Dan the Man and I are serious Santana aficionados so whenever he's in the immediate DC vicinity, you can usually count on us to be there jammin' with Carlos. This time around was no different. A few weeks ago though, DT informed me that we would be trekking to Buffalo so I would need to find a replacement. This was tough as I knew DT loves Santana and has always wanted to see Maggie Mae live, but no bother. I'll find a fun music friend to appreciate these 'old rockers' as my girl Morgan calls them.
Christine (from my Jazzfest adventures) didn't let me down. She was ready to jam.
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| Christine and me - ready to rock |
Santana started off the show, right on time at 7:30pm - kind of nice to get to a show when it says it's going to start and low and behold, IT ACTUALLY DOES! He started with a killer Latin-inspired jam sesh. There were 2 guitarist, including Brother Carlos, 2 vocalists and my favorite part of his set - FIVE drummers!! 3 actual drumsets and 2 conga drum stations. I felt like I was at a giant Carnivale party. After about 25 minute jam sesh, the crowd went wild and Carlos slowed it down for some Paul McCartney-esque fireside chats (thanks Kevin and Becca for giving this phenomenon an apt name). He goes into my favorite line of the night: "A lot of people wonder what me and Brother Rod have in common. We both like playing black music for white people." First of all, only Carlos Santana can get away with calling people 'brother' or 'sister' and then their first name - I want to begin this phenomenon. Christine and I have already started. Second, Brother Carlos has such a way with words when describing his music - what a gem. He played some of his classics like Black Magic Woman, Evil Ways, and Oye Como Va to get the crowd excited. Then he introduces 'Maria, Maria' by saying "me and Brother Rod also like to make the ladies go crazyyyyy'. Yes Santana, you do.
Santana - Oye Como Va
One of the coolest parts of the shows was the video streaming behind the stage. Especially during the encore portion of Santana's show. The video of Santana's Woodstock performance began and then the band broke out in Santana's FULL Woodstock set. A good way to commemorate Woodstock's 45th anniversary the weekend before the show.
Santana's 45th anniversary Woodstock set
Thanks for completely blowing my mind, Brother Carlos.
Brother Rod's set began about 30 minutes later and you would have thought you were at two completely different shows. Santana's stage set was very earth mother-friendly, in tune with Santana's "everyone is my brother and/or sister" vibe (don't think I've ever heard anyone refer to Stevie Ray Vaughn as Brother Stevie"). Rod Stewart's looked much more modern, a bit of an 80s feel, 4 less drum sets, etc. His band was also a bit different. By comparison, Santana's 1/5 drummer is a cool rocker chick with an afro who rocks super hard - doesn't surprise me looking at her that she is a phenomenal musician. Rod Stewart's band looked the Robert Palmer 'Addicted to Love' video with overly made up models making a weak attempt at fake-playing instruments but looking super hot. Rod Stewart's band was equally smokin' but 43095843098 times more talented. They had costume changes, danced like Beyonce, wore heels, and were unbelievable musicians. His backup singers should have record deals, his sax and trumpet players should be in a New Orleans jazz band, and they all should have model contracts. Looks can definitely be deceiving, but either way, I was floored.
Santana came out for a performance with Rod Stewart that made me melt - a cover of Etta James' "I'd Rather Go Blind". And of course Santana's guitar playing had me on the verge of tears. Brother Rod did a few more of his old standbys and then featured all the talented women in his band. He even gave one of the backup singers take the lead on a Tina Turner-esque cover of "Proud Mary". Enough time for Brother Rod to change into a shinier suit than he had on previously. Throughout the show, he would have some trippy and unexpected video backdrops (see below) that led me and Christine to think "man, didn't think Rod had it in him". The finale to his show was as a English soccer fan, he is known for having a bunch of signed soccer balls into the crowd. Well this AARP superstar didn't just throw them into the stands - he punted them across the Verizon Center. Ummm can I be like that when I'm +70?
Santana-Rod Stewart Etta James cover - "I'd Rather Go Blind"
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| Brother Rod's trippiest backdrop |
After seeing Santana several times, I was so excited for this show for him and his fantastic live shows. But this is why I love live music - I go to a show expecting one thing and being pleasantly surprised by totally out of left field.
In honor of the 45th anniversary of Woodstock, I'm always blown away by the talent, consistency and respect for music these great artists have that are about my parents' age. I think about how when they wrote these classic arrangements, they were my age when I was in college. What was I doing in college? Being hungover eating DP Dough? But really. It is quite inspiring to see these people leading such cool lives with music at the center of them. I hope I lead half as cool a life as these cats have. It also makes me appreciate how my mom and my pops have always exposed me to different types of music and made sure I appreciate the good stuff - thanks guys! And thanks for the tickets, DT!
