Santana’s Supernatural Now Tour Thrills Crowd At Bud Stage

Carlos Santana brought his Supernatural Now Tour to Budweiser Stage in Toronto with special guests The Doobie Brothers for a great night of musical memories.

Back when I first got into photographing live music, I would have never believed that I would eventually be shooting some of the legends in the business, people I grew up listening to. I have been very fortunate and have been able to photograph a lot of musicians on my bucket list. Santana and The Doobies were both on that list.

In the case of The Doobie Brothers, they are not only legends, but they provided a lot of music that I grew up on. Over the years, The Doobies have shed some personnel, but all three guitar players are still there. Patrick Simmons, Tom Johnston and John McFee still sound just as fresh as they did in the seventies.

The Doobie Brothers have always been known for their big percussion sound, often having two drummers playing at the same time and I’m glad that incredible sound is still there. Their sound is their own, nobody else ever sounded quite like the Doobies and that’s what drove them to the top of the charts over the course of their 50 year career. That kind of longevity speaks for itself.

They came on with Rockin Down The Highway, taking the crowd on a trip through their many hits. My personal highlight was nearing the end of their set. The last two songs, Long Train Running and China Grove are straight out of my list of favourites and took me back to my younger days. Not all opening bands get called back, but not all opening bands are The Doobies. They came back and treated the crowd to a version of their hit, Black Water followed by Listen To The Music. During Black Water especially, the crowd sang every word.

In a different place or time, The Doobie Brothers might have been enough, but this night we still had Carlos Santana to look forward to. As we waited for the stage to be readied, there was a buzz in the crowd, people were talking, telling stories of past concerts where they had witnessed Carlos and his amazing band. As we waited in the pit for the show to start, I spoke to a couple of people and it hit me. Carlos Santana had played at the most influential festival in music history……….Woodstock!

Santana was preceded by a presentation filled with dozens of photographs of people and events from the Woodstock festival of 1969. What a great way to start it off! In the slideshow there was a heavy drum beat and in the darkness on the stage, the band was taking their places, then the band took over from the slideshow. The song was Soul Sacrifice, the very song that was featured in the Woodstock movie.

Carlos Santana brings a long history of excellence, creating an eclectic style of music infusing jazz, blues and African styles into the traditional Latin music. Even though the band has gone through many personnel changes over the years, Carlos has always surrounded himself with amazing musicians. One of those is his wife, Cindy Blackman Santana on drums who blew me away with her abilities. Santana’s own playing is legendary and watching him perform is a treat. He plays with such feeling and eloquence it gives you chills at times. A true master of his craft.

The highlight for me had to be Evil Ways, Black Magic Woman and Oye Como Va. These songs are instantly recognizable to any music fan and the crowd loved them too. The show consisted of twenty songs and Santana made sure it was a very memorable show for everyone including me.

For more information, check out their websites!

Santana

The Doobie Brothers