Soul and funk icons Earth, Wind & Fire (EWF) recently took the stage in front of bright, multi-colored lights and a diverse crowd by age and more on two cold autumn evenings at Etess Arena in the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City. EWF remains one of the greatest groups in music history. The Chicago-based group, inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2000, has inspired many not only in America but worldwide, and they still perform their iconic hits.
Founding Earth, Wind, & Fire members Philip Bailey, Verdine White, and Ralph Johnson at concert at Etess Arena in Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City. Credit: Derrel Johnson 
Founding Earth, Wind, & Fire member Philip Bailey plays African drums at concert at Etess Arena in Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City. Credit: Derrel Johnson 
Founding Earth, Wind, & Fire members Verdine White and Philip Bailey perform at concert at Etess Arena in Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City. Credit: Derrel Johnson
Led by original members singer and percussionist Philip Bailey, bass guitarist Verdine White, and percussionist and singer Ralph Johnson, EWF took fans on a musical journey through time by playing many of their timeless classics, mainly from the 1970s and 1980s. All three original members played instruments and sang background vocals, including a solo by Bailey on the kalimba. Also onstage were three horn players, a musical director on keyboards, a drummer, and two additional guitarists.
The show included classic uptempo EWF songs such as “Shining Star,” “Sing a Song,” “Let’s Groove Tonight,” “September,” and “Boogie Wonderland,” all of which got the crowd on their feet.
The six-time Grammy Award-winning collective helped light up a holiday tree at Mohegan Sun before a performance on Sunday night. At that event, they performed some of their emotion-stirring ballads, including “Devotion,” “That’s the Way of the World,” “After the Love Is Gone,” “Would You Mind,” and — with Bailey showcasing his still-superb falsetto vocals — “Reasons.”
They also performed “Serpentine Fire,” “Brazilian Rhyme (Beijo Interlude),” “Fantasy,” “In the Stone,” and a cover of the Beatles’ “Got to Get You into My Life,” written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney.
The late founding member Maurice White, Verdine’s older brother, was honored and acknowledged. He would have turned 84 on December 19.
EWF will perform at the Beacon Theatre in New York City on Monday, Dec. 15, and Tuesday, Dec. 16.
The Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City will host “Mr. 305” himself — Pitbull — on Friday, Dec. 26 and Saturday, Dec. 27, and “Mike Tyson Presents: Return of the Mike” on Friday, Jan. 23, featuring the Brooklyn boxing icon. For more info, visit hardrock.com.