Earth, Wind, and Fire at Tanglewood

Submitted by Bill St. Clair on Mon, 27 Jun 2011 15:03:29 GMT  <== Entertainment ==> 

Last Saturday night, the wife and I saw Earth, Wind, and Fire at Tanglewood. Part of their 40th anniversary tour. The big shed was packed, as was the lawn behind it, rain nothwithstanding. We sat in a group of black senior citizens, having bought a ticket from one their organizers who had been holding for people who didn't show. Near the back of the shed, but still under cover, and at lawn prices, since she was in a hurry to sell so she could go inside.

From way back there, the stage was pretty small, but we could still see the musicians, and there was a large screen nearby that showed a bigger view. Keyboard stage left and drums stage right, both elevated, more drums stage right, and congas stage left, with the horn players in the middle behind the singers.

They put on an incredible show, of mostly older, well-known tunes, highlighting everyone's solo abilities. Maurice White is starting to look old. His brother, Verdine, retains his incredible energy, marching around the stage with his bass. And Philip Bailey is still The Voice, wowing the audience with amazing high notes. Incredible slow blues solo by the short guitar player, whose name I didn't catch.

And a good time was had by all. They had the whole place singing, dancing, and clapping. The image below is the cover of their recent album, The Promise, which I bought a while back from HDTracks. The golden bird was on the bass drum, up high, stage right.

Earth, Wind, and Fire

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