Concert: Los Lonely Boys and Carlos Santana

Normally, I don't enjoy concerts, but Eric W. won tickets, so he asked me if I wanted to go. Being half Puerto Rican, I do appreciate good Latino music. Eric is Chilean, so the Latino "brothers" went to the concert.

I should also apologize for the picture quality. I took them on my cell phone, and I used zoom, which automatically made the quality worse. But it's the thought that counts -- right?

We first stopped at CVS to pick up beer (because you don't go to a concert without at least one beer, much less a Santana concert), and we ended up with two 24 oz Coronas. I then ran into Giant, and purchased a single lime.

We found out there that drinking at the Nissan Pavilion was not allowed, unless you bought the stuff inside. Also, the rules stipulated that beer bottles and cans were not allowed, but cups were. We bought two plastic cups from a couple guys and enjoyed our Coronas outside. Then we went inside.

VIP parking and tickets are very worth it, BTW. VIP parking is a designated lot closer to the Nissan Pavilion with its own security and its own exit. Everything is faster, and so very nice. Plus, you get access to the VIP club, with its own bar, it's own small band area, its own dining area -- all top-notch stuff. Good times!

Of course, everything is expensive. The same beer we bought at CVS for $3 was $11...

Los Lonely Boys, who opened the show, were actually very good. They had a little bit of a blues sound to them early on, but then everything picked up, and they closed on Heaven, which is the only song of theirs that I remotely know. Their live performance of it was great. Most of the crowd was standing and dancing in front of their seats for that one.

Towards the end of Los Lonely Boys, we ordered some food: chips and spinach dip. It was really good. For the price we paid, we also got a lot of chips and a lot of dip. My only complaint, and this is such a little thing, is that it was really salty...

Then Santana came on. His first song started off really cool, and then just went crazy, and I mean in a not-so-good way. It didn't sound like their train had been derailed or anything, and it looked like everything was going according to plan, but I couldn't hear a discernible melody or beat, nor did I recognize the piece. Carlos Santana was directing them from center stage in the end with orchestra hit after orchestra hit. I didn't so much care for it, because it was all just noise. Then they got started on the real music. I could actually identify some of their following songs. Eric caught most of them before I did, but I'd expect that of Eric.

There was one song they did which was awesome. It started with an almost haunting trumpet solo, and then other instruments began to come in, and it turned out to be an incredible piece. I don't know the name of the song, but then again, I don't know a lot of Santana's songs, so it's no surprise. When they started Maria, Maria, the place went up in applause and cheers. Their live performance of it was really awesome. Shortly after that came Black Magic Woman, which Eric picked up before I did, and they closed on another really popular piece, Smooth, which was great as a closer, but just wasn't the same without Rob Thomas...

The concert was very cool, overall. I loved the fact that Santana attracted all ages, not just young punks and not just people who listened to him in the 60's. It was a very un concert. Eric and I had one problem: his preaching. It was all about universal love and compassion and how the truly compassionate ought to be in charge. I agree with the bit on the fact that mankind needs to learn compassion. However, his idea of the truly compassionate were people like John Lennon. Hippies in charge? I think not...