The little things, like performing with Carlos. (Photos by Erik Kabik | Retna)

Carlos Santana is taking a page out of the Sinatra playbook. The Chairman scored in ’93 with his duets album; Santana held a listening party yesterday afternoon at Vanity for Guitar Heaven with an axe-centric version of the same concept.

The record covers tunes from Deep Purple, The Doors, AC/DC, Led Zeppelin and the Stones — “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking,” which features an extended Mick Taylor solo that’s more or less one long Santana riff anyway.

Then, at night, Santana got on stage at The Joint for Supernatural where Arie came out to do The Beatles’ “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” Rossdale performed T. Rex’s “Bang A Gong” and Daughtry went for Def Leppard’s “Photograph.” Yep. That’s an American Idol dude doing a hair metal song with a guy who performed at Woodstock. Find your social commentary in that where you will.

By Jason Scavone

This is just like that one movie about drum lines … RoboCop. (Photos by Erik Kabik | Retna)

Carlos Santana cemented his newfound coziness with Andre Agassi and Steffi Graff Saturday when he had the Agassi Prep Academy’s drum line on stage with him during Supernatural Santana at The Joint inside the Hard Rock Hotel.

Just to balance things out, he should have gone to play “Soul Sacrifice” at a high school football game.

Agassi and Graff were in the audience at the show, and Santana shouted them out during his set. A set that included a cover of Cream’s “Sunshine of Your Love.” Actually, a whole show of ’60s psychedelia/dinosaur rock guitar god covers would be kind of awesome, but would probably come down to “Sunshine of Your Love,” “Crosstown Traffic” and That One Iron Butterfly Song.

By Jason Scavone

Also, ‘Evil Ways’ refers to creamed corn. (Photo by Erik Kabik | Retna)

FACT: The song “Smooth” is actually about delicious pumpkin pie filling donated to food banks around the holidays. It’s true. Look it up.

Carlos Santana was at the Three Square Food Bank to speak at a fundraiser for World Hunger Year and tour the facility. During Santana’s Nov. 11 to 22 shows at The Joint, concertgoers who bring five non-perishable food items or make a $5 donation to Three Square will get a $5 certificate to Ago or Rare 120.

Three Square is also taking donations tonight at Caramel inside Bellagio, where loungers are encouraged to bring in their favorite non-perishables or make donations. Our favorite non-perishable? Whole-berry cranberry sauce. There. We said it. Whatchagonnadoaboutit?

By Jason Scavone

Santana band members Karl Perazzo and Freddie Ravel, secretly pretending they’re Carlos.

Last night at Wasted Space, 10 hopefuls cracked their knuckles and went to work to see who was the baddest (fake) axe-slinger of them all. Turns out the answer is Justin Taylor, who notched a 99 percent complete on Santana’s “No One to Depend On” in Guitar Hero 5. For his furious (plastic) fretwork, Taylor notched two tickets to Supernatural Santana and a meet-and-greet with the guitarist. The real one.

Man, we’re kind of annoyed that this kind of thing wasn’t around when we were in high school or whatever, because back in our video game-playing prime we totally could have crushed at RBI Baseball to win a meet-and-greet with, say, 1987 American League hits leader Kevin Seitzer of the Kansas City Royals. Actually, you know what? We probably didn’t miss anything.

By Jason Scavone

Oye Como Balk. (Photos by Erik Kabik | Retna)

Hard Rock Hotel headliner Carlos Santana is going to be at the San Francisco Giants game for Latino Heritage Night tonight to bring attention to his Milagro Foundation, providing aid to vulnerable children worldwide. A portion of ticket sales go to the foundation — which also gets cash for every ticket sold to Supernatural Santana.

Special event ticketholders will be seated in the Latino Heritage section and will get a Santana bobblehead that plays “Oye Como Va.”

You know, it’s cool that they’re doing celebration and bringing in Santana and all that. It’s just that when we think “Latino heritage” and “Giants,” the first thing that comes to mind is Juan Marichal about to murder the crap out of Johnny Roseboro. Maybe just to be on the safe side they should change it to “Latino Heritage Night That Does Not Involve Clubbing a Catcher In the Head With a Baseball Bat.”

