Chase Center
San Francisco, CA
When tickets went on sale for Lionel Richie with Earth, Wind, and Fire earlier this year, I thought "oooooh that would be a cool show to see!" However, I'd just bought a bunch of other tickets for other shows and my credit card was melting. Throw in buying a new car and some travel, I decided to wait a bit and see if I could get a ticket later on once my immediate expenses calmed down a bit. I went back and forth for a several months on whether or not I'd get a ticket and would periodically check availability and pricing. Tickets were still generally available and not too outrageous, so I'd wait and see.
About three weeks ago I finally bit the bullet. I wanted to go to the show and the only thing that was stopping me was money which I now had, so what the hell get the ticket! I am SO glad I did!
I took the train up to San Francisco after clocking out from work a little early. As has seemed to be the case every time I've gone to Chase Center directly from the CalTrain station, I missed the Muni light rail connection as the cars pulled in just as I was exiting the train station with no way to get across the street to catch the light rail. This time I actually missed TWO light rail trains because of timing and street lights! No matter, it's a relatively short walk from the CalTrain station to Chase Center and it was a pleasant evening, so I walked the 15-minutes or so it takes to get there.
The doors hadn't opened yet when I arrived, so I debated -- stand in line for something to eat at Gott's Roadside, or just stand in line to get into the arena and eat something there. The line for Gott's looked like it would take as long as getting in, so I just opted for arena food and waited on the doors. The wait for the doors was a bit longer than I anticipated, but soon enough I was in the arena and off to grab something to eat in the lounge area behind my seat.
Once I finished eating, I headed in to my seat which was in the last row of my section. That turned out to be a pretty good thing as there was more space between my row and the row in front of me than the other rows, and only two seats to my left before the next section which was designated for wheelchairs. That meant there was a lot of room to move around and the couple sitting next to me and I took full advantage of that once the show began.
Now, I can't say I was ever a huge Earth, Wind, and Fire fan, but I always enjoyed the songs I knew and figured it would be a fun, upbeat show. I wasn't wrong. They took the stage to "Shining Star" and I was up on my feet dancing along immediately and within a minute I thought "Oh I am SO GLAD I got this ticket!" I was rather surprised to see the entire section to my right was seated. Sure, this wasn't a young crowd my any means, but Earth, Wind, and Fire play music you dance to! Get up and dance dammit! You can sit when Lionel Richie comes out and plays all his ballads!
I knew I probably wouldn't know all of their set going in, but I knew about half of the set. An early highlight was the bass solo by Verdine White. The stage had been set up with a catwalk out to the middle of the arena and dang if he didn't dance on down to the secondary stage to play his solo! I don't think I've ever seen a bass solo before -- it was funky!
I loved their cover of "Got to Get You Into My Life" and I was reminded of hearing it as a kid. I may have actually heard the Earth, Wind, and Fire version before I heard the Beatles original (not totally sure on that one though.)
About half way through the show I got to wondering how many members of the band were still original members as the only one I could remember and recognize was Phillip Bailey and that was in part due to the fact he was a donor when I worked at the SETI Institute. Never fear, shortly after this thought crossed my mind, Phillip introduced the band. It turns out there are only three original members left - Phillip, Verdine White, and Ralph Johnson. I should have guessed they were the only three original members as they were all dressed in gold suits while the rest of the band was wearing black suits with gold embroidery. (Oh yeah, they still LOOK like Earth,Wind, and Fire with their costumes even if the platform boots have been replaced by sequined sneakers!)
Once the band got to "Boogie Wonderland" everyone was finally up on their feet and dancing through the end of the show. When "Let's Groove" followed "Boogie Wonderland" I was pleasantly surprised -- I had completely forgotten that it was an Earth, Wind, & Fire song! I appropriately danced along until the set ended a little over an hour after it had begun.
Time to sit and relax until Lionel took the stage, and I found myself really enjoying the between acts tunes playing over the PA. Lots of classic Motown and R&B. Marvin Gaye, Gladys Knight, the Temptations, and so on. It really fit the mood. (And, yes, duh, I know Lionel Richie and the Commodores were Motown acts.)
The lights went back down about 9:15 and out on the secondary stage, a trap door opened up and up came Lionel Richie on a rising platform and he immediately launched into "Hello." I laughed to myself and thought "I should have expected that to be the first song!" I also immediately noticed he was wearing a white tuxedo jacket with tails and laughed again -- someone has been taking fashion advice from Steve Perry!
Again, I was immediately delighted that I had decided to get a ticket for this show as Lionel went through hit after hit from both his solo and Commodores catalog. So many hits that I kept thinking "oh gosh, I forgot about that one!" But with the exception of a couple of Commodores songs I knew the words to every single one of the songs.
A couple of personal highlights -- "Three Times a Lady" which is probably the first Commodores song I remember hearing as a kid and being somewhat annoyed by it as a ten-year old. I forget exactly why it annoyed me then, but I laughed at the memory. "Sail On" got stuck in my head once the show was over, and I was pleasantly surprised to hear "Brick House" (which might be neck and neck with "Three Times a Lady" for first Commodores song.)
Lionel also performed a bit of "Endless Love" after teasing the audience into thinking Diana Ross would be joining him to sing (despite opening with "I've been asking Diana Ross to come sing this with me for 37 years and she always says no.) So the audience took on the Diana half of the duet. It was quite fun.
Towards the end of the show, a piano came up on the secondary stage (in addition to the one that had been on the main stage all night) and Lionel sat down and played "Still" which I absolutely loved.
The main set closed out with a song I did not expect at all -- "We Are the World" -- which he introduced by reminding the audience that "those people" are human beings and we all share family, love, and loss. I got quite teary-eyed as he sang the whole song through. (I simultaneously did a mental check off of who sang which lines in the original version, which was helped by recently being sent a video of a rehearsal take.)
The last song of the night was one I had expected much earlier -- "All Night Long" -- but it was a fun way to dance away the end of the show.
I made my way out of the arena fairly quickly and almost made the first Muni train back to CalTrain, but it was too full, so I waited a few minutes for the next one being too tired to walk all the way back. Of course, CalTrain has a weird schedule and there isn't a train between 10:45 p.m. and 12:05 a.m., so with the show ending around 11:00 it was a bit of a wait for the train back home. Thank goodness it was a Friday night! I think they actually added a second train after the 12:05 because the line was REALLY long by the time I got to the station (there had been a Giants game that night also, so some lingering folks from the game were also in line) but I was able to get a seat easily. Finally got home a little after 1:00. The long day rather blew up my plans for Saturday, but it was worth it!
Always buy the tickets.
Set Lists
Shining Star
Let Your Feelings Show
Serpentine Fire
-- Verdine White bass solo --
Sing a Song
Got to Get You Into My Life
Departure
Reasons
After the Love Has Gone
That's the Way of the World
Fantasy
Boogie Wonderland
Let's Groove
September
In the Stone
Hello
Running With the Night
Easy / My Love
Truly
Stuck on You
Sail On
You Are
Dancing on the Ceiling (Snippet of Van Halen’s “Jump”)
Three Times a Lady
Fancy Dancer
Sweet Love
Lady (You Bring Me Up)
Just to Be Close to You
Zoom
Endless Love
Brick House / Fire
Still
Say You, Say Me
We Are the World
Encore:
All Night Long (All Night)
