At first, I was just planning to attend the Lionel Richie/Earth, Wind & Fire concert at FedExForum this week, but I’m glad I decided to bring my camera with me.
I have seen “The Elements” — Earth, Wind & Fire, that is — about 10 times, but I’ve only seen Richie’s former group the Commodores once. I have never seen Lionel Richie by himself. I was not disappointed.
Earth, Wind & Fire took the stage first. They performed for about an hour, singing most of their popular hits: “Sing a Song,” “That’s the Way of the World,” “Reasons,” and many other top hits. All of their songs are popular to me. Philip Bailey, the lead singer, still has that powerful first tenor falsetto voice. In an almost sold-out crowd at the FedExForum, the audience was practically on their feet for the entirety of the concert.
Next up was music legend Lionel Richie, who emerged from the floor in a white outfit singing his 1983 classic ballad “Hello.” He “Danced on the Ceiling” and had the women in the crowd singing “Endless Love.” And he even went back for hits from his days with the Commodores, having the crowd screaming “She’s a Brick . . . HOOOWZE . . .” and many other great hits.
It was a good, good night for soul music, that’s for sure!
