A smokin' good time, but a bit rushed

It didn't matter that the Xcel Energy Center was half full (maybe 6,000 people). It didn't matter that ticket prices had more than doubled since Santana last played here in 2005 ($55 to $125, thanks to price-gouging promoter Live Nation). It didn't matter that Carlos Santana doesn't have a new album to promote. (A collection of covers with guest singers Joe Cocker, Jonny Lang, India.Arie and, of course, Rob Thomas, is due sometime later this year.)

Carlos Santana came out smokin' Wednesday, the opening night of his Universal Tone Tour with fellow Rock Hall of Famer Steve Winwood. It was a percussive party from the get-go, with the celebrative "Yaleo," the Latin-bathed hit "Maria Maria" and the jump-happy "Foo Foo." Bandleader/guitarist Santana, 62, played with a determined purpose, soaring spirit and contagious joy. Is there another guitar hero who genuinely enjoys himself more in concert?

Not only was his guitar expressive, eloquent and graceful, but he integrated his guitar, which is very percussive even when he's soloing, into the sound and groove of the band as effectively as any guitarist. It's not about showing off with his beautifully soaring or furiously fast solos. It's about being another instrument in the band that elevates the music to another level.

Of course, Santana, who leaves the singing to longtime sidemen Andy Vargas and Tony Lindsay, always does a little philosophizing between songs. On Wednesday, he touched on both the spiritual and political. He admitted that he voted for Barack Obama but feels that the president has not fulfilled his promises about withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq and Afghanistan and spending more money on education. If he doesn't deliver, Santana, said, "he's been just like [George W.] Bush with a tan."

Not only did that preaching receive a mixed reaction but it also changed the momentum of a heretofore exciting show. Thereafter, Santana and his percussion-heavy band rushed through his radio favorites, including a thrilling "Black Magic Woman," "Oye Como Va" and "Evil Ways," which segued into John Coltrane's serene "A Love Supreme" and then an abruptly aggressive "Sunshine of Your Love" (which will reportedly be on Santana's forthcoming album).

It might have been intriguing to have Winwood join in on that Eric Clapton-penned rock classic made famous by Cream. No such luck. Santana then hurried into "Smooth," his big comeback hit from 1999, which gave way to the horn-accented Mexican workout "Dame Tu Amor" and the jam-oriented encores without Winwood to end the two-hour show.

Winwood's opening 70 minutes evoked his Hall of Fame days with the jazzy, trippy Traffic, only with more drive, density and multidimensional percussion. "Low Spark of High Heeled Boys" built slowly, but "Dear Mr. Fantasy" was a power trio tour de force. The closing "Gimme Some Lovin'" (from his teenage stint with the Spencer Davis Group) was a blast from baby-boomer heaven that proved that a Hammond organ can be as sexy as Santana's guitar.

Jon Bream • 612-673-1719