The group's first concert tours were North America, with performances in Europe, where they performed at small and medium-size venues and rock festivals. Following a lineup change in early 1972, they toured the world from 1972 to 1973. During this tour, the band performed at arenas and theaters, while doing several concerts in South America, one of the first tours of the continent by a major American rock act. After a North American tour in 1974, the last remaining members of the group from their famous lineup, Michael Shrieve and José Areas, quit the group, and the band underwent multiple lineup changes during the following years. In the 1970s to the 1980s, the band played at arenas, but mostly theaters and seldom music festivals.
Santana Live Concert Tanglewood MA 08 18 1970 SBD
The group embarked on a short, 8-date European tour in June 1970, which commenced on June 16, 1970 at the Royal Albert Hall in London, England and concluded on June 28, 1970 at the Bath Festival of Blues and Progressive Music at the Royal Bath and West Showground in Shepton Mallet, England. This set list is representative of the show on June 28.[28] It does not represent all concerts for the duration of the tour.
This tour was the first of two to feature guitarist Neal Schon. Schon joined the group in December 1970 after declining an invitation to be a part of Derek and the Dominos.[29][30] The band now boasted a powerful dual-lead-guitar act that gave their music a tougher sound. In January 1971, drugs were becoming a problem in the group, so Carlos Santana spoke to Michael Carabello about this problem, but it would be a long time before they fixed it.[31][32] Around the same time, José Areas was stricken with a near-fatal brain hemorrhage, and Santana hoped to continue by finding a temporary replacement (Willie Bobo played with the group for the sole African concert),[33] while others in the band, especially Michael Carabello, felt it was wrong to perform publicly without Areas. Cliques formed, and the band started to disintegrate. In March 1971, Coke Escovedo joined the group,[34][35] and these problems plagued the group into the start of the next tour.
Santana European Tour 1978 was a concert tour of Europe by Santana, supporting the just released Inner Secrets album. The opening act for all of the shows was the Devadip Orchestra, a short-lived group led by Carlos Santana.[112][113] The tour started on 30 October 1978 at Wembley Arena in London, England and ended on 10 December 1978 at Marché aux Fleurs in Nice, France.[114]
At the IOW festival, the presence of producers Teo Macero and engineer Stan Tonkel, along with the Pye Mobile Recording Studio suggested the tapes would be rolling here too. Just as well, as this extraordinary, short-lived line-up only lasted three concerts. A week before, on 18 August, they played the Berkshire Music Center in Tanglewood, Massachusetts on a bill sandwiched between Santana and Voices of East Harlem, and the Isle of Wight turned out to be their final performance. Barely two weeks later Corea and Holland quit to form Circle with Anthony Braxton and Barry Altshul 2ff7e9595c
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