Carlos Santana Declares He Will Play Live Nation’s Woodstock Celebration, Plots ‘Supernatural’ Tour

Carlos Santana
Derek Green / Gallo Images / Getty Images – Carlos Santana
Carlos Santana plays Cape Town Stadium in South Africa April 11.
It is set to be a year of anniversaries for Carlos Santana in 2019. He says he will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of his iconic performance at Woodstock by playing Live Nation’s celebration at the Bethel Woods Music and Culture Festival at the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts in Bethel, N.Y., and will tour North America with the Doobie Brothers to commemorate 20 years of his seminal album Supernatural.
Santana told Rolling Stone he had been talking to original Woodstock promoter Michael Lang for the official “Woodstock 50” celebration, but eventually opted for Live Nation’s competing Bethel Woods event. 
“I’m going to invite whoever is still here, whether it’s Joan Baez or members from Sly Stone, and I’m going to play Santana music. Santana’s going to be the house band, but I want to be able to honor those who are still here and maybe invite rappers like Common or Kendrick Lamar,” Santana told the magazine. “Santana’s very interested, like Miles Davis, into connecting with people from 7 years old to under 33. I don’t want to be just like a jukebox in the twilight zone, stuck in the ’60s.”
The Bethel Woods Music and Culture Festival is being put on by Live Nation Concerts and INVNT, and is billed to include music, TED-style talks and special exhibits. The event will run Aug. 16-18 and lineup and ticket information should be forthcoming.
“It’s well documented that I was tripping during our performance,” Santana said in a statement. “At one point the guitar turned into an electric snake, twisting and turning. I kept willing the snake not to move and praying that it stayed in tune. By the time we played ‘Soul Sacrifice,’ I was able to breathe and focus, and the band crystalized as one. The magic of Woodstock would not have been possible without Bill Graham. No one had heard of us yet, but he made sure we were on the bill. He is always in my heart.”
In terms of solo shows, the “Supernatural Now” tour consists of more than two months of dates throughout the U.S., from June 22 in Phoenix to Aug. 25 at Wantagh, N.Y. Tickets to the shows go on sale Jan. 25. 
The legendary guitarist is also set to continue his residency at House Of Blues Las Vegas and his festival plays include BottleRock Napa Valley in Napa, Calif., and the 50th New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. 
Santana toured Europe and Canada last year, and a highlight from his reported shows was AccorHotels Arena in Paris where he grossed $855,154 on 11,741 tickets. 
The routing is listed below. You will notice Carlos Santana has solo dates booked Aug. 16 and 18, the same dates the festival is scheduled to occur. He might simply be playing both the solo shows and the festival, or those dates may be rescheduled, as they haven’t gone on sale yet. Pollstar reached out to Carlos Santana’s representatives for clarification.
SAT 6/22/19 – Phoenix, AZ – Ak-Chin Pavilion
SUN 6/23/19 – San Diego, CA – North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre
MON 6/24/19 – Los Angeles, CA – Hollywood Bowl
WED 6/26/19 – Mountain View, CA – Shoreline Amphitheatre
THU 6/27/19 – Wheatland, CA – Toyota Amphitheatre
SAT 6/29/19 – Seattle, WA – White River Amphitheatre
SUN 6/30/19 – Portland, OR – Sunlight Supply Amphitheater
TUE 7/2/19 – Salt Lake City, UT – USANA Amphitheatre
WED 7/3/19 – Denver, CO – Pepsi Center
SAT 7/6/19 – Dallas, TX – Dos Equis Pavilion
TUE 7/9/19 – Austin, TX – Austin360 Amphitheater
THU 7/11/19 – Kansas City, MO – Sprint Center
FRI 7/12/19 – St. Louis, MO – Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
SAT 8/3/19 – St. Paul, MN – Xcel Energy Center
SUN 8/4/19 – Chicago, IL – Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre
TUE 8/6/19 – Toronto, ON – Budweiser Stage
WED 8/7/19 – Cleveland, OH – Blossom Music Center
FRI 8/9/19 – Indianapolis, IN – Ruoff Home Mortgage Music Center
SAT 8/10/19 – Cincinnati, OH – Riverbend Music Center
SUN 8/11/19 – Detroit, MI – DTE Energy Music Theatre
TUE 8/13/19 – Charlotte, NC – PNC Music Pavilion
WED 8/14/19 – Washington, DC – Jiffy Lube Live
FRI 8/16/19 – Darien Center, NY – Darien Lake Amphitheater
SUN 8/18/19 – Holmdel, NJ – PNC Bank Arts Center
TUE 8/20/19 – Boston, MA – Xfinity Center
WED 8/21/19 – Hartford, CT – XFINITY Theatre
FRI 8/23/19 – Saratoga, NY – Saratoga Performing Arts Center
SAT 8/24/19 – Camden, NJ – BB&T Pavilion
SUN 8/25/19 – Wantagh, NY – Northwell Health at Jones Beach Theater
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