Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
Earth, Wind and Fire was one of the most successful funk groups of the 1970s with hits Fantasy, Getaway, Shining Star and the 1979 disco behemoth Boogie Wonderland, a collaboration with the Emotions, the female vocal group opening for EW&F on this tour.
Chicago-based EW&F found a winning formula in combining the kind of grooves that made Sly and his Family and the Parliament-Funkadelic collective churn, with a more mainstream sensibility that didn't betray the band's cosmic vision of universal brotherhood and love.
EW&F singer Philip Bailey used his powerful voice to emphasize the band's soaring vocal melodies and hooks, cushioned in spacey jams and African-spiced percussion. The tunes' themes, too, tackled heavy-hitting territory; check out Africano; Yearnin', Learnin'; and System of Survival.
Earth, Wind and Fire performs with the Emotions at 8 p.m. Saturday at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, 1010 N W.C. MacInnes Place, Tampa. $39.75-$49.75. (813) 229-7827.