Guest Book

DTB/Santana Concert Review Chastain Park Ampitheatre Saturday, April 26th, 2008 Carlos Santana, Eric Clapton, and Warren Haynes are the living Kings of Guitar. Derek Trucks is the Crown Prince. Traffic heading into Atlanta was a slow moving mess enroute to the concert. It's a good thing we left Macon early and thanks to I-75 delays missed a gully washer of a flood in proximity to the show location just prior to opening act. With light precipitation and a sea of umbrellas at Chastain, we arrived at 6:45 to really good box seats and witnessed Derek Trucks Band in a short set of greatness from our friends as a gourmet musical appetizer to Santana. We were greeted upon arrival by a smiling JNB who sat one row away from our Macon delegation. Derek was his usual phenomenal self on slide and Count Mbutu was dressed to the nines in a Royal Robe and shades while doing a grand performance on congas. When Yonrico Scott was introduced, he mentioned how nice it was to do a show in his own back yard. That was an understatement which got hometown applause as Rico resides in the Heart of Atlanta only a couple miles away from Chastain Park's ambient venue. Carlos Santana's stage crew were seamless in getting a world class percussion ensemble set up in a matter of minutes. Then along comes Carlos the maestro prancing, dancing, and picking with a beautifully lit stage to a delighted audience while a rainbow appeared in the Eastern sky and the rain stopped as magical sounds in the air inspired feelings of universal rhythm and euphoria. "The amazing Derek Trucks; What more can I say? - This guy is the Future!!" - Quoted from Carlos Santana. Halfway thru the set, enter dynamic and prolific Derek Trucks trading extraterrestrial licks with the great Santana and getting a standing ovation for his performance. Carlos played an amazing Latin tune that sounded like a matador theme while giving his all, then letting Trucks drive the music with his right thumb and a glass cylinder on a red guitar accompanied by some of the finest Latin percussion on Earth in the background. Just totally amazing to see those two minstrel giants in a duet which should no doubt go down in history as a brilliant, smooth, and cosmic groove. It was further delightful when Santana introduced Kofi Burbridge on the flute who gave a stellar performance and shared a hug with Carlos during the song performed. Excitement peaked with dancing in the aisles when Santana played classics, SOUL SACRIFICE and BLACK MAGIC WOMAN. I'm running out of words to say and share about how great of a concert it was on Saturday evening. I've been blessed in this life to have seen and heard great live shows by The Allman Brothers, Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, Jeff Beck, The Rolling Stones, and many legends, but the combination of Trucks and Santana goes off the scale of sensory charts in being appropriately described "supernatural." After attending this show, there's not much one could do anytime soon for an encore. Anyone who gets an opportunity to see these performers on their current tour has alot to look forward to. Please forgive my tendency to ramble with words . . . Three hours later after a smooth drive home, my mind was cooked, naturally high on one of the most superb musical events of a blessed lifetime.