Guest Book

Bup :flower: funny, the Beacon dates r our bds 🙂 getting ready to take the Grandchildren to see the 2nd greatest show on earth..my Grandson's first time seeing LIVE elephants(LOVES elephants) ..Im thinking I may need prayers 🙂 here is a beautiful review I came across for the greatest- You're only as old as you act. In the realm of music, artists such as the Allman Brothers Band and Santana, who well into their fifth decade of international stardom co-headlined a Sunday night show at Darien Lake Performing Arts Center, overcome actual aging by making music that's fresh, in the moment, and with the kind of outright exuberance that could make the comatose come back to consciousness. They dispense continuous joy with contagious energy and constant improvisation - although, considering their hit-filled canon, they could still satisfy much of the masses by simply showing up and sweatin' to the oldies. A near-full and fully appreciative audience Sunday night was worked into a frenzy by Mexican-born, San Francisco-raised Carlos Santana, who led his nine-piece band through a near-non-stop set that left the stage hotter than a Jalisco hacienda in July. Armed with his trusty red PRS electric guitar throughout, while occasionally working an acoustic classical guitar on a stand, he worked the entire stage with ageless wonder and absolutely smoked every song, crossing his formidable canon from Woodstock-era wildfires such as "Black Magic Woman" and "No One to Depend On" to 21st century standards "Smooth" and "Maria Maria." "Oye Como Va" earned an extended standing ovation as Santana joined dual vocalists Andy Vargas and Tony Lindsay to offer the simple refrain that serves to set off the extended jam ushered in by Hammond organ along with underlying trumpet-trombone lines, a relentless three-man percussion team led by longtime conga ace Raul Rekow and a rock-sturdy bass-guitar duo, all feeding off of their frontman's pyrotechnic licks, every bit as ebullient and urgent as when the song first hit in 1970. "Don't you just love life?" he asked not-so rhetorically after the ovation. "It doesn't matter how old you are ... it's what's inside, when you get to the heart ... the heart doesn't know age - it wants to know goodness." Fitting, then, that they led their hit "Evil Ways" into John Coltrane's "A Love Supreme" toward the end of a supremely amazing performance. Even though Santana preached brotherhood in the "complementary" co-headlining bill - "This ain't the 49ers and Raiders," he panned - the Macon, Georgia-born Allmans had only "One Way Out" of being accused of failing to keep the energy as sky high, and of course, they were up to the task from the opening hit. Organist Gregg Allman showed his voice in fine form above the Southern boogie-blues beat. Paced by another triple-percussion team led by longtime drummer Butch Trucks, the band soars on the wings of twin lead guitarists Derek Trucks - Butch's nephew, and great nephew of former no-hitting Buffalo Bisons and big league pitcher Virgil Trucks - and Warren Haynes, both frontmen of their own formidable bands (Trucks-Tedeschi Band and Gov't Mule). Their signature take on Blind Willie McTell's "Statesboro Blues" channeled blues roots while asserting the Allmans into that family, as Trucks wailed on slide guitar a la the departed Duane Allman while Haynes hit the fluid grooves that original Allmans guitarist Dickey Betts made famous. Haynes heaved muscular riffs to match the meanness of Allman's "Black Hearted Woman," Trucks meeting him for a mind-bending build to crescendo. The ultimate inspirational mantra "Soulshine," sung by both Allman and Haynes, climbed into the suite that served as the set's extended peak, before the instrumental "Jessica" took it home with endless energy before heading "Southbound" in the encore. Perhaps it's the constant improvisation that keeps these acts on their toes; whatever it is that drives them serves as a lesson in music's ability to achieve agelessness, offering a fountain of youth for all willing to dive in. ******* The Allman Brothers Band and Santana Sunday evening in the Darien Lake Performing Arts Center.