Santana and Earth, Wind & Fire Newcastle City Hall 15th September 1975
This was a strong double bill of two quite different bands. Disco funk legends Earth, Wind and Fire opened the show. They had just released the album “That’s the Way of the World” and were massively successful in the USA, if less well known in the UK. I remember them having a big show, with lots of people on stage, and the highlight was a revolving drum kit (you had to see it to believe it 🙂 ). Santana had a lot to follow with such a strong opening act, but Carlos and the band rose to the occasion playing a set that included favourites like Black Magic Woman, Samba pa ti and Soul Sacrifice. The tour came between Santana’s sixth album “Borboletta” and their seventh “Amigos”. I recall that the concert was sold out and Marie and I went along without tickets. We managed to get two single seats, and spent the evening watching the concert standing at the back of the hall. 
The next time I saw Santana they were special guests for Bob Dylan at St James Park Newcastle, on 5th July 1984. Santana’s set at this massive open-air gig was Touchdown Raiders; Spirit; By the Pool; Samba pa ti; Breaking Out; Gypsy Queen; Incident at Neshabur; Waited All My Life; Two Points of View; Brotherhood; Savor; Who Loves You; Open Invitation; She’s Not There; Europa (Earth’s Cry, Heaven’s Smile); Right Now.
Archive for the ‘Santana’ Category
7 May
Santana and Earth, Wind & Fire Newcastle City Hall 15th September 1975
6 May
Santana Newcastle City Hall November 22nd 1972 early (6.30pm) show: Exclusive Northern appearance
Santana Newcastle City Hall November 22nd 1972 early (6.30pm) show: Exclusive Northern appearance
John and I went to see Santana at Newcastle City Hall on November 22nd 1972. The band played two shows at the venue that evening, and we went to the early show which was at 6.30pm. John’s memories of the gig: “As I recall Santana were not frequent visitors to the UK and this was one of the earliest times they played in the North East in the post-Abraxas period. They played two shows, with no support and it was my birthday. At that time Carlos was heavily influenced by John Mahavishnu and was moving in a more jazz/fusion-influenced direction than the heavily percusive sounds of the first two albums. I believe at the beginning of the set he said “A moment of meditation for Devadip” which was the name given to him by his guru Shri Chimony. Apparently it means “The lamp, light and eye of God”. This change in musical direction caused considerable tension within the band and precipitated a number of line up changes. I remember really enjoying the gig and I think they played most of Side 1 from the Caravanserai album – “Waves Within”, “Look up (to see whats coming down)”, “Just in time to see the sun”, “Song of the wind” and “All the Love in Universe”. Funnily I don’t remember if they played “Black Magic Woman” or “Oye Como Va”. I never saw the band again but have great memories of this show.”
My memories of the gig are also of an enjoyable concert. I’m pretty sure that they also played “Samba Pa Ti”. Their visit covered only two UK cities, Newcastle and Manchester, as part of their 1972 European tour (not sure how it could be an “Exclusive Northern appearance” when they also played Manchester 🙂 ; but maybe it was at the time the tickets were printed). Santana had just released their fourth album Caravanserai, and as John says it was a sharp departure from his critically acclaimed first three albums. We were all familiar with Santana at the time because of their excellent storming performance of “Soul Sacrifice” in the “Woodstock” film. By the time John and I saw Santana and his band in Newcastle their musical style had changed considerably from the band we all saw and loved in “Woodstock”. I recall being quite surprised by the difference, which was moving the music closer to that which John McLaughlin was pursuing in his Mahavishnu Orchestra. Santana’s exquisite guitar playing shone out, as it always does, to this day. I also remember that Slade were performing at Sunderland Top Rank that evening, with Thin Lizzy and Suzi Quatro as support acts. As we returned home after the Santana gig, which will have bee finished by 8.30pm to allow for the late show, we could see people entering the Rink (aka Top Rank) for the Slade gig.
A setlist from three days later at a concert in Switzerland shows Santana as having played the following songs. I would suspect the Newcastle set is likely to have been similar to this one: Going Home; A-1 Funk; Every Step of the Way; Samba pa ti; Look Up (To See What’s Coming Down); Just in Time to See the Sun; Incident at Neshabur; Bambele; Stone Flower; Waiting; Castillos de arena; Free Angela; Earth; Se a Cabo; Savor; Toussaint L’Overture
12 Oct
Bob Dylan St James Park Newcastle 1984
Bob Dylan St James Park Newcastle 1984
Support from Santana and Lindisfarne
Dylan was back in the UK in 1984 for a couple of concerts, one at Wembley Stadium and this time he also visited the North East for a massive gig at St James Park, with support from Santana and local heroes Lindisfarne. I went along with a group of friends. I remember Lindisfarne going down well with the crowd (well they would, wouldn’t they!). I can’t remember a lot about Santana, to be honest. Dylan played a set of classics and got a good reception from the Toon crowd. He was sporting a strong band with Mick Taylor on guitar, and Ian McLagen on keyboards. I think Carlos Santana also joined the band on guitar. 
Looking back on those shows, we didn’t know how lucky we were at the time. Dylan was singing well, and performing long sets which covered his entire back catalogue.
Setlist: Highway 62 Revisited; Jokerman;;All Along The Watchtower; Just Like A Woman; Maggie’s Farm; I And I; License To Kill; A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall; Tangled Up In Blue; It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding); Simple Twist Of Fate; Masters Of War; Ballad Of A Thin Man; Enough Is Enough; Every Grain Of Sand; Like A Rolling Stone; Mr. Tambourine Man; Girl From The North Country; It Ain’t Me, Babe; Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat; Tombstone Blues; Blowin’ In The Wind; Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door; The Times They Are A-Changin’
2 Oct
Santana Newcastle Arena 3rd Oct 2010
Santana Newcastle Arena 3rd Oct 2010
Santana were a lot lot better than I had expected. I’d seen them a couple of times at the City Hall in the 70s and they also supported Dylan at St James in the early 80s. My recollections of those shows were that they were OK, but some of the songs were drawn out and samey. So I wasn’t certain about going to this, but decided to go along on the night. I managed to score a £63 ticker for £35 outside, so was quite pleased at that. And in the end I was glad I made the effort because it was much better than my memories. The set was a mix of early Woodstock-era Santana, recent latin-based material and some covers from the latest album. Plus some semi-religious words of wisdom from the man himself. All of this made for a great show. Great guitar, great rhythms, great singers, great use of video. For the early songs Carlos played in front of videos of himself at Woodstock-wonderful stuff! I even enjoyed the drum solo(s!)! Highlights for me were Black Magic Woman, Samba Pa Ti and Soul Sacrifice.
1. EVERYBODY’S EVERYTHING
2. SINGING WINDS/ CRYING BEAST
3. BLACK MAGIC WOMAN / GYPSY QUEEN
4. OYE COMO VA
5. MARIA MARIA
6. FOO FOO
7. CORAZON ESPINADO
8. JINGO
9. SAMBA PA TI
10. BATUKA/ NO ONE TO DEPEND ON
11. TABOO/ WHOLE LOTTA LOVE
12. GOD IS LOVE/ RIGHT ON
13. EVIL WAYS/ A LOVE SUPREME
14. SUNSHINE OF YOUR LOVE
15. SMOOTH/ DAME TU AMOR
ENCORE: WOODSTOCK CHANT
16. SOUL SACRIFICE
17. BRIDEGROOM/ INTO THE NIGHT
18. LOVE, PEACE,& HAPPINESS/ FREEDOM
programme
ticket
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