This concert film of Santana is a must watch. Not only is it very entertaining, you can pump up the volume and play it loud to get the clear and best sound.

This performance was recorded in May 1993 in Mexico City on Santana’s home ground in front of an ecstatic audience. The DVD also features some stunning footage of the venue which only adds to the experience. The line-up back then was the one that really put the Mexican – American in a league of his own. On keyboards you have Chester Thompson, on bass Myron Dove, backing vocals of Alex Ligertwood and Vorriece Cooper, guitarist Jorge Santana (Santana’s youngest brother), Walfredo Reyes on drums, the spectacular Raul Rekow on the congas and Karl Perazo playing the timbales make a perfect team. With the whole set up, it’s a power-house session all the way, all anchored by some of the most inspired guitar-work from Carlos Santana with the vibrant Latin flavour.

If we dig a bit into the contribution of Jorge Carlos, you can see there is a very similar guitar style to his famous brother but of course not as skilled, despite this fact he's always accurate, he even offers a couple of very convincing solos on this set.

From the opening track Angels All Around Us (introduction) which features Carlos Santana’s guitar solo, it’s very obvious that the rest to follow is going to be as great as the beginning.

Though the man has visited India once, this 90 minute set is basically showcasing Carlos Santana himself without any band members at times. Spirits Dancing In The Flesh, have all the band members together and they perform excellently with their respective instrument. The conga that is one of the instruments always on the Santana stage, goes well with all the songs the Mexican singer songwriter plays like Oye Como Va and Soul Sacrifice.

Other songs to pick out from this 18 track set is Batuka. There is a good blend of drum, guitar, congas and keyboard, rocking the piece to its best. No One To Depend On is also performed beautifully, and watching it live is all the more exciting. Another favourite with everyone would be Guajira followed by Open Invitation.

Overall, this is truly an excellent show and it’s very enjoyable whether or not you like the man’s music. It’s more on Latin rock and surely with the groove set in place, you’d love to listen to this.

Though the DVD "Sacred Fire" scores highly on all counts, on the sound quality it falls low, as you cannot program the surround sound settings, except if you do it manually on your home theatre.If you want some blistering Santana solos, and if you were one of the many who missed the Indian concert in Bangalore, this is highly recommend to all Santana fans. A guitarist often a bit under-rated, even though he on the lines of Hendrix, Page, Knopfler and Clapton.There’s also some eye candy with a lot of the Mexican señoritas showing a bit of their attributes to the cameras.

Director: ‎ Peter Nydrle

Media Format: ‎ Full Screen, PAL, DVD-Video

Run time: ‎ 1 hour and 37 minutes

Release date: ‎ 3rd July 2006

Language: ‎ English (Dolby Digital 2.0), Unqualified (Dolby Digital 2.0), English (PCM Stereo), Unqualified (PCM Stereo)

Studio: ‎ Universal Island

Rating: *****

Reviewed by Verus Ferreira