The Viva Santana Show is in its 18th touring season and has opened for War, Los Lobos, Tower of Power, Eddie Money, and Malo, the Latin rock band founded by Carlos Santana’s brother Jorge. With a full percussion section and an optional three-piece horn section, it delivers the sound Santana built with a full live band.
Carlos Santana is one of the defining guitarists in rock history. Santana’s breakout set at Woodstock in 1969 introduced Latin rock to the world, the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998, and the 1999 album Supernatural won nine Grammy Awards while “Smooth” spent 12 weeks at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. In 2026, Carlos Santana received the Recording Academy’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Few catalogs connect with as many generations, or get as many people dancing.
The Viva Santana Show has shared bills with the bands that shaped West Coast rock and Latin rock, which says a great deal about how promoters regard it:
Santana’s sound lives in the percussion, and this show is built around it. Selwyn Jones on congas, Victor Aguila on timbales, and drummer Greg Burch, who directs the percussion section, drive the grooves on Oye Como Va, Jingo, and Soul Sacrifice. Percussion spotlights and solos are part of every show.
Founders Michael Hernandez (lead guitar and vocals) and Steve Garland (bass and vocals) have performed this music together since 2008. Garland first saw the original Santana at Bill Graham’s Fillmore West in 1970. The extended lineup brings serious credits:
Santana is still on the road in 2026, co-headlining the Oneness amphitheater tour with The Doobie Brothers and continuing a Las Vegas residency now in its 14th year. Demand for this music is strong, but the real band plays a limited number of dates in a limited number of markets. A credentialed tribute brings the Santana experience to your audience, on your date and at a fraction of the cost.
The Viva Santana Show has headlined Thunder Valley Casino Resort, the Chrome Showroom in Las Vegas, the Sacramento Music Festival, the San Jose Music Festival, the Beacon at Lake Tahoe, and wineries across Northern California, where it is a regular repeat booking.
“This is the best Santana band in the world that isn’t actually Santana.” — Pat Martin, 96.9 The Eagle
“Northern California’s #1 Santana Tribute band.” — Thunder Valley Casino Resort
The set is built to play like a Greatest Hits album, spanning Woodstock to Supernatural.
Santana emerged from San Francisco’s 1960s scene, fusing blues, rock, and Afro-Cuban rhythm into a sound no one had heard before. Over six decades the band has sold more than 100 million records and produced instrumental and vocal hits that remain staples of classic rock and Latin radio.
The Viva Santana Show launched in the Sacramento area in 2008, when guitarist Michael Hernandez and bassist Steve Garland combined their love of Santana’s music. Now in its 18th season, the band has built its reputation in casinos, festivals, and wineries across Northern California and Nevada, and on bills with War, Los Lobos, Malo, and Tower of Power.
For buyers who want a Santana night with real musicianship, a full percussion section, and the option of horns, The Viva Santana Show delivers the catalog the way it was meant to be heard: loud, live, and built for dancing.
While this is our top Santana Tribute tribute act, TSE Entertainment works with a range of high-quality Santana Tribute tributes nationwide.
That means you are not locked into a single option. We help match the right act to your event based on practical factors that actually affect success.
We have booked hundreds of tribute acts nationwide, and every option we recommend is vetted and event-proven. If Viva Santana Show is not the perfect fit, we will quickly suggest comparable options that are.
Pricing for The Viva Santana Show depends on date, location, set length, and whether you book the core band or the Big 10-piece with horns. West Coast and Nevada engagements typically benefit from the band’s Sacramento-area base.
Summer weekends, winery season, and Hispanic Heritage Month dates book early. Contact TSE’s booking team for a current quote and availability.
The band has opened for War, Los Lobos, Tower of Power, and Malo, the band founded by Jorge Santana, and is in its 18th season. Its full percussion section and optional horn section recreate the depth of Santana’s live sound.
Yes. The Big 10-piece adds trumpet, trombone, and saxophone, arranged by trombonist Ron Davis, a former Tower of Power copyist. The core band is available for smaller stages.
Yes. The Greatest Hits format keeps a room dancing, and the band adapts set length and size for corporate events, weddings, and private parties.
Santana is touring amphitheaters in 2026 and remains in high demand, but the real band plays few dates in few markets. A credentialed tribute brings the music to your audience on your date and budget.
Classic rock and Latin rock fans, Woodstock-generation audiences, families, and multigenerational Latino crowds who grew up with Santana on the radio.
Yes. TSE also books Soul Sacrifice, a Nashville-based Santana tribute that is often the better fit for Southeast, Texas, and Midwest dates. TSE’s booking team will recommend the best fit.
Ready to bring Santana's sound to your stage? Call TSE Entertainment at 800-765-8203 or use the button below.
