Santana: Live at US Festival

Steve "Woz" Wozniak, the co-founder of Apple Inc., collaborated with legendary concert promoter Bill Graham on a novel concept called the "US Festival" (that’s "US" as in the pronoun, not initials for the United States). The idea was to celebrate and further the experience of community-building by combining music with a technology exposition. Wozniak built a new outdoor venue in San Bernardino that could hold several hundred thousand people. Among the artists performing at the inaugural 1982 Labor Day weekend fest (there was one more US festival in 1983) were Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Fleetwood Mac, and the Ramones. Carlos Santana and his band also played a spellbinding set for a massive, sun-baked crowd during US ‘82, a performance that carried no hint that the group and its ever-changing personnel were beginning a commercially fallow period for album sales, one that would last until 1998. In this 11-track set, it’s evident that as a touring band, Santana could still catch fire, and that’s true from the first song here, "Searchin’." The signature Santana sound—a dense weave of percussion (four percussionists!), lively bass, keyboard textures, muscular rhythm guitar, and Carlos Santana’s transcendent sting on lead—is absolutely ferocious, lifting the audience to arm-waving ecstasy. Scottish guitarist and singer Alex Ligertwood (who was in and out of Santana between 1979 and 1994) offers a jazzy warmth with a voice that seems to hover over the musicians. And Herbie Hancock shows up on keyboards for a special moment during "Incident at Neshabur." Interview clips with Santana are interwoven with the songs, with highlights including "Black Magic Woman," "Hold On," "Savor," and "Oye Como Va." Presented in Dolby Digital stereo on DVD, and DTS-HD stereo on Blu-ray, extras include bonus interview clips with Carlos. Highly recommended. (T. Keogh)