So Smooth

"He (my father) opened up his violin case and said 'listen'," Santana recalled to media on Friday ahead of his sold out concert.

Santana whistled, as he reflected the notes his father gently plucked from his violin.

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"Then this bird came out of nowhere - do-di-de-de-do," Santana whistled again echoing the bird's reply.

"I thought 'Oh my god. My father can talk to birds'. If you can talk to birds you talk to humans. So it was my father who taught me how to communicate."

As Santana plucked and strummed his guitar with intense care and skill on Friday night before a capacity crowd of 15,000 at Dubai Festival City, he did more than communicate - he captivated.

With a powerful visual imagery introduction of humanitarian crisis scenes and a message of peace, Santana began to a roaring crowd.

Before long he had fans dancing to songs like Corazon Espinado and Maria Maria.

Older songs came to the fore, and the audience eased into the allure of Santana's soulful sounds.

Over his five decade career, Santana has worked in an ever evolving band and with many other artists including Rob Thomas of Matchbox Twenty for the song Smooth, and with Michelle Branch, Chad Kroeger and Jennifer Lopez.

Replicating several famous artists in their own right was bound to prove a challenge.

It fell mainly to Tony Lindsay to recreate the magic of these songs.

While his full bodied tenor voice and personality came through, it was difficult for an audience to connect with a person few knew, who needed to represent the charisma and personality of a lead singer, not to mention match, and excel in a live format, the charisma of several famous artists.

Santana was who the crowd came to see, and he shone.

But some of his most popular songs were with these artists and understandably, Lindsay fell slightly short. Not necessarily because of lack of talent as a singer, but because the audience was unable to connect with him as an artist in his own right, especially as the band members weren't introduced until the end of the concert.

Nevertheless, the audience wasn't disappointed, and loved every drumbeat and bass thump of an awe-inspiring drum solo by drummer Dennis Chambers.

It signalled the concert's end was nearing but even so, the audience stayed until the last possible moment, with only a few slipping away to beat the rush to leave, only to stop on their way out as another favourite - Into the Night with Chad Kroeger played, until finally they danced off.