My Trip to California, Post 13: Santana Concert

For my birthday, Laura bought tickets for the two of us to see Santana in concert. It was at the huge Shoreline Amphitheater, the night of my birthday. Getting into and out of Shoreline was going to be the challenge. It can get really backed up. It’s along the bay so there’s only one way in – which is right through the Google campus. Apparently it can take a couple hours just to get in and out of the parking lot.

But Laura had an insider’s trick. Her friends, Emily and Pat, live in that area and commute on their bikes to their jobs at Google. Turns out there are bike paths all the way from their house to Shoreline.

We drove to Emily and Pat’s house that afternoon, bringing dinner to share, and we all hung out until evening. Here’s a picture of Emily, Laura, and Alex (Pat was inside working on something and didn’t get into the photo).

When it was time for the concert, Emily and Pat loaned Laura and I their bicycles, and off we went.

It was a little nerve wracking at first in the fading light, but Laura knew the route and I just followed. Other than for the first couple blocks in the neighborhood, we never had to worry about cars. It was a short ride and turned out to be very easy.

When we arrived, there were long lines of cars to get in, and bikes parked everywhere. The bike racks were overflowing, and there were bikes chained to posts and trees and anything people could find to lock a bike against. We weren’t the only ones with the great idea!

The amphitheater was enormous and I would have been uncomfortable in the middle of that huge crowd. But Laura had thoughtfully bought tickets along one edge.

It’s a nice venue, with plenty of food, drinks and good bathrooms (all easily accessible from our edge seats).

It was a great concert!

Carlos Santana is showing his age, but wisely he has recruited a talented band, including good lead singers. His wife, Cindy Blackman, is still an amazing drummer.

Santana’s music has been a part of my life for a lot of years, and concerts are really fun when you know all the songs. I own 20 Santana albums. I know that sounds crazy, and no, he’s not even my favorite artist. He’s just one of the more prolific ones. I own lots and lots of all different kinds of music. I own hundreds of albums (CDs). Yeah, you didn’t know that about me? Now you do.

I bought most of those albums before Spotify, which is so good now that there’s almost no reason to buy music anymore. Listening to songs on Spotify does support the musicians; it’s not like listening to bootlegged music. Spotify pays royalties and also it helps the musicians gain exposure.

When I was young, I didn’t have the money to go to concerts. And then for years I was just working too hard. And it’s not really John’s thing. He will sometimes be interested in going with me, but neither of us like crowds, or staying up late. And, and, and…lots of excuses. Despite the hurdles, I’ve recently started going to more music events, and you’ll probably see more about that on my blog.

After the concert, Laura and I hopped back on the bikes for the dark ride back to Emily’s. We dropped the bikes off with Emily and Pat, who had graciously stayed up until we got back. Then we hopped in Laura’s car and headed toward home.

When we merged onto the freeway, Laura looked around at the nearly empty darkness, and said, “We beat them.” Beat who? Apparently exiting Shoreline by car dumps you out on a specific spot on the freeway, and the crowd hadn’t made it out the parking area and through the Google complex and onto the freeway yet. We were faster on the bikes!

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