Celebrating 40 years together, sans Maurice, and with a few new faces, the band gave a great 1.5 hour (hmm, thought we'd be there longer) outdoor performance at White River State Park in Indianapolis last evening. W/ temps in the low 70's, light late summer breeze and perfect weather, Phillip Bailey began the show singing "America the beautiful" from backstage as the band and front line slowly walked out on stage. Bailey still amazes w/ incredibly good falsetto and a strong backing band including his son. Verdine (one of my favs) is also incredibly gifted and can't seem to stand still in velour fringed pants. Gotta get me some! The band was accompanied by the Indianapolis Philharmonic Orchestra - as if they'd worked together from the start in '69. Horn section was stand out, along with great guitar soloing, grooving percussion trade offs, and an extended time of Philip hitting notes that leave nothing but a "damn...he's really good" smile on your face. Crowd very receptive and found it very hard to stay seated. (funk, soul, latin, r and b and jazz influence has a way of doing that - even w/ my limited white boy dance moves - however, baldilocks did funk it up quite a bit!) Not to mention what was likely several dual 18 subs doing a great job of kicking you right in the gut in a very nice way.
Appeared to be a Soundcraft Vi, with a Vertec Rig, but all hard to see behind scrim and my seating off and right of the FOH location. Please correct me if I'm wrong. Want. Want very badly! Walking the grounds, not a bad listening point anywhere except to the far right and left sides. Just an excellent rig and mix.
Tight, focused, perfect mix - imho - Killer band and those great songs and unforgettable harmonies. Thanks to the guys for taking time to fall silent in prayer in rememberance of 9/11 along with a packed lawn. Unforgettable.
I have that damned "Fantasy" running through my head today....in a good way.
Steve
