from the concord pavillion: what a difference a soundcheck makes!! after getting our first soundcheck since last friday in Reno, i walk around with a big smile ’cause i can finally hear myself… we play louder than ever and peak at 103 decibel, but Santana’s band breaks new records and peaks at 120 decibel at the mixing console in the back of the venue… the band was creating about 110 decibel of volume on stage alone… i think 120 decibel is how loud a jet is at take-off!!!

when i go up to play the duetts w Carlos, i wear my in-ear monitors and have only my guitar in them and yet the roar of his band on stage is deafening… it’s the total rock & roll experience!!! we play 3 songs with the Santana band and when Carlos starts up “Samba Pa Ti”, his home-crowd goes nuts… it’s pretty amazing to perform that song with him: i remember hearing Santana in concert in Cologne, Germany in 1974, and i remember receiving the 3 LP Santana album that was recorded live in Japan for Christmas that year and learning to play “Samba Pa Ti” from the record…