Santana, Glasgow review: 'a rare treat'

Santana, Hydro, Glasgow ★★★★

Blessed as the Hydro is with appearances by legendary artists, it is still a rare treat to commune with a virtuoso such as Carlos Santana, a man so taciturn and laidback that he dispatched the most fluent guitar flourishes here while perpetually chewing gum. And if you are in Santana’s team, you need to be an A-game player. The sheer abundance of drums and additional percussion - including a tag team on bongos – highlighted that rhythm was king. Get that right, as this band did again and again, and you create the most irresistible base layer for the warm tones of Santana's mighty saturated blues groove on opening number Soul Sacrifice.

Carlos Santana | Getty Images

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This was a no-messing concert of two halves, both stuffed with Santana classics from across the decades, from the conga-heavy Jin-go-lo-ba and easy Latino rhythm’n’blues of Evil Ways to acid blues standard Black Magic Woman. The crowd warmed up to Oye como va, garlanded with a full-on organ assault, and were invited to their feet to do what they could with their hips during the increasingly frenzied hip-hop/R’n’B cross of Maria Maria.

For all the no-nonsense pace, there was ample opportunity for the band to show off soulfully. Benny Reitveld delivered a bass solo of fleet funk heft, even managing to fit in a burst of Scotland the Brave, while Cindy Blackman’s various moments in the spotlight were all pointing to her heroic and immersive drum solo in the encore.

Santana didn't say much but when he did he got it bang on with his appeal for “compassion, mercy and forgiveness”. All the rest of his eloquence was poured into burnished solos over bossa nova beats and righteous psych passages on No One To Depend On, while vocalists Andy Vargas and Ray Greene handled the range of Spanish and English hits from the rocking salsa of Corazon Espinado to the smoother Latin pop of The Game of Love.

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