Played by Carlos Santana

Ten-time GRAMMY award winner Carlos Santana is set to light up the Bahrain International Circuit on Friday with acclaimed guitar skills and smooth sounds.

The 70-year-old has already dazzled fans across the US and Canada as part of his global Divination Tour and is planning to bring the same energy to the kingdom.

The Mexican-American musician, who has sold more than 100 million records and reached more than 100 million fans at concerts worldwide since the 1960s, said: “Fifty years went fast, but now I feel even younger and clearer, and I have more energy and more conviction than back then.”

And although his guitar-playing and vocals are legendary, according to critics, this is definitely not a one man show. “Santana the band is a team, a collective unity,” he explained to reporters. “Carlos is a person who if you go to his house there’s no Santana. No Santana.”

His current line-up includes his wife and drummer Cindy Blackman, Andy Vargas on vocals, Karl Perazzo on percussion, guitarist and vocalist Tommy Anthony, percussionist Paoli Mejia, vocalist Ray Greene, bassist Benny Rietveld and David K Mathews on keyboard. While his line-up seems solid, his set varies from concert to concert.

In Las Vegas, he performed at the House of Blues where he is currently headlining a multi-year residency, and without any exaggeration, he was stated to have put on one of the most physically-sophisticated concerts ever seen.

Then during one of his recent concerts in Canada, Carlos & Co, was said to have taken the crowd on ‘a journey of musical experience, blending 1950s and 1960s old-style rock ’n’ roll infused with Latin American Jazz, along with African instruments such as timbales and congas to deliver a ‘fantastic live show’.

The evening apparently began with an 18-minute-long psychedelic video introduction that was reminiscent of his Woodstock days and immediately afterwards, he appeared with his entourage of musicians scattered across the stage. Everyone was dressed in white and they blew the crowd away.

Some of the best known hits include Soul Sacrifice, Maria Maria, Oye coma va, Black Magic Woman, Foo Foo and Smooth. In one of his shows, Carlos was seen and heard sporadically, but carefully, referencing other melodies from a series of other songs throughout his own work, most notably his use of The Temptations’ Get Ready, The Stones’ Satisfaction, and The Beatles’ Day Tripper, plus Total Destruction to Your Mind, from his collaboration with American soul act The Isley Brothers on 2017’s Power Of Peace. 

The Power of Peace album, which also includes his wife, celebrates the timeless sounds of funk, soul, blues, rock, jazz and pop. 

Carlos says he has always been motivated to help others and to campaign for peace. He is known around the world as a humanitarian and has a lifelong devotion to social activism causes.

The Milagro Foundation, originally established by Carlos and his family in 1998, has granted more than $7m to non-profit programmes supporting underserved children and young people in the areas of arts, education and health.

Milagro means ‘miracle’, and the image of children as ‘divine miracles of light and hope’ is the inspiration behind its name.

During a recent show, Carlos said he was ‘really hopeful’ for 2018. “There are more of us than ever wanting to heal, educate, reform and work,”  he told the audience.

He then introduced two representatives from the Milagro Foundation to thank the audience for their contribution as proceeds from each ticket sold went to the charity’s work.

So there you have it. With Carlos, you don’t only get to hear moving music but also help heal the world as well.

All three-day ticket holders to this year’s Formula 1 Gulf Air Grand Prix will be able to attend the concert. Tickets can be purchased online at BIC’s official website www.bahraingp.com, by calling the BIC Hotline on 17450000 or at the BIC stand in City Centre Bahrain and Seef Mall.