Carlos Santana Talks About His Upcoming Show In Bangkok

[webfact]

ENTERTAINMENT

Back for more smiles

Manta Klangboonkrong

The Nation

Carlos Santana dug his 2011 Bangkok gig so much that he's returning with a whole new show

BANGKOK: -- Exactly two years after Santana's last performance in Bangkok, the Latino-American rock and rhythm band is returning with "new music, a new beginning, new middle and new ending", says its founder, guitar virtuoso Carlos Santana.

One of the few modern musicians to have stood the test of time with grace and dignity while continuously accumulating more fans, he certainly appears to live unaware of the years passing.

Thirty-six albums in 40 years, 90 million copies shifted, eight Grammy awards and a place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. All this on the backs of timeless hits going back to "Black Magic Woman" and "Oye Como Va" and as recent as "Smooth" and "Maria Maria".

But the 2013 event carrying Santana around Asia and back to Impact Arena on March 6 is called the Sentient Tour, and Carlos explained why in an exclusive phone interview last week.

What was the most memorable part of your previous visit to Bangkok in 2011?

People's eyes: They were happy, and we were happy because they were happy. I had a lot of fun playing in Bangkok. There's a lot of inspiration and I'm very happy to come back.

What do you have planned for us this time?

We have new music, a new beginning, new middle and new ending. The thing about Santana is that we're always altering the frequencies of sounds, resonance and vibration. It's like it's the same hug and the same kiss, but it feels different.

We invest emotionally in wanting to create genuine, sincere, true, real and authentic notes, not plastic notes or computer notes. These notes come from your heart, and when you do that, everything is going feel completely new like your first date.

Why is this called the Sentient Tour?

Sentient: I discovered this word with my wife Cindy and we were talking about it.

A sentient being is like a Christmas tree, where he or she is being adorned with words like honesty, kindness, compassion, considerate, generosity, suppleness, gentleness, sympathy, integrity, mercy, grace, dignity, sincerity, reliability, dependability, punctuality, impartiality, efficiency, self-reliance, decency, loyalty. Each word has positive power.

So a sentient being is not a person who makes excuses or is lazy or a "victim". There are a lot of negative-thinking victims who make a lot of excuses. And they are always tired and lazy and angry. That is a not a sentient being, that is the opposite.

We assume that's also your life philosophy.

Yes, absolutely, because, at where we are now, it works for us. When you repeat these words early in the morning, especially with gratitude, you get energy. Words give you energy or words can drain you. If you say, "Oh, I have a job," you get tired. But if you say, "Hey, I have a goal and opportunity to do this and touch people's hearts," then of course you're going to get energy.

What's the secret to staying so successful over the years?

I'm not in a position to say to a person what to do or who to be. But I am in a position to share my experiences.

If you like, you should invest more in positive thoughts. You might want to invest more emotionally in waking up to an adventure rather than being a victim. Invest more in art, rather than show business or entertainment. Being rich and famous can be really boring, but being extremely in demand, like Bob Marley or Santana, can be really, really fun.

But there must have been hard times. What did you do to get through them?

I asked for help and the universe gave it to me. Every time I got into a place where I felt I needed to do something outside of me, I asked and the universe sent my the right people, like [concert promoter] Bill Graham, [record-label executive] Clive Davis.

I found people who went out of their way to put me at centre stage. And they invested in me. It's important to trust that there's a universe looking after you, that wants for you supreme success. If you don't get success, it's because you don't know how to ask.

You don't blame it on luck, then.

I don't believe in luck, chance or fortune. I believe in God's grace. Luck, chance and fortune is like throwing darts in the dark and trying to hit something. With grace, you never miss.

Are you working on material for the next CD?

We're releasing two or three albums pretty soon. One is going to be like "Supernatural" but with lots of Latino people from South America and Spain. But first we have to work on some songs, and then we'll call in some people to see if they're interested.

You know, from the day I first picked up my guitar 'til the day I die, I basically play 99.9 percent African music, whether it's rhythm, colours or melodies.

I don't play polkas. I don't play waltzes. I could, but I don't yet. If I play a polka, I might put some Jamaican ska in it! Straight-ahead polka I'm not too crazy about. For me, unless I inject some African rhythms in it, it sounds like somebody else's music, not mine.

Any more collaborations in the future?

I think I want to know what it's like to collaborate with Andrea Bocelli, Lady Gaga, or more African musicians perhaps. Maybe young people from Bangkok who are practising right now in a garage or something.

Not just well-known artists, but also with young people with great songs because to me the most important thing is not the rich and famous person, but a song that could be like "Imagine" or "The Love Supreme" - songs that are memorable forever. So I'd rather work on a song than with a person, because songs stay. The people die and go away in another dimension.

WIN TICKETS

>>Santana will be at Impact Arena on March 6 at 8.30pm. Seats cost Bt1,000 to Bt4,000 at ThaiTicketMajor. Call (02) 262 3456.

