MUMBAI: In what could be called an absolutely spellbinding performance, Carlos Santana, the god of the guitar created magic at F1 Rocks with Vladivar on a nippy Sunday evening. Dressed in an all white ensemble, wearing his trademark hat, Carlos Santana gave a performance that merited three encores, as audiences took in the musical legends brilliant performance.
The enthusiastic set of audiences that spanned across generations, queued up outside the venue many hours before the concert.
The finale event was held at Galgotias University Campus Greater Noida, on Sunday, the 28 October, the event came together through the joint efforts of F1 Rocks™ and Vladivar India's first ever premium dual-flavoured vodka from United Spirits Limited. The event was produced by the pioneers of live entertainment in India — DNA Entertainment Networks PVT. LTD. F1 Rocks™ is a distinctive musical event which has witnessed some of the key international music acts at Formula 1™ events across the world and India is at the heart of this excitement with leading names from the International music scenario.
The evening was opened by the popular Shillong based Blues band – Soulmate and to everyone’s surprise the band members were joined by Santana himself on stage, who jammed with them on one song.
Later Soulmate’s very vivacious vocalist Tipriti K. Bangar sang a couple of songs and jammed with the Santana and his band as well, adding a memorable India connect to the legend’s maiden tour to the country.
T Venkat Vardhan, Managing Director, DNA Networks says, “Carlos Santana’s music spans over four decades, being a multi-Grammy Award winner, he was a perfect fit to headline this year’s F1 Rocks™ ? as also to bring mainstream music in the popular genre of Rock music to a wider fan base in India.”
According to spokesperson USL, Ashok Capoor, President and Managing Director, United Spirits Ltd.,
“We strive everyday to create new milestones be it in business or in engaging with our consumers or fans. Carlos Santana’s performance at F1 Rocks™ with Vladivar will create memories, which will be cherished for a lifetime. Vladivar endeavors to provide unparalleled refreshing experience to its consumers. This makes it a natural fit for Vladivar to come together with F1 Rocks™ for Santana to create an unequalled riveting performance.”
Santana’s set for his India gigs included his Latin-infused, multi-genre hit singles – Black Magic Woman, Smooth, Evil Ways, Dance Into The Night, Oye Como Va, Maria Maria, While My Guitar Gently Weeps and many more. One of the only two music acts to have ever scored at least one Top Ten Album in Billboard History, Santana rocked Delhi, while the thoroughly charged audience kept asking him to play on. His wife and band member, Cindy Blackman gave a scintillating performance on drums and the guitar and drum jam between the couple added further excitement to the evening.
Santana also addressed the subject of world peace even as the signature dove of peace formed a backdrop for some of his performances. Carlos Santana’s band line up for his India concert included Congas - Raul Rekow, Drums- Milton Chambers, Percussions- Karl Perazzo, Bass- Benjamin Rietveld, Vocalist -Anthony Lindsay, Trumpet - William Ortiz, Rhythm Guitar – Thomas Maestu, Trombone – Jeffry Cressman, Keyboard – David Mathews.
Santana has sold more than 100 million records and has reached more than a 100 million fans at concerts worldwide. To date, the Legend has won 10 Grammy Awards, including a record-tying nine for a single project, 1999’s Supernatural (including ‘Album of the Year and Record of the Year for ‘Smooth’). Among many other honors, Carlos Santana received Billboard Latin Music Awards’ 2009 Lifetime Achievement honour, and, he was bestowed Billboard’s Century Award in 1996. He has also been cited by Rolling Stones as #20 on the Magazine’s list of the “100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time”. His latest Album Shape Shifter (2012) is the first for his new label, Starfaith Records. The 13-song set is an instrumental tour de force featuring tracks spanning from the 1990’s to the latest. One song also features singing by Santana's lead vocalists Andy Vargas and Tony Lindsay.
Delivered with a level of passion and soul equal to the legendary sonic sound of his guitar, the sound of
Santana is one of the world’s best-known musical signatures. This earned him a life-long relationship with artists across all genres of music, right from Jazz legends like BB King and George Benson, Contemporary artists like Joe Cocker, Michelle Branch, Macy Gray, Eric Clapton to today’s favourites like Chad Kroeger, Rob Thomas and Will I Am.
F1 Rocks fuses the world’s most popular annual sporting series with the most iconic music stars to create a unique experience for Formula One and music fans alike. F1 Rocks™ ™ is a series of spectacular live music events from glamorous Formula One race locations around the world.