Difficult evening as the slap-back is always very present in this hall… makes the bass sound almost delayed where I am sitting. Have to concentrate on the drummers and basically ignore the bass. Can’t be greedy, two fantastic nights in Austin and San Antonio… Band plays well, but not as inspired as before.

Big birthday for Ron today. We had a whole bunch of ideas and then rejected them all in favor of a simple cake. Had to settle for candles in the shape of numbers – too many candles otherwise… (insert wink)

BTW we play Ballad 4 Santana as the encore this year because it’s fun to play, and because 30 years ago a boy went to his first concert. His family didn’t have a turntable, but he had heard the music of Santana at his friend’s place. The concert is still etched in his memory because the opening act was a band he had never heard of – Earth, Wind & Fire… and they rocked the house!! Toward the end of the concert the stage was crowded with people as members from Earth, Wind & Fire joined Santana for a great finale…

I spoke to Carlos about that concert a few years ago. He remembered playing in Cologne and signed the Cover of the album I received one Christmas a couple of years later – his live in Japan triple album.