>>The Nation has two pairs of Bt4,000 tickets to give away, courtesy of BEC-Tero Entertainment. They'll go to the first two readers who e-mail to tell us when Santana last performed in Bangkok. Answers are due at [email protected] (subject: Santana) by noon on Monday.

-- The Nation 2013-02-15

[transam]

[Morakot]

[TheGhostWithin]

Makes me want to come to Thailand in March. Really something you can never get back, Carlos Santana is like no other musician in the world today.

Is it generally an older or younger crowd that went to Satana last time in Thailand? Expats or Thai?

[Soi Dog]

Brace yourselves for a cool wave. They don't come much cooler than Santana.

[transam]

Makes me want to come to Thailand in March. Really something you can never get back, Carlos Santana is like no other musician in the world today.

Is it generally an older or younger crowd that went to Satana last time in Thailand? Expats or Thai?

Don't know but music is music regardless of age of performer or audience don't you think. As an old guy, folk still rock to the music of my day, The Who for instance. Love to see ZZ Top live.

[sunshine51]

Booked our tickets already...missed the 2K11 gig cause I was in Kabul.

Ain't missin this one unless Carlos cancels & I reckon he ain't gonna do

that. Yeah Transam...ZZTop in BKK would be good too...La Grange?!

This is gonna be a good gig....

Edited February 15, 2013 by sunshine51

[Jimi007]

Carabao is opening the show. His people have been in touch with Carlos' people through a friend of mine that I've worked with since 1976. Too bad I'm too lazy to get my ass up to Bangkok from Phuket, even though I've know about it for almost two months now... It would be a busman's holiday anyway, if you know what I mean.

[sms747]

Last time I saw this overrated, arrogant prick was in 1976 in the UK. Would not see him if it were free.

[Locationthailand]

Genius musician. Great to see sms747 will forgo his ticket.

[Headgame]

Last time I saw this overrated, arrogant prick was in 1976 in the UK. Would not see him if it were free.

I certainly have no interest in whatever is on your iPod.

[Morakot]

@ Bangkok - 01-Mar-2011

Edited February 15, 2013 by Morakot

[davidstipek]

Only issue [email protected] is try to send a email to answer this question! 2.5 hrs.. big fan of Santana!!!

They all get returned by Postmaster..... So I will blow the cover off this deal....

The Date was March 3rd 2011... I'm [email protected]... now everyone knows the date!!!!!!!!!!!!

[davidstipek]

Only issue [email protected] is try to send a email to answer this question! 2.5 hrs.. big fan of Santana!!!

They all get returned by Postmaster..... So I will blow the cover off this deal....

The Date was March 3rd 2011... I'm [email protected]... now everyone knows the date!!!!!!!!!!!!

here is example:

Reporting-MTA: dns;notes1.nationgroup.com

Final-Recipient: rfc822;[email protected]

Action: failed

Status: 5.0.0

Diagnostic-Code: X-Notes; Error delivering to xpnation ; Router: Database

disk quota exceeded

Edited February 15, 2013 by davidstipek

[honoluabay]

Hello anyone have extra tickets for the march 6 show. Need 2 ticket :-) Buying on-line seems to not work,but will try later. Any help please. PM me if have info.

Aloha

[honoluabay]

Last time I saw this overrated, arrogant prick was in 1976 in the UK. Would not see him if it were free.

I certainly have no interest in whatever is on your iPod.

WoW get over it already that was 37 years ago, he's is a very humble guy and has changed . Times have changed, have you?

[Morakot]

Last time I saw this overrated, arrogant prick was in 1976 in the UK.

He was probably high on mescaline; like everybody else who wasn't taking LSD at the time.

Edited February 15, 2013 by Morakot

[mike_rad]

The Date was March 3rd 2011... I'm [email protected]... now everyone knows the date!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nope it was the 1st of March.

[seancbk]

I've met many famous people and Carlos Santana was easily one of the nicest. I definitely want to see him perform in Bangkok.

[guruofvinyl]

Carabao's lead guitar player was greatly influenced by Santana. It is a good match.

[TheGhostWithin]

Carabao is fronting it too? Cool!

The reason I asked, the younger crowd, around university age, often do not come for the music. But I guess if you buy seating away from where they are likely to be you should be good

Time to start booking a return from NZ to BKK, me thinks!

[mike_rad]

Time to start booking a return from NZ to BKK, me thinks!

Sure, if you want to see Carabao. Otherwise he's playing in Christchurch and Auckland on 17/19 March:

http://www.santana.com/Santana-On-Tour/

[sirchai]

Makes me want to come to Thailand in March. Really something you can never get back, Carlos Santana is like no other musician in the world today.

Is it generally an older or younger crowd that went to Satana last time in Thailand? Expats or Thai?

Don't know but music is music regardless of age of performer or audience don't you think. As an old guy, folk still rock to the music of my day, The Who for instance. Love to see ZZ Top live.

With Frank Zappa and Jim Morrison....