It’s been more than a decade since Carlos Santana released his uber-selling and Grammy-winning album Supernatural. And while he’s managed to carve a niche with each subsequent studio effort (including the fantastic Guitar Heaven album in 2010) having several guest artists, it’s the man himself who stirs a very hip-shaking, Latin-saturated brand of rock.

Such was the case tonight at Sandalford Estate, Swan Valley before a sizeable crowd of just under 10,000 people that didn’t quite go gaga over him compared to his 'Supernatural' high. Yet seeing how the guitarist, 63, says he’s still high from three days at Woodstock, it didn’t really matter.

If one were to sum up how Carlos Santana plays onstage, one would say that the 63-year-old wields his instrument with pure joy. In the guitarist's first since performance in Western Australia for three years - his exuberance was infectious as he wended his way through hits like Black Magic Woman and Oye Como Va. The notes of the latter seemed to command the crowd to their feet, and they danced about wildly, helpless as Santana played on.

The good vibes can be explained by one thing: Love. "It's wonderful to be in love because everything is better," Santana told his audience. "When you're in love, you feel everything is possible. Remember that you are significant and can make a difference in the world." The positive outlook could stem from the fact that he married drummer Cindy Blackman in December 2010 in Hawaii.  She took to the stage for a drum solo, pounding on the skins like she was dishing out punishment.  "Cindy Blackman Santana - that's my wife!" exclaimed Santana after she was done.  And it was that theme of love which was consistent throughout, and given his recent nuptials it’s entirely understandable how the subject was definitely on his mind.

For the majority of the night however Santana let his fingers do the talking most of the night, before ending it appropriately with the song Love, Peace And Happiness/Freedom.

Santana moved to the front of the stage and crouched down with his hands over his head in a gesture of thanks. But all the thanks and praise ought to go to him. For 21/2 hours, he'd poured his heart out, and given all of us at Sandalford Estate, Swan Valley a crazy ride.

Earlier the audience were treated to a very special performance by John Butler – clearly a home town favourite to the Western Australians on hand to witness his guitar and vocal wizardry.

No doubt for you and everybody else who attended, tonight's performance will long be remembered as another one of the GREAT shows to take place at Sandalford Estate in the 10 years since the first concert was held our at Swan Valley Estate.

And of course in that time there has been many great acts perform here including most recently Michael Buble, Sting, Simply Red, Robin Gibb, Bonnie Tyler, Crowded House, Spandau Ballet, Tears for Fears, Lionel Richie, Leonard Cohen, Alicia Keys, The Motown Legends, John Mellencamp, Sheryl Crowe, Rob Thomas, John Fogerty, Ronan Keating, Tom Jones, Carole King, The Pretenders, Paul Kelly, Marcia Hines, Tina Arena, Kasey Chambers, The Whitlams, Hoodoo Gurus, The Proclaimers, Mental as Anything, David Campbell, Ian Moss, Kate Ceberano, World Party, Vanessa Amorosi, Missy Higgins, Jimmy Barnes, The B52's and many, many more.

The Sandalford team (and our Promoter Partners at Zaccaria Events Present and Chugg Entertainment really hope you had a fantastic time tonight and are extremely interested to know just what you and your party who attended thought about the total concert experience (the good and any not so aspects if there were any).

We therefore URGE you to click through to our bloggers comments page at the following link:

http://www.sandalford.com/santana_comments

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