Review: Santana, Russell Morris and The Doobie Brothers light up Botanic Park in Adelaide
THE threat of rain and an icy wind couldn’t keep thousands of music lovers away from Botanic Park last night, gathering together to hear guitar god Carlos Santana and his talented support acts Russell Morris and The Doobie Brothers.
THE threat of rain and an icy wind couldn’t keep thousands of music lovers away from Botanic Park last night, donning parkas and ponchos to gather together in a celebration of love and joy driven by guitar god Carlos Santana and his talented support acts Russell Morris and The Doobie Brothers.
Despite the city copping heavy showers just before Russell Morris and band took the stage, the rain stayed away for the entire evening, with the sun even breaking through the clouds at one point to bathe Morris in a golden hue.
It looked warm, but we didn’t feel it.
Opening with Thunderclap Newman’s Something in the Air, Morris had the crowd singing along in a nostalgic haze and set the tone for what was destined to be a solid night of quality music.
Despite Morris joking he’s “smoked a lot of dope, took a lot of acid and pickled my brain”, his voice was faultless, fearlessly tackling the high notes and finding them with ease — his voice as clean and clear as it has ever been and contrasting beautifully with the gritty sound of his vintage Telecaster.
As far as tight, hard rockin’ blues goes, Morris’s was as good a set as you’d hope to catch anywhere, proving Aussies can do the genre as well as any Yank can.
But rather than being simply generic blues and roots, Morris tells uniquely Australian stories, taking many back to places they had been before and painting a rich picture of our country’s past for those who weren’t around to remember it.
Wings of an Eagle and closer See the Real Thing were met with applause and then the man bid his audience farewell, giving us a chance to get some booze and hot food in an attempt to keep the cold at bay.
And then it was The Doobie Brothers’ turn, opening with Jesus is Just Alright — which people of my parents’ generation would know from both the Doobie’s and The Byrds’ version and who people of my era would know from the DC Talk cover they used to use as filler segments during ABC’s teen timeslots in the early 90s.
Either way, it was a killer opener, demonstrating the classic rockers’ tight harmonies and punchy guitar line-up.
A slight detour into hoedown territory showcased the outfit’s country chops and then they were straight back to rocking, with Marc Russo providing some welcome saxual healing, tearing it up on alto in Eyes of Silver.
The band has always been known for its tight harmonies, and their lush vocals were on particular display in the classic Clear as the Driven Snow.
Bill Payne then shovelled some more coal into the engine in a keyboard jam and, with all the fury of a runaway freight train, the Doobies launched into crowd favourite Takin’ it to the Streets, proving the band are still as tight as they’ve ever been and can rock just as hard as bands much younger.
No Doobie Brothers show is complete without Listen to the Music, and the boys were clearly having an absolute blast doing what they love.
As much as either Morris or The Doobie Brothers could have headlined the show, it was Santana the punters were here to see, and the guitar virtuoso did not fail to impress.
From his first wailing note, the supernatural shaman cast his spell over us, apparently none more so than the hemp poncho-wearing hippy windmilling like a toddler given too much sugar in the aisle next to me.
Nobody can make a guitar sing like Santana who, unlike other guitarists, rarely changed instruments, sticking with his signature Paul Reid Smith goldtop for the majority of the 135-minute performance.
It’s a dream line-up — Maria Maria, Love Makes the World Go ‘Round, A Love Supreme, Evil Ways — a breathtaking blend of old and new, slow and fast that’s almost overwhelming, slowing only for a moment to let you catch your breath before racing into the next rollicking track.
As expected, the crowd came alive for Black Magic Woman, and the guitarist’s nods to The Beatles’ While My Guitar Gently Weeps, Cream’s Sunshine Of Your Love, and Sting and The Police’s Roxanne were also received with rapturous applause.
A surprisingly rocking cover of Enya’s Orinoco Flow had the crowd sailing away while Smooth, Ride On and Umi Says demonstrated the might of his support band, which, as prodigious as Santana is, almost outshine him.
Vocalist and trombonist Ray Greene is freakishly gifted, his vocal range as free and soaring as any sound Santana gets from his axe, and Cindy Blackman Santana just an absolute beast on the drums. How that kit was still standing at the end of the show is beyond me. She was brutal.
“The CIA the FBI, the Pentagon, Hollywood, all they do is promote fear, and we are here to do the opposite. The opposite of fear is light and joy,” Santana said.
The guitar prodigy and his talented support acts certainly brought both of those.