Growing up, the music I listened to was directly related to what my mom liked. & she loved rock (KROQ in California to be exact!) so I grew up listening to Santana. Carlos Santana is actually from California so we were all pretty obsessed too! I recently had the opportunity to attend An Intimate Evening with Santana: Greatest Hits Live! at the Mandalay Bay- keep reading to check it out!
Since we’ve moved back to Las Vegas (thank you military!), we haven’t hit the strip as much as I’d like. The House of Blues venue is inside Mandalay Bay & we actually scored a great parking spot too. We walked through passing all the restaurants I now desperately want to eat at & were able to get right into the venue. The decor is so fun, I told my husband it reminds me of a mix between free-spirits & rock with a touch of rockabilly thrown in for good measure. Fun, eclectic, & very cool. The setup has a large bar wrapping around the wall & lots of seating throughout. There is also balcony seating but we had standing tickets which was a large area. Even as large as it is, the venue is definitely intimate & you’re close to the performer.
I’ve been wanting to see Carlos Santana & the band since I was a kid so this was a dream come true. It was everything I wanted it to be (including inside with air conditioning because I’m one of those people). The lights were fun & the way the played directly into each song was so impressive. They didn’t have many gaps throughout the night at all- it was all about the music & fitting it all into the 90 minute show.
For 40 years and as many albums later, Santana has sold more than 100 million records and reached more than 100 million fans at concerts worldwide. To date, Santana has won ten GRAMMY ® Awards and three Latin GRAMMY ® Awards. He won a record-tying nine GRAMMYs for a single project for 1999’s Supernatural, including Album of the Year and Record of the Year for “Smooth,” as well as three Latin GRAMMY’s. He has also received the Billboard Century Award (1996), was ushered into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1998), received the Billboard Latin Music Awards’ Lifetime Achievement honor (2009) and was the recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors Award (2013). Among many other honors, Carlos Santana has been cited by Rolling Stone as #15 on their list of the “100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.” In 2014, Santana released his first ever Latin Music album entitled Corazón on RCA/Sony Latin Iberia, featuring superstar collaborative performances by Latin Music’s finest. The album is certified U.S. Latin Double Platinum and was the top selling Latin Music album in the United States for six consecutive weeks. With the release of Corazón, Santana surpassed the Rolling Stones and, along with Barbara Streisand, is one of only two music acts in Billboard history to score at least one Top Ten album for six consecutive decades from the 1960s on. Santana is currently headlining a multi-year residency at House of Blues at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas.
What I wasn’t expecting was to fall in love with the band all over again! Ryan & I were obviously impressed with Carlos himself, but his vocalists ( Tony Lindsay & Andy Vargas) were crazy amazing. They blended so well with the rest of the band & had pipes like crazy! The percussion & David K Matthews on Keyboard? They were mesmerizing! I mean seriously! The entire band played about every instrument I can think of without making it sound like a mess…definitely far from it!
Near the end of the night they had a big of a surprise- it was one of the vocalist’s birthday! Tony Lindsay rocked the night so it was really sweet to see Carlos & the rest of the crew surprising him with a cake, flowers, & gifts. He grinned from ear to ear! They sang him a song which he joined in on & the whole crowd loved it.
House of Blues Las Vegas at Mandalay Bay has been home to Santana’s live concert since 2012 and continues in 2015 with the remaining dates: September 18-20, 23 and 25-27, November 4, 6-8, 11 and 13-15. Tickets for An Intimate Evening with Santana: Greatest Hits Live start at $99.50, plus applicable fees. Tickets are available by visiting House of Blues.com/Santana,MandalayBay.com, Ticketmaster.com or by calling 800-745-3000. For additional information, visit santana.com.
A portion of all tickets sold will be donated to The Milagro Foundation. Milagro (“Miracle”) is a charitable foundation supporting underrepresented and vulnerable children and youth in the areas of arts, education and health. The Milagro Foundation was created in 1998 by Carlos Santana and his family to benefit children worldwide.
Another contribution will be made to The International House of Blues Foundation (www.ihobf.org) which is dedicated to supporting youth music and arts programs, creating performance and exhibition opportunities for young and emerging artists and providing educational programs and resources that draw upon the arts to teach youth about history, culture and social change.
Have you seen Santana live? Have you been to the House of Blues here in Vegas? I’d love to hear who you’d like to see in the comments below!
