One of the most revered guitar players in the world made his way through WNY for the 2nd time in just over 4 months. Carlos Santana is on tour in support of his 22nd studio effort entitled “Corazón.” The difference with this appearance is he is the headliner, unlike the stop he made with Rod Stewart back on May 31, 2014.
You couldn’t fit another person into the Seneca Events Center with a shoehorn, as every seat was filled. Taking the stage sharply at 8pm, the band went into “Toussaint L’ Overture.” This instrumental, from his 1971 “Santana III” disc, may best represent Santana’s guitar playing and set the tempo for the rest of the evening’s performance.
The light show that accompanied the music really had the people dancing in the aisles and all along the side and back walls of the venue the entire night. If the opening track didn’t get people moving then “Oye Como Va’ definitely did. After this song, Carlos took the mic and addressed the crowd by saying “We are honored to be in your presence. We hope to elevate, inspire and arouse your senses.” They did all of these and more.
Santana and his band had the crowd participating for most of the show but during “Foo Foo” they had the crowd standing and jumping in unison. Santana not only dazzled on electric but wowed on the acoustic for the tunes “Maria Maria” and “Foo Foo” as well.
Santana let the percussionists show their talents during “Jingo.” For the part of the song “Europa,” he squared off against Bill Ortiz who matched him note for note on the trumpet. Andy Vargas and Tony Lindsay handled vocal duties throughout and also engineered crowd participation throughout.
The only negative for the whole show was the hour and half time constraints that the band had to fall under being it was at a casino. Due to this, possibly Santana’s biggest track “Black Magic Woman” was omitted from the set.
Regardless, it was a very strong set put together by Santana and his band. Smiles were aplenty far and wide throughout the events center during and after the bands performance and that’s what matters most!
Setlist:
Toussaint L’ Overture
Everybody’s Everything
Lamento/Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen
Oye Como Va
Maria Maria
Foo Foo
Corazon Espinado
Jingo
Europa
Tequila
La Flaca Smooth
Encore:
Soul Sacrifice
Saideira
We would like to thank Leslie Logan from the Seneca Niagara Casino for the credentials to review the show.
