Original Santana Lineup Plays HoB Warmup Gig

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Carlos Santana and Neal Schon at the House of Blues, Las Vegas 3-21-16

We’ve been following the story about the reunion of what’s being billed as the original Santana band: Carlos Santana (guitar, vocals), Gregg Rolie (keyboards, lead vocals), Neal Schon (guitar, vocals), Michael Carabello (percussion), and Michael Shrieve (drums). They reunited on March 21 (Monday night) at the House of Blues at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas for a special live performance that was filmed for television and DVD release. When the concert was announced, it was an instant sell-out.

The classic rock band performed such Santana classics as “Soul Sacrifice,” “Evil Ways” and “Black Magic Woman” and introduced fans to songs from their forthcoming studio album, Santana IV, marking the first time in 45 years – since 1971’s multi-platinum classic Santana III – that the classic rock quintet has recorded together.

Here’s a clip of Schon being introduced…

Here’s a great clip of the band performing “Black Magic Woman”/”Gypsy Queen”…

The album, featuring 16 all-new tracks written and produced by the band, arrives April 15th. Joining the core Santana IV band in the studio were current Santana members Karl Perazzo (percussion) and Benny Rietveld (bass), with original Isley Brothers vocalist Ronald Isley guesting on two cuts.

And “Evil Ways” from the March 21 HoB performance…

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One of the most memorable performances of the original lineup was at Woodstock with the then-20-year-old Shrieve on drums…

Santana and the venue used the occasion to announce additional performance dates of “An Intimate Evening with Santana: Greatest Hits Live,” propelling the guitar legend into his fifth year of live concerts at the venue.

Regular BCB readers know that Santana and Journey will perform a trio of concerts together this spring, set to kick off April 13th at Madison Square Garden in New York City, with subsequent dates in Connecticut and Pennsylvania. (Click here for that story.) In addition, those bands will be joined by the Steve Miller Band and the Doobie Brothers for a special all-day On The Green concert in San Francisco on September 4. (Click here for that story.)

Click here for tickets to Santana 2016 concert dates.

Santana and Journey 2016 Dates:
April 13 – New York, NY – Madison Square Garden
April 15 – Uncasville, CT – Mohegan Sun
April 16 – Allentown, PA – PPL Center
Sept 04 – San Francisco, CA – AT&T Park

Santana House of Blues 2016 Dates:
May 18, 20-22, 25, 27-29
Sept 14, 16-18, 21, 23-25
Nov 2, 4-6, 9, 11-13

Santana North American 2016 Dates: April 5-23
Santana U.K., European 2016 Dates: July 3-30