Santana announces album, tour

The rock band Santana announced Monday a string of North American concert dates to support its forthcoming album. The Shape Shifter Tour 2012 is to kick off July 7 at the Grand Casino Mille Lacs in Hinckley, Minn. Other highlights include concerts at the Molson Canadian Amphitheatre in West Toronto; the Bank of America Pavilion in Boston; and two dates at the Borgata Spa & Resort Event Center in Atlantic City, N.J. The tour follows the May 15 release of the band's 13-song instrumental set "Shape Shifter." One song also features singing by Santana's lead vocalists Andy Vargas and Tony Lindsay. The album features "mostly original compositions that [front man] Carlos [Santana] has been setting aside for such an instrumental project," the band's label Starfaith Records said in a news release Monday. On the Shape Shifter Tour 2012, Santana will perform selections from its new album, as well as classics from the group's more than four-decades-long career. Santana is to begin a 2-year residency next month at the House of Blues at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.