Show Review: Santana and Earth, Wind & Fire

For a few years now, I have tried to bring my son to concerts to see some really legendary musical acts, to the extent that I could.

Last month, I took my son to see a concert featuring Santana and Earth Wind, and Fire. This was the sixth original Woodstock act that I brought him to see. Figure that since Woodstock was now well over half a century ago, the time to see these artists is now. Many artists who performed in the original Woodstock are already gone, including two - Richie Havens and Joe Cocker - who I had a chance to see at one point and put it off, only to find out that they died not much longer.

There have been other musical acts who are gone, of course, including some who my son and I saw before they were gone. We saw the Rolling Stones before drummer Charlie Watts died. And we saw Chris Cornell perform in concert with Temple of the Dog at Madison Square Garden just months before Cornell died. Of course, there are others who I missed taking him to, and some who I myself missed altogether. The major example would be George Harrison. Would have loved to have seen him before he was gone. 

So I did not simply want to put this off. The lawn seats were affordable, and so we went ahead and got the tickets.

One thing that surprised me was just how popular Earth, Wind, and Fire was. Yes, I had heard of them before, of course. But it seemed that almost as many people were there for them, specifically, as for Santana. That came as a surprise.

Another surprise was just how crowded it was. I have gone to quite a number of shows here at the former Garden State Arts Center, now the PNC Bank Arts Center. But this one seemed like one of the most crowded shows here that I have been to. It really got crowded in a hurry, particularly once Earth, Wind, and Fire took the stage.

In any case, here are some pictures from the show.

Enjoy!