Santana gets intimate at Fillmore gigs

If  the wind seemed to smell a bit more strongly of patchouli in recent days, and your local Whole Foods felt a tad more crowded on your last visit, there's definitely a good reason -- the hippie vibe has been very strong in the Bay Area lately.

In a single nine-day period -- May 13-21 -- fans had the chance to see nine concerts performed by local hippie-music legends in San Francisco. There was the five-night stand by the Grateful Dead's Phil Lesh at the Warfield, which featured the Dead's Bob Weir for much of the run. There were also two shows by Hot Tuna -- a band led by Jefferson Airplane vets Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Casady -- at the Great American Music Hall.

To top it all off, Bay Area guitar legend Carlos Santana kicked off a two-night stand at the Fillmore on Tuesday. Although Deadheads might disagree, the Santana gigs are, by far, the biggest of the tie-dyed bunch.

The reason is simply supply and demand. On the rest of his world tour, Santana is visiting mammoth arenas and amphitheaters. Yet -- in a bit of welcome hometown favoritism -- the 60-year-old guitar great chose to perform at the 1,100-capacity Fillmore. It was a treat to see him play such an intimate venue, and one that will seem all that more decadent when Santana returns to the Bay for shows on Oct. 11 at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View and Oct. 12 at Sleep Train Pavilion in Concord. (See www.livenation.com for on-sale dates and other information.)

Santana played two lengthy
sets -- the first of which was far superior to the second -- in what amounted to more than three hours of music. He was leading his regular 10-piece Santana Band, which has greatly benefitted from the return of San Mateo vocalist Tony Lindsay.

The band came out of the gate really cooking. The three-man percussion crew -- led by Dennis Chambers, a.k.a., the baddest drummer on the planet -- set a mighty Latin beat. Then came what is always the most delicious moment of any Santana show, when the guitarist hits and holds that first note. In this case, it came on "Jingo" and the note rang out like a siren call, beckoning ears toward the start of what would be 100 minutes of knock-out tunes.

As the group hustled through such winners as "No One to Depend On" and "Shapeshifter," Santana was really enjoying both himself and the crowd. During one solo, he stopped twice -- first to grab a rose from an admirer and then to hand over a guitar pick to a fan. He also seemed honored to be back at the Fillmore, dedicating the show to the venue's old boss, Bill Graham, as well as his other "teachers," John Lee Hooker, Tito Puente and Miles Davis.

"All of them taught me, if you're going to do this, you'd better do it right," he said.

That's just what he did during the first set, knocking out fiery versions of such classics as "Oye Como Va" and "Black Magic Woman." It was such a solid first half that it made the second set seem unnecessary and -- judging from the crowd's lukewarm reaction -- not greatly appreciated.

The problem had a lot to with the song list. He stacked so many of the best numbers up front that he didn't leave himself much for the stretch drive. We were left with the pop-flavored numbers and sappy inspirational tunes, none of which held a candle to the Latin-flavored rockers and poignant guitar ballads delivered in the first set. Santana's focus also seemed to slip away from the music as he grew more preachy and overtly political.

Yet, he managed to send the crowd home smiling as he burned through a sensational version of "Soul Sacrifice" during the encore. It was moments like that -- which weren't all that scarce on this night -- that reminded us exactly why Carlos Santana is the Bay Area's No. 1 guitar god.

Set list:

"Jingo"

"Life is for Living"

"Everybody's Everything"

"Batuka"/ "No One to Depend On"

"Nomad"

"Curacion"

"El Farol"

"Love is You"

"Shapeshifter"

"Day of Celebration"

"Right On"/ "Umi Says

"Black Magic Women"/ "Gypsy Queen"

"Oye Como Va"

"Smooth"/ "Dame"

"Novus"

Second set:

"Lord's Prayer"/ "Sun Ra"

"Brotherhood"

"I Love You Much Too Much"

"Open Invitation"

"Somewhere in Heaven"

"I Believe It's Time"

"Serpents and Doves"

"Maria Maria"

"Foo Foo"

"Corazon Espinado"

"Praise"

Encore:

"Soul Sacrifice"

"Angel Chant"/ "Into the Night"

Peace
Bluezman