CARLOS SANTANA – 1001 RAINBOWS TOUR – MASS MUTUAL CENTER

By Lea Caffrey

On Sunday, 8-6-2023, 10 time Grammy Award Winner Carlos Santana made the final stop on his North American Tour at the beautiful Mass Mutual Center in my hometown, Springfield, Massachusetts.

As I entered the photo area before the start of the show, I looked around the arena and saw a near capacity crowd waiting in anticipation for the show to start. Promptly at 8:00 pm, the stage completely lit up and all 9 band members entered the stage and brought the crowd to their feet with their opening song “Soul Sacrifice” and continued with the hits “Jingo”, “Evil Ways” and “Black Magic Woman / Gypsy Queen”. Santana then went old school with “Oye Como Va” from their album Abraxas. The audience was then treated with a bass solo by Benny Rietveld to “Everybodys Everything”.

The party continued with 5 more songs, lots of lights, dancing and crowd participation singing at the top of their lungs. There was a dimming of the lights and then, Carlos Santana stood in the middle of the stage with all white lights beaming on him from all directions as he played “Put Your Lights On”. It was the highlight of the show for me…. It actually brought me to tears. Everyone in attendance turned the light on their cellphones on and waived them back and forth. Santana then took a few moments to speak to the audience and send out love to them all.

Photos Lea Caffrey

Next up were a few more songs, with everyone on their feet singing “Maria Maria”, then dancing in the isles to “Are You Ready People”. Carlos Santana then did the band introductions during the song “Doing It To Death”. The band line up was Carlos Santana – Main Guitar & Vocals, Cindy Blackman Santana – Drums, Anthony Vargas – Vocals, Benny Rietveld – Bass, David K Matthews – Keyboards, Karl Pirozzo – Percussion, Paoli Megias – Percussion, Ray Greene – Vocals and Tommy Anthony – Guitars and Vocals.

The remaining songs were “Roadhouse Blues” and “Love Peace and Happiness”. Santana then played “Smooth”, closing the concert to a satisfied and exhausted audience. They were on their feet from start to finish, dancing and singing along to every song. It was by far, one of the most memorable experiences for me as a fan and concert photographer.

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