Thursday night is normally what I consider a work night. As I look more closely at that, I think I will have to make a change to that. I normally write on Thursday so I can submit my work to the New Pittsburgh Courier in plenty of time for the coming week. Last week, a close friend who has asked to remain nameless asked me to attend the Earth, Wind and Fire concert with her on Thursday. At first I said no, but I caved in and decided to go. We both went home from work, changed our clothes and headed back Downtown. When we arrived at PPG Paints Arena I remembered my boss mentioned something about EWF coming to town several weeks ago, reportedly they were having trouble selling tickets. I’m not sure what they did to move the tickets but the turnout was great. We had seats in the Key Club and backstage passes were included.
OK, this is starting to look like a good evening. When we got to our seats the opening act was just being introduced and due to people arriving late in our row, I was distracted and did not hear who the opening act was. I recognized the music and then as I looked at the lead person who was playing the guitar, I realized it was Niles Rogers. Are you kidding me? I never thought that I would see Rogers live in concert. Earlier this year I watched an episode of Unsung on Chic & Niles Rogers, what a story that is. Rogers is responsible for some of the best dance music of the seventies. How about “Everybody Dance,” “Le Freak” and “Good Times,” he also wrote the popular “We Are Family” for Sister Sledge and “Upside Down” for Diana Ross. He had a hand in “Getting Jiggy with It” and teamed with David Bowie on “Let’s Dance.” He has produced for Madonna and then he collaborated with Daft Punk, which resulted in “Get Lucky” featuring Pharrell. Rogers is a six-year cancer survivor and says his survival was the inspiration for “Get Lucky.”
After watching Rogers I didn’t care about EWF, but they came on stage and blew it away. This group still has it. The last time I saw them was at Nemacolin at one of Joe Hardy’s Royal Receptions. This is when I started to get excited… am I going to get to meet Earth, Wind and Fire in person? Somebody scream. The concert was over and it was great. We now found our way backstage. We sat in the room and waited and soon the various EWF band members started to appear. They looked so different out of their sequins and leather costumes. But Verdine White is so recognizable with his long hair and wide smile. Percussionist Ralph Johnson also attended the meet and greet but Philip Bailey did not. Bailey, White and Johnson have been with EWF for 50 years. I took a picture with White and Johnson and I felt quite lucky. What a grand birthday gift.
(Email Debbie at debbienorrell@aol.com)
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I get lucky (Aug. 16, 2017)
