Carlos Santana announces today that he'll be performing regularly at the Hard Rock Cafe in Las Vegas, but when I asked him about the terms and times of the new gig, he was fuzzy. "I have no idea. I never look at the itinerary. ... I actually just live in the moment and don't have time for the other stuff." How long is the contract? "I don't ask nor do I want to know. There are a certain amount of concerts a year for two years. ... It's an incredible door to walk into. These are all opportunities."
He's been performing in Las Vegas since he first appeared there with the Grateful Dead in 1967. Does he tailor a performance to a Las Vegas audience? "I don't know what it is to perform. I pretty much do what I do as an offering, like here's my heart and my light. In your heart and mine there's light and love and people accept you totally and unconditionally in every part of the world. You become a part of the family because people trust you because of the sound resonance that you offer."
Santana continued: "People that we love like da Vinci, Picasso, Miles Davis, Evel Knievel, ... all the immortals, like Jimi Hendrix, they understood that when eternity nears, time disappears. Everybody has the gift to do something that is out of this world, to take them to a place of wonderment. When eternity nears time disappears. That's the stuff that you need to bring to Las Vegas. ...
"We are bringing something that has nothing to do with chance love or fortune. ... We're bringing grace, which is the rhythm that has sustained me ever since I came to San Francisco. ... In a city based on illusion, people need immensely a resonant sound of vibration that brings hope, trust and acceptance."
Santana talked about his work with poor kids, and the shortcomings of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Barack Obama, and how much money is spent on prison rather than on schoolchildren. "That's what Santana is like," he said. "I'm still a hippie ... and we're still bringing the same thing. And I believe that we as humans are capable of less violence. This is what Santana is bringing to Las Vegas, something that we learned from Bob Dylan and Bob Marley. This is who we are."
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