Earth, Wind & Fire Aims to Please a Family of Fans

Earth, Wind & Fire commenced its national “Cool Blue September Tour� on Sept. 1 to celebrate the band’s 30th anniversary with our fans. That was before the terrorist attacks upon America. Things changed for all of us Sept. 11, including entertainers, many of whom have gone home and canceled concert tours. Instead, we altered our focus and made our mission to play solely for the fans (which is pretty much what we’ve been doing for 30 years anyway) in order to uplift them and bring them some peace, love and joy during these challenging times.

If Marc Weingarten, who reviewed our Oct. 2 performance at Universal Amphitheatre (“With Earth, Wind & Fire, More Glitz Than Show,� Oct. 5), knew anything about Earth, Wind & Fire, he’d know that we’ve forged a legacy based upon three key elements, all of which he seemed to have missed.

First, Earth, Wind & Fire has always been about positivity, harmony, universal love and Cosmic Consciousness. We’ve always played from our hearts and souls, and the enduring bond that we’ve forged with our fans stands as a lasting testament to that. The love flowing between the stage and the audience--an audience that spans several generations and nearly every race, color and creed--has never been more genuine and comforting than it is today (post-Sept. 11).

Second, Earth, Wind & Fire has always been about excellence in performance and production, key ingredients not even addressed by Weingarten’s review. When was the last time he saw an inspired 14-piece pop band supplemented by two dancers execute with such proficiency and skill? Earth, Wind & Fire is a marvelous ensemble of musicians and singers, lead by Philip Bailey’s four-octave vocal range, which was simply flawless that evening. Weingarten’s review failed to report on or acknowledge the brilliance in the musical performance happening on the stage that evening.

Last, Earth, Wind & Fire has always been about putting on extravagant concert performances. Since 1994, we have toned things down to allow the focus to be more on the music itself. Of course, some critics like Weingarten took issue with that. So we enhanced our live show and now Weingarten criticizes us for presenting our fans with a more complete concert experience.

We give our fans not mere concerts but elaborate shows. For every tour, we create a new production that we admittedly describe in our press materials as being a mix of Cirque du Soliel, Mardi Gras, Broadway and Las Vegas. It seems very few artists today are complete entertainers--first-rate musicians, vocalists and live performers--and that has always been what Earth, Wind & Fire has stood for and strived for. I think the thousands of fans at Universal Amphitheatre that evening--most of whom spent the entire concert on their feet, smiling, singing and dancing right along with us--would claim that our mission was achieved.

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Bass player Verdine White is a founding member of Earth, Wind & Fire.