Santana IV - Live at The House of Blues, Las Vegas Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		1.0
Overall		4.0

Santana IV - Live at The House of Blues, Las Vegas Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman October 21, 2016

Santana IV is a probably intentionally misleading title, but one that harkens back to the 1970s heyday of the band in a couple of ways. The late sixties into the seventies (when Santana first started making national headlines) was the era when a number of supergroups were being “cute” about their releases, with both Chicago and Blood, Sweat and Tears simply “numbering” at least some of their album releases rather than simply giving them names. Interestingly, the original Santana was not among the groups doing this, at least not consistently. Santana’s self titled debut album in 1969 was followed by Abraxas in 1970 and then, perhaps giving into the cultural zeitgeist of the moment, Santana III appeared in 1971, with no subsequent albums being similarly digit-ized (so to speak). Santana IV’s 2016 release date might suggest a rather long hiatus for the band, but in fact its numbering is a subliminal reference to the fact that the group on this album is comprised of many of the original members who made the band such a sensation back in the day. A few weeks before the release of the actual album, that group took the stage at Las Vegas’ iconic House of Blues to perform new material as well as a number of the songs that have defined the Santana sound since the late sixties.

While I’ve long thought (and mentioned to anyone who will listen) that I’ve felt Sergio Mendes was seriously undervalued for the new attention he brought to percussion in pop and jazz idioms with his Brasil ‘66 troupe in the mid- to late sixties, there’s little doubt that when Santana appeared on the scene in 1969 (just as Mendes’ influence was beginning to wane, at least for a while), he brought a whole new energy and vibrancy to percussion in popular music, this time with a decided rock edge. That focus on a battery of instruments is on display several times throughout this concert, including in a blistering intro of sorts that sees the percussionists jamming in a kind of sectional battle of the bands. Several later moments, like in “Batuka”, offer superb opportunities for this element of the iconic Santana sound.

It’s especially wonderful for longtime Santana fans to be able to enjoy the interplay between Carlos and Gregg Rolie, a team who famously had enough differences back in the day that Rolie ultimately left the aggregation, despite being paramount to both the early vocal sound of the group (he sang on the early hits “Black Magic Woman”, “Oye Como Va”, “No One to Depend On” and “Evil Ways”, all reprised here) and its funky Hammond B3 elements (which Rolie plays here). Rolie still has the nicely liquid and slightly plaintive quality that marked his long ago vocals, and his keyboard playing is quite energetic, especially in a couple of showcase moments like a solo on “Toussaint L’Ouverture”.

I have to admit I was a little less impressed with Ronald Isley, who shows up late in the concert to perform a couple of songs off of Santana IV. Without trying to sound cruel, he almost seemed like a parody of a lounge singer at times, kind of (but not really) “playing” the shakers and weirdly ambling around the stage. His vocals on “Love Makes the World Go Round” especially are not overly forceful and he tends to get drowned out by the combined forces of the band. He improves markedly on “Freedom in Your Mind” and then beats a hasty exit as the band moves toward its finale.

Perhaps a little surprisingly, Neal Schon tends to take a bit of a back seat here, letting Carlos have the limelight in most (or at least much of the soloing), and even tending to stand a bit further upstage, as if he wants to just kind of blend into the background. Michael Shrieve frankly just beats the hell out of his drum kit, adding a propulsive energy to the tunes that is in a way the most defining trademark of the Santana sound.

The line up for this concert includes Carlos of course on guitar and vocals, with Neal Schon on guitar and vocals, Gregg Rolie on keys and lead vocals, Michael Shrieve on drums, Michael Carabello on additional percussion and background vocals, Kari Perazzo on percussion and vocals, Benny Rieveld on bass and David K. Mathews on keys. As might be divined from the "intro" listed below, Ronald Isley also joins the band for some tunes.

1. Soul Sacrifice
2. Jingo
3. Evil Ways 5. Shake It
6. Anywhere You Want to Go
7. Choo Choo
8. All Aboard
9. Samba Pati
10. Batuka
11. No One to Depend On
12. Leave Me Alone
13. Suenos
14. Caminando
15. Blues Magic
16. Echizo
17. Come As You Are
18. Yambu
19. Black Magic Woman / Gypsy Queen
20. Oye Como Va
21. Ronald Isley Intro
22. Love Makes the World Go Round
23. Freedom in Your Mind
24. Toussaint L'Ouverture

Santana IV - Live at The House of Blues, Las Vegas Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Santana IV Live at the House of Blues Las Vegas is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Eagle Vision, an imprint of Eagle Rock Entertainment, and Universal Music Group with an AVC encoded 1080i transfer in 1.78:1. This is by and large an appealingly sharp and well detailed looking concert, one helped by the fact that there aren't huge batteries of lighting arrays drowning the players in weird hues that tend to deplete detail levels and which can also lead to anomalies like posterizing. There are some very brief posterized moments, along with very minor banding (usually when the cameras are aimed at lighting sources), but detail levels remain high throughout the presentation, especially in close-ups. Some of the shots of Rolie taken upstage (looking out toward the audience) seem to have perhaps been shot with a different camera or maybe even toyed with in post, as they have slightly different color grading and contrast levels.

Santana IV - Live at The House of Blues, Las Vegas Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Santana IV Live at the House of Blues Las Vegas features boisterous sounding LPCM 2.0 and DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 tracks. Some may like the stereo iteration here since it slightly elevates Rolie's vocals, but for those who (as I do) live for the Santana percussion section, there's little doubt that the surround track provides quite a bit more energy in the lower registers and helps to really shake the floorboards at times when drums, congas "and the rest" come into play. Carlos' guitar can either growl or sing on command and sounds clear and convincing throughout the audio presentation. There are no real issues with prioritization and the surround mix provides a very lifelike spread of instrumentation through the soundfield.

Santana IV - Live at The House of Blues, Las Vegas Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Interviews (1080i; 16:56) feature Carlos Santana, Gregg Rolie, Michael Carabello, Michael Shrieve Benny Reitveld and Neal Schon, interspersed with footage of rehearsals and the actual concert.

Additionally the digipack comes with 2 Bonus CDs featuring the entire concert.

Santana IV - Live at The House of Blues, Las Vegas Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Santana (both the man and the band) have been around long enough now that they've gone through a number of changes, but for many fans this (more or less) original group will always remain a favorite. They're in great form throughout this appealing concert, and they certainly give the audience (both at the House of Blues and vicariously through this Blu-ray) their money's worth, offering a long and exhaustive tour through the Santana canon. Technical merits are generally strong, and Santana IV Live at the House of Blues Las Vegas comes Highly recommended.