All photos: Joy Asico

Santana is the primary exponent of Latin-tinged rock, particularly due to its combination of Latin percussion (congas, timbales, etc.) with bandleader Carlos Santana’s distinctive, high-pitched lead guitar playing. The group was the last major act to emerge from the psychedelic San Francisco music scene of the 1960s and it enjoyed massive success at the end of the decade and into the early ’70s. The musical direction then changed to a more contemplative and jazzy style as the band’s early personnel gradually departed, leaving the name in the hands of Carlos Santana, who guided the group to consistent commercial success over the next quarter-century. By the mid-’90s, Santana seemed spent as a commercial force on records, though the group continued to attract audiences for its concerts worldwide. But the band made a surprising and monumental comeback in 1999 with Supernatural, an album featuring many guest stars that became Santana’s best-selling release and won a raft of Grammy Awards.

Setlist:

1. Pigs Snout
2. Love Is You Love Is Me
3. Black Magic Woman / Gypsy Queen
4. Oye Como Va
   (Tito Puente cover)
5. Maria Maria
6. Incident at Neshabur
7. Corazón Espinado
8. Jingo
9. Sonny Sharrock
   (Sonny Sharrock cover) (with Warren Haynes, Derek Trucks)
10. Maggot Brain
    (Funkadelic cover) (with Warren Haynes, Derek Trucks)
11. Duende / (Da Le) Yaleo
12. Evil Ways / A Love Supreme
13. Smooth / Dame Tu Amor
14. Encore:
15. Toussaint L’Overture

Here are Joy’s shots of Santana and his band from Sunday’s show at Merriweather: