Looking at the headliners for the Heart and Soul Tour, one might wonder how Chicago and Earth Wind & Fire ever wound up sharing the stage. After hearing them rock the house at Jiffy Lube Live like I did on Friday night, one might wonder why every concert isn’t this much fun!

Both Chicago and Earth Wind & Fire are known for their orchestral sound and larger-than-life vocals, so all of the musicians onstage at the same time was overwhelming, but in the best way possible. They started and ended the show together, but I enjoyed their time as separate bands since the songs sounded more like the music I grew up loving.

I adore EWF! Their Greatest Hits album has gotten me through many a road trip. After a bit of warming up, Bailey was able to hit the highest of his notes in songs like Fantasy and Reasons. That was truly remarkable. What was not so great was how long his vocal cords stayed in the rafters. We applauded, we cheered and we stood up, and he still kept going. It was kind of annoying (not to mention mildly earsplitting). Thankfully this did not go on for too long and other artists had their turn at lead vocals, like Philip Bailey, Jr. who did an outstanding job with Let’s Groove before Chicago began their set.

Robert Lamm and Lou Pardini took us all back with love songs like Hard Habit to Break and You’re the Inspiration and showed a wonderful tribute to their hometown during Saturday in the Park. My personal favorite is Hard to Say I’m Sorry and despite the absence of Peter Cetera, they did not disappoint! It was just as moving Friday night as it was the first time I heard it covered by Az Yet in middle school. I also used the brief intermission and part of Chicago’s time to check out the merch, and noticed there was a chance to pay $100 for a meet & greet with Earth, Wind & Fire! Unfortunately, I had to pass was because the show was quite long already without adding the time it would take for the band to cool off after the show and shake our hands. I settled for a cool T-shirt instead and was able to leave the venue before the parking lot became impossible to exit.

I left feeling happier than when I arrived, and it wasn’t just because of beating the traffic. The two words I’d use to describe this concert are not heart and soul, but energy and joy. EWF bass guitarist Verdine White was energetic to the point of frantic, and Chicago drummers Tris Imbolden and Walfredo Reyes, Jr. thrilled the audience with an amazing drum battle. Every person onstage seemed so excited to be there. Both bands’ songs have the power to transport people back several decades to a happier time and it seemed like the huge crowd was right back in the 70s and 80s. This was not the first time they toured together, and I sincerely hope it is not the last!

Twitter: @JLubeLive, @EarthWindFire, @chicagotheband, #HeartAndSoulTour
Tour Info: http://www.chicagotheband.com/heart-and-soul-tour/

About The Author

Stephanie Taylor

Co-Editor/Entertainment Reporter

She may be a traffic engineer by day (hence the ‘stopsigngirl’ alias), but do not let her technical skills or multiple calculators fool you. Stephanie Taylor has a way with words. She will destroy any opponent in Scrabble, and get 50 points for using all 7 of her letters in the word “destroy.” She can a-n-n-i-h-i-l-a-t-e you in a spelling bee, having competed in no less than ten as a child. She uses correct punctuation in her text messages. It’s no wonder that copy editing comes naturally to her, and she is happy to fine tune the work of other writers before it reaches TRR readers.

Proofreading is not all that Stephanie loves to do. Regular reading without the proof is just fine, and she also loves to write. In fact, Steph has been writing since the tender age of 6 when she penned her would-be bestseller Mouse in Jail. It “would be” if all literary critics were in Kindergarten. Since elementary school, Stephanie has helped publish newsletters, yearbooks, and the Arts & Entertainment section of The Rice Thresher, Rice University’s student newspaper.

Stephanie’s other gigs have included singing her heart out in the chorus of My Fair Lady in Houston, doing improv comedy in front of hundreds of people in Atlanta, and teaching A.P. English in Los Angeles. She loves to travel and have cultural adventures like tubing down a river in Ecuador, dancing in a South Asian festival, or riding a ferry from Italy for 19 hours just to get real Greek food. Cooking and Yoga are also among Stephanie’s list of favorite things to do, but she cannot do them at the same time.

This native Texan genuinely adores reporting on entertainment as much as she loves to entertain, and is looking forward to learning more about what the D.C. area has to offer and sharing that news with you.

Stephanie Taylor also likes to write about herself in the third person.

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