Neal Schon Wants More Santana Reunion Concerts

In March, guitarist Carlos Santana reunited the classic Santana lineup for a show in Las Vegas that marked the first time Gregg Rolie (keyboards, lead vocals), Michael Carabello (percussion), Michael Shrieve (drums) and Neal Schon (guitar, vocals) shared a stage together since 1973. Now, on the heels of the success of the recently issued Santana IV LP, at least one member of the original group wants to play more shows.

According to Billboard, Neal Schon is not satisfied with the show in Vegas and the three co-bills the classic lineup played in April with the guitarist’s other band Journey, and he’s hopeful of more concerts sharing a stage with Carlos and the crew. Schon even indicated he’d be willing to put Journey on hold in order to keep touring with Santana, telling the outlet:

It’s something I really want to do, so maybe we (Journey) take a hiatus for a year. Arnel (Pineda, Journey’s singer) would like to take some time off, so instead of doing two years in a row of hard Journey, maybe we do one year and we give it a rest and let it sit for a second. Sometimes when you come back it’s really fresh. So put aside some time for me next year because I’m going there and I’m going to do it. It’s a no-brainer for me. It’s something I have to do and it’s something that’s truly got some legs.

Schon pointed toward a pair of upcoming concerts which feature a Santana/Journey co-bill in Los Angeles and San Francisco as possible opportunities to reunite the classic lineup, but noted he received pushback from within the Journey camp against a possible mingling of the two legendary groups.

Schon also expressed a desire to record another new Santana album and more in the interview. Head here for the full article.