Earth, Wind, and Fire and Chicago – Xcel Energy Center – St. Paul, MN – July 13th, 2024
Earth, Wind, and Fire and Chicago – Xcel Energy Center – St. Paul, MN – July 13th, 2024
The Heart and Soul Tour, featuring the iconic Earth, Wind and Fire and classic rockers Chicago played a vibrant and energetic show for a packed house at the Xcel Center in downtown St. Paul on July 13th, 2024.
The energy was palpable as Chicago took the stage in front of a vibrant video backdrop featuring a mix of 70s imagery and colorful shapes and flowers. The flare of the horn section, featuring original Chicago members James Pankow on trombone and Lee Loughnane on trumpet with saxophonist Ray Herrmann, filled the arena as they opened with “Call on Me”.
Their set included many of their iconic hits, including “If You Leave Me Now”, “Hard Habit to Break” and “You’re the Inspiration”, and their on-stage chemistry showed how much they were clearly enjoying their performance. Neil Donell did an excellent job on vocals, with the same smooth tone and clear and beautiful resonance of Peter Cetera. It was a fun and animated performance all around, with trombonist Pankow being the star of the set with his emphatic dancing and playing.
Earth, Wind and Fire took that energy and raised in a notch, coming on stage to a blaze of lights and smoke and incredible sound. Opening with “Shining Star”, the crowd was instantly on their feet from the infectious energy and dancing, particularly of bassist Verdine White, who’s massive smile fronted massive tone and brought a radiant joy to the entire arena.
Along with White, original EWF members Philip Bailey on vocals and Ralph Johnson on vocals and percussion along with the other members of the band delivered top-notch performances and an invigorating energy.
And the cherry on top of the night was the encore performance featuring both bands on stage at once, for a six song encore featuring EWF songs “In the Stone” and “Sing a Song” along with “Free” and “Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is” and Beatles cover “Got to Get You Into my Life”. The show closed with an unforgettable performance of Chicago’s “25 or 6 to 4”, with amazing dueling solos from both bands and an extraordinary end to a memorable night of iconic music.
Review and photos by Kate Klaus
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