SANTANA – KANSAS CITY 1985 SOUNDBOARD (2 CD-R)

Description

Starlight Theatre, Kansas City, MO, USA 6th June

　After 40 years, the “BEYOND APPEARANCES” era has evolved into a major producer of soundboards. A new masterpiece has been released to further enhance the collection.

　This work was recorded at the “June 6, 1985 Kansas City Performance.” It is a stereo soundboard recording. The “BEYOND APPEARANCES” era was once known as a hidden recording ground, with the only notable recording being the “SOUND MARKET ’86” performance in Japan. However, in recent years, a succession of outstanding soundboards has been unearthed. It’s still fresh in our memory that “MILLER MUSIC FESTIVAL 1985 SOUNDBOARD (Uxbridge 2648)” and “CHICAGO 1985 SOUNDBOARD (Uxbridge 2680)” were so well-received. Soundboards are becoming a bit congested, so let’s first take a bird’s-eye view of the activities at the time and organize the traffic.

●1985
(“BEYOND APPEARANCES” released on February 25th)
・April 27th – May 10th: North America #1 (11 shows)
・May 30th – August 22nd: North America #2 (42 shows) ←★Here★
・November 15th: Albany show
●1986
・January 18th / May 24th: North America #3 (2 shows)
*June 1st: SOUND MARKET ’86 appearance
・June 5th – 12th: Australia + Hawaii (6 shows)
・July 12th – August 17th: North America #4 (21 shows)
・September 19th – November 1st: North America #5 (14 shows)
・December 13th: Bournemouth show

　This is SANTANA in 1985/1986. The Kansas City performance of this work is a part of “North America # 2”, but in fact all other soundboard works are also “North America # 2”. Let’s focus further on the dates and check the relative positions of each.

■Details of “North America #2”
・May 30th + 31st (2 performances)
*June 1st “CUYAHOGA FALLS 1985”
・June 2nd + 4th (2 performances)
*June 6th: Kansas City performance ←★This work★
・June 7th-11th (4 performances)
*June 12th “CHICAGO 1985”
・June 14th-July 8th (12 performances)
*July 9th “MILLER MUSIC FESTIVAL 1985”
・July 10th-August 22nd (19 performances)

　While “CUYAHOGA FALLS 1985” has been known for some time, the other three albums are so-called new masterpieces. Recently, a renowned West Coast collector passed away, and his estate is now revealing previously unknown treasures one after another. This album is the latest addition to the collection, following “MILLER MUSIC FESTIVAL 1985 SOUNDBOARD” and “CHICAGO 1985 SOUNDBOARD.”

　And the sound is superb. If you’ve experienced the previous two works, you can consider this one a new masterpiece of equal or even greater quality. If this is your first time experiencing the series, remember that it’s “official quality, even though it’s a direct-to-mix system.” Not only is every note perfect, but the mix balance is also well-balanced, resulting in an unusually high level of musical perfection. On the other hand, the other-dimensional feeling where the cheers are barely audible and only the live performance dominates everything is unique to a direct-to-mix system, and the unprocessed feel of that live performance is overwhelming.

　Such a beautiful, super-direct sound board depicts a full show that is different from the previous two works. Although the basic set is the same, the details are different, so let’s compare them and see the differences.

●Beyond Appearance (8 songs)
Brotherhood / Spirit / Who Loves You (＊) / Say It Again / Breaking Out (＊) / Two Points of View / Touchdown Raiders / Right Now
●Others (14 songs +α)
Santana: Savor / Soul Sacrifice
Heavenly Guardian: Incident at Neshabur / Black Magic Woman-Gypsy Queen
Santana III: Batuka / No One To Depend On
Others: Primera Invasion / Open Invitation / She’s Not There / Waited All My Life / Body Surfing / Super Boogie (Blues Jam) / Hong Kong Blues (★) / Europa (Earth’s Cry, Heaven’s Smile)
*Note: Songs marked with “★” are from the classic soundboard album “CHICAGO 1985 1985”, and songs marked with “*” are from “MILLER MUSIC FESTIVAL 1985”.

…And that’s how it goes. The raw, unedited feel is reminiscent of their sister albums “MILLER MUSIC FESTIVAL 1985” and “CHICAGO 1985,” while the set is similar to “CUYAHOGA FALLS 1985,” from the early part of the tour (with the same selection but a different track order).

　This is the latest in a series of leaked masters that have been treasured by core collectors. The “BEYOND APPEARANCES Tour” is not only a secret recording site, but also one of the best soundboard mass production periods in SANTANA history. Please enjoy it to your heart’s content.

★This is a stereo soundboard recording of the “June 6, 1985 Kansas City Performance.” Like “MILLER MUSIC FESTIVAL 1985” and “CHICAGO 1985,” this is a leaked soundboard unearthed from a core collector’s collection, and despite being directly connected to the mix desk, it is an official, top-quality product. Boasting unprocessed rawness, the mix balance is well-balanced, and the musical work is extraordinarily well-finished, making this a new masterpiece.

Disc:1 (74:00)
1. Brotherhood
2. Spirit
3. Primera Invasion
4. Open Invitation
5. She’s Not There > Marbles
6. Incident At Neshabur
7. Waited All My Life
8. Body Surfing
9. Who Loves You > Jam
10. Black Magic Woman / Gypsy Queen
11. Say It Again
12. Breaking Out
13. Bass Solo

Disc:2 (79:55)
1. Super Boogie
2. Hong Kong Blues
3. Savor > Percussion Solo
4. Jam
5. Soul Sacrifice
6. Batuka
7. No One To Depend On
8. Two Points Of View
9. Touchdown Raiders
10. Europa (Earth’s Cry, Heaven’s Smile)
11. Right Now > Band Introduction

STEREO SOUNDBOARD RECORDING