By Jason Scavone

‘Evil Ways’ sounds great, but it’s really a song about being pissed your lady doesn’t cook you dinner. (Photos by Erik Kabik | Retna)

Here’s Carlos Santana at Woodstock. (Warning: Contains disturbing images of filthy hippies.) Now here’s Santana at The Joint.

Is it fair to compare a 22-year-old firebrand to his 61-year-old veteran counterpart? Probably not. But that’s kind of the problem with shows like this. Santana can still play the hell out of the guitar. For the most part, the other 10 guys in the band sound great. But Supernatural Santana is a really, really polished show. There’s no rawness, no sense of urgency. Maybe that’s part of getting older and slowing down. Maybe it’s necessary for doing a long residency like this. Whatever it is, it keeps the show good, but not great.

With a keyboardist, bassist, rhythm guitarist, drummer, conga player, percussionist, trombonist, trumpeteer and two singers, Santana has plenty to work with to fill up the room. Yet after the blazing opening number, the show felt a little flat. In the early going, songs like “Maria, Maria” off the 1999 Supernatural album and the above-linked solo (complete with CGI dove flapping on the video screen and heavy on the wind chimes) swam in the deep end of AOR cliche. Click for more words and pictures »

By Jason Scavone

Lion King > Matchbox 20. (Photos by Erik Kabik | Retna)

For the kickoff of Supernatural Santana: A Trip Through the Hits at The Joint inside the Hard Rock hotel last night, a group of percussionists from The Lion King wound through the crowd and joined Carlos Santana on stage.

Too bad the feature players weren’t included, because if you’ve never heard Mufasa shred on “Eruption,” you’re missing out. It’s certainly the best Disney/Van Halen cover since Mulan raged on “Hot for Teacher.”

Santana led off with “Soul Sacrifice,” following with “Everybody’s Everything” and hitting “A Love Supreme,” “Incident at Neshbur,” “Jingo,” “Smooth,” “I Ain’t Got Nobody That I Can Depend On,” “Black Magic Woman” and “Oye Como Va” along the way. Click for more words and pictures »

By Jason Scavone

On the other hand, you never saw Tito Puento on Idolo de Puerto Rico.

Carlos Santana was on the American Idol finale last night doing “Black Magic Woman” and “Smooth” with … some people. We really don’t know. We don’t watch over-emoted karaoke. But Carlos sounded really good, so if you could pretend that there weren’t camera-mugging, blue-eyed-soul singing, attention-starved famewhores hacking their way through the lyrics, it was pretty solid. Santana starts his residency at The Joint inside the Hard Rock Hotel on Wednesday.

By Jason Scavone

Seriously. Change your evil ways already.

The Joint has picked out its first resident, and why not kick it off with someone who played Woodstock? That’s right, Country Joe & The Fish will be here six nigh– what? They couldn’t get Country Joe? OK. Late-breaking news. Country Joe & The Fish were apparently unavailable. The Joint’s first resident, signed through 2010, will be Carlos Santana.

The show, Supernatural Santana: A Trip Through the Hits, kicks off May 27 with three more dates that month, eight shows in June, four in August and four in September. He’ll play around 36 shows a year, and tickets start at $79 and run all the way up to $299.

We got no problem with Santana appearing as The Joint’s resident performer, so long as he doesn’t bring that dork from Matchbox Twenty around. Once you let one Matchbox Twenty guy in the house, next thing you know they’re all there and in the walls chewing through the wires. And don’t think you can get rid of them with traps, either. You have to call a guy.

We also appreciate Santana’s dedication to the moustache. In a 40-year career, Santana hasn’t gone bare-lipped at all, that we’re aware of. Even Oates wasn’t that dedicated. This puts Santana up there in the Refusing to Shave Hall of Fame with the dudes from ZZ Top and Cesar Romero.

By Jason Scavone