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Carlos Santana Opens New Show at The Joint

Carlos Santana at The New Joint at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Carlos Santana launched his residency in Las Vegas tonight with his first performance of his new show, Supernatural Santana: A Trip Through The Hits, at The Joint at The Hard Rock Hotel & Casino (Photo: © Erik Kabik/ RETNA/ www.erikkabik.com).

Las Vegas photographer Erik Kabik sent us these spectacular photos and his review of the concert:

The show opened with surprise guest group of percussionists from THE LION KING show at Mandalay Bay who made their way through the crowd drumming and then onto the stage. They joined Carlos and his band in a percussion jam that led into the classic tune SOUL SACRIFICE followed by an uplifting EVERYBODY’S EVERYTHING which featured a heavy dose of his horn section.

Santana immediately launched into the soaring guitar solos and leads that he is so well known for and seem to transcend the music itself. I liken Santana and his style to his jazz greats like John Coltrane or Miles Davis or rock guitarists Jerry Garcia or Jimi Hendrix whose soloing style seemed to be channeled from a higher place and took them into a trance-like state during their delivery of the music. Santana always seems to take his art to the next level, playing with intention and emotion. He seems to be having a good time, always stopping to enjoy the grooves of his band and take it all in for himself as well.

His bandmates of many years – Chester Thompson on the keyboards, Raul Rekow on congas, and the rest of the Santana band – were in top form for this opening night show. Song after song the band delved deep into his 40 year archive of music. The most notable tunes for me were his rendition of the John Coltrane tune A LOVE SUPREME, INCIDENT AT NESHBUR, JINGO and the real crowd pleasers SMOOTH, I AIN’T GOT NOBODY THAT I CAN DEPEND ON and the great ABRAXAS album tunes, BLACK MAGIC WOMAN into OYO COMA VA.

It was a highly charged set of music from one of the greatest guitar players of all time. He sounds as fresh on his leads as ever and has that signature attack and tonality that sets him apart the minute you hear his fingers touch the strings. It was a great opening night of what is sure to be a legendary run of shows over the next year in Vegas.

– Erik Kabik

For photos of the second night, click here.