Photos & Story by: Kimberly Kanuck

Sunday night I had the pleasure of seeing Santana on their Blessings and Miracles Tour, 2021. They made a stop at the Wind Creek Event Center in Bethlehem, PA, which was only their 2nd show during a break from their residency at the House of Blues in Las Vegas. Personally, this was my first show at the Wind Creek in Bethlehem since the COVID lockdown and it felt good to be back and enjoying live music! Santana is on tour promoting their latest album to be released on October 15th. The first single already released is “Move,” with Rob Thomas (and Zac Barnett/American Authors), which was performed live at this show. Santana collaborates with other talented artists on this new album such as Chris Stapleton, G-Eazy, Steve Winwood, Kirk Hammett, and others. Carlos Santana states “The title of this album comes from my belief that we’re born with heavenly power that allows us to create blessings and miracles. The world programs you to be unworthy of those gifts, we have to utilize light, spirit, and soul – they’re indestructible and immutable. Those are the three main elements on this album.”

This happened to be my first time seeing Santana perform and they absolutely lived up to the hype and my own expectations. Santana opened with a powerful drum solo during “Soul Sacrifice” by Cindy Blackman Santana. She absolutely tore up her drums and got the crowd energized. This led into 3 classic fan favorites “Jingo”, “Evil Ways,” and “Black Magic Woman.” Carlos Santana played the guitar with so much passion and soul. It seems as if his playing is just effortless and it’s truly quite an experience to see him perform live. Around the middle of the performance they played the new single “Move” and the crowd was very receptive and engaged. There were a few more mellow songs, but as we approached the end of the show they picked up the pace with a crowd favorite “Maria Maria.” Andy Vargas’ vocals we strong and powerful throughout the show, especially for “Maria Maria.”. He was able easily get the crowd back on their feet with his energy and passion. And if they weren’t already standing at this point, Vargas got them dancing and jumping as they wrapped with  “Foo Foo”. It was a solid 2 hour shows that ended with their encore of “Are You Ready,” “Smooth”, and “Love, Peace, and Happiness.”

If you missed this show, I would highly encourage you to see the legendary multi-Grammy Award-winning Rock and Roll Hall of Fame guitarist Carlos Santana. There are plenty of opportunities to see Santana on this tour or at their residency in Las Vegas. For more information, please visit: https://tour.santana.com/. For more exciting shows at the WCEC, please visit:  https://www.windcreekeventcenter.com/.