Earth, Wind & Fire and Chicago tour setlist: All the songs they played in Phoenix
Earth, Wind & Fire and Chicago brought their co-headlining summer tour through downtown Phoenix Thursday, Aug. 29, treating fans at Footprint Center to a nostalgic trip down memory lane courtesy of the horn-driven hits with which they ruled the pop charts of the '70s and '80s.
Chicago got things started with the aptly titled "Introduction," the track that opened their first album, 1969's "Chicago Transit Authority."
Their name was longer in the '60s.
From there, they made their way through any number of their greatest hits, from "Beginnings" through "Saturday in the Park," "Just You n' Me," "Call on Me," "Old Days," "If You Leave Me Now," "Hard to Say I'm Sorry," "Hard Habit to Break" and "You're the Inspiration" before ending the set with "Feelin' Stronger Every Day."
They also dusted off the suite that took up nearly the entire second side of 1970's "Chicago" — "Ballet for a Girlin Buchannon," from which they plucked two early Top 10 singles, "Make Me Smile" and "Colour My World."
Earth, Wind & Fire got their portion of the party started with their first undeniable mainstream invasion, the chart-topping funk of "Shining Star," following through with such crowd-pleasing classics as "Serpentine Fire," "After the Love Has Gone," "That's the Way of the World," "Boogie Wonderland" and "Let's Groove" before bringing their set to a triumphant finish with their most beloved song of all, "September."
They also did a number of lesser-known essentials, from the soulful jazz of the Ramsey Lewis collaboration "Sun Goddess" to "Let Your Feelings Show" to "Departure."
Then, Chicago came back out to join them on a hit-filled encore packed with even more hits, from Earth, Wind & Fire's "Sing a Song" and "Got to Get You Into My Life" (a strong contender for the title of the greatest Beatles cover of all time) to Chicago's "Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?" and the encore-closing "25 or 6 to 4."
By then, we'd heard half the classics featured on our recent list of the 20 best Earth, Wind & Fire songs. And if we'd done a list of best Chicago, I'm sure a lot of what we heard at Footprint Center would've made that list as well.
Full concert review: Earth, Wind & Fire were a funky force of nature with Chicago in Phoenix
Chicago tour setlist 2024: All the songs they played in Phoenix
Here's every song Chicago played at Footprint Center in downtown Phoenix on Thursday, Aug. 29, before returning to the stage to join Earth, Wind & Fire on the encore.
“Introduction”
“Dialogue (Part I & II)”
“Call on Me”
“If You Leave Me Now”
“Make Me Smile”
“So Much to Say, So Much to Give”
“Anxiety's Moment”
“West Virginia Fantasies”
“Colour My World”
“To Be Free”
“Now More Than Ever”
“Old Days”
“Hard Habit to Break”
“You're the Inspiration”
“Beginnings”
“I'm a Man” (Spencer Davis Group cover)
“Just You 'n' Me”
“Hard to Say I'm Sorry”/ “Get Away”
“Saturday in the Park”
“Feelin' Stronger Every Day”
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Earth, Wind & Fire tour setlist 2024: All the songs they played in Phoenix
Here are all the songs Earth, Wind & Fire played at Footprint Center in downtown Phoenix on Thursday, Aug. 29.
“Shining Star”
“Let Your Feelings Show”
“System of Survival”
“Serpentine Fire”
Verdine White Bass Solo
“Jupiter”
“Saturday Nite”
“Kalimba Story”
“Sun Goddess” (Ramsey Lewis cover)
“Devotion”
“Reasons”
“After the Love Has Gone”
“That's the Way of the World” (followed by introduction of the band)
“Fantasy”
“Boogie Wonderland”
“Let's Groove”
“September”
Encore:
“In the Stone”
“Free” (Chicago)
“Sing a Song”
“Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?” (Chicago)
“Got to Get You Into My Life” (Earth, Wind & Fire's version of the Beatles song)
“25 or 6 to 4” (Chicago)
Ed has covered pop music for The Republic since 2007, reviewing festivals and concerts, interviewing legends, covering the local scene and more. He did the same in Pittsburgh for more than a decade. Follow him on X, Instagram @edmasley, and on Facebook as Ed Masley. Email him at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Earth, Wind & Fire and Chicago 2024 setlist: Songs played in Phoenix
