Product Description

Studio: Uni Dist Corp (music) Release Date: 10/07/2002

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #23330 in DVD
• Brand: UNI DIST CORP (MUSIC)
• Released on: 2001-06-26
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Color, DVD, Live, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .25 pounds
• Running time: 97 minutes

Amazon.com
With its location in Mexico City and a dedication to Cesar Chavez, this live Santana set is clearly rooted in Carlos's Chicano heritage. Of course his heritage has been part of Santana's core sound since he blew crowds away with Latin beats, Spanish vocals, and his unmistakably yearning guitar sound in the late 1960s. But here, Carlos takes viewers back to a spiritual point of reference that gains meaning through the music and offers meaning back to the music. The 1993 vintage of the film naturally centers it on the latest of many, many incarnations of Santana. And even though the familiar faces from eras past are gone, the band still stirs up these tunes. Carlos calls on timeworn standards that should be familiar to any fan of the last generation's rock & roll, and the band dutifully churns out "No One to Depend On," "Black Magic Woman," "Oye Como Va," "Samba Pa Ti," "Guajira," and even the 1970s-era hit "Open Invitation." There are highlights aplenty, not the least of which is show-opener "Angels All Around Us" and "Soul Sacrifice." And the video stays largely focused on the music--save for the travelogue cutaways to sites in Mexico. As for Carlos, he plays as if the year were 1968--which is to say that he launched a career with his sound and vision almost fully formed. There has been development for the great one, but here he sticks with his soulful gospel of stirring, uncategorizable (is it world music? Latin rock?) guitar-driven rock & roll. --Andrew Bartlett

Customer Reviews

The real deal
Forget "Supernatural Live," this is the real deal if you want a live-in-concert DVD that has music from all phases of Carlos Santana's evolving career.

This 18-song, 97-minute offering is the finest visual document of a live performance by Santana currently available on DVD, and till they start releasing his classic shows from the 1960s and 1970s, this is the way to go.

The songs span the heady 1960s ("Jingo" and "Soul Sacrifice" from the self-titled debut album) to the 1990s ("Make Somebody Happy" from the Milagro album that marked the beginning of a comeback cycle that ended with Supernatural).

Add to the fact that the concerts on this DVD were filmed in Mexico City in 1993 while Santana was touring on the strength of his excellent Milagro album, and the presence of Alex J. Ligertwood (in my humble opinion, the finest of many vocalists who have worked with Santana's band), and you have a great package on your hands.

The image is inconsistent, ranging from very sharp to slightly blurry, but that's okay when you consider the DVD comprises footage filmed on videotape almost a decade ago. There is no visible bleeding of colours and the editing is clean, lingering long enough on individual players instead of the totally unnecessary rapidfire cuts pioneered by MTV.

The downsides? You get only LPCM stereo and Dolby Surround 2.0 soundtracks and the video is not 16x9 enhanced. Plus, the DVD has NO extras at all. Makes you wonder if a special eition is in the works!!

more than a concert
This is more than a concert -- it's a celebration of music. Santana purists might whine, but I loved the interpolation of all kinds of tunes into Carlos' solos. He throws in all kinds of riffs - "Owner of a Lonely Heart" and "Light My Fire" are just a few -- and you have to pay attention or you miss them. The end result is a whole lot of new life put into some old songs. This is one of the best concerts I've ever seen or heard, and it blows away the Supernatural Live DVD. If you liked the Sacred Fire CD, you'll love this DVD: it has more tracks and some of the tracks are longer.

Do not buy unless you have no restraint (like me)
Great live video footage, BUT interupted every 30 secs with random movies of Santana and Mexicans roaming the streets of Mexico city. Very irritating to watch as he launches into some of his greatest solos to be suddenly confronted with a movie of people walking past a fountain.....duh? Frontal Lobotomy needed for the whiz kids who came up with this one.