beautifully with the band’s guitarists and Eisenberg took a big solo in the middle of the chunky cover.
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| Counting Crows @ Shoreline Amphitheater (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Counting Crows have always been a band that provides unique live renditions of songs vs. just replicating the tracks of an album and “Round Here” was a great example of this. Duritz provided a pleading, chilling and defiant version of the song before guitarist Dan Vickrey launched a big solo in the middle. Coming out of the solo, the song was metamorphosized into extended spoken-word, poetry by Duritz with painful ruminations of “It’s only in my head” with deep echo added to his voice. “There are some birthdays I remember and some Augusts I forget,” Duritz sang as the lyrics intersected with the late August reality of the crowd and Duritz continued to speak of the transition from Summer to Fall.
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| Adam Duritz of Counting Crows @ Shoreline Amphitheater (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
“Rain King” once again lifted the emotion of the crowd into a positive, celebratory spirit with Eisenberg joining on organ and the houselights shining on the dancing crowd. Vickrey took another big solo as Eisenberg and Gillingham laid a large layer of organ and keys beneath it.
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| Adam Duritz of Counting Crows @ Shoreline Amphitheater (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
The night’s most surprising turn came with Duritz sitting at a piano that had been brought to center stage to deliver beautiful and touching cover version of Taylor Swift’s “the 1” (Duritz and the Crows have done this cover many times, so check it out on YouTube). The Swift cover led into “A Long December” with the full band power eventually kicking in and the crowd singing along with “Nah Nah Nah”s… A fast, energetic “Hangingaround” led to the finale of “Holiday in the Sun” with Duritz standing center stage under a great spotlight before the full band came in. “Don’t worry! We will back,” Duritz told the crowd as they exited to Mama & Papa’s “California Dreamin’.”
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