Don't be surprised if Carlos Santana stops what he's doing Tuesday night, looks out into the full house of Casino del Sol's AVA and lets us know exactly what he thinks of Arizona's politics.
Santana won't join the national Sound Strike coalition of artists boycotting Arizona, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have an opinion or two on our controversial SB 1070 anti-immigration law.
The most controversial aspects of the law have yet to be enacted; much of the provisions are tied up in court on constitutional and civil-rights grounds.
But this fact has not played into the endless protests, including a free concert in Phoenix Wednesday by Latin pop singer Manu Chao. Chao's "Alto Arizona" concert will be held at 7 p.m. in a lot at West Grant Road and South Second Avenue, across the street from the popular El Portal Restaurant.
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In May, Santana blasted Arizona and Georgia for their anti-immigration laws during an awards ceremony at the annual Civil Rights game in Atlanta. Santana was there to receive Major League Baseball's Beacon Award.
"The people of Arizona, and the people of Atlanta, Georgia, you should be ashamed of yourselves," Santana said at a news conference after the ceremony.
Santana last month told the Arizona Republic that he included Phoenix and Tucson in his current Sound of Collective Consciousness Tour because "every state in United States is my home, and I'm not afraid to come to Arizona and play because I have a lot of sisters and brothers there and I work really hard for what I do."
His Tucson show at Casino del Sol's AVA, 5655 W. Valencia Road, begins at 8 p.m. Tuesday. Tickets are $45-$125 at tickets.solcasinos.com
This is Santana's first Tucson concert in six years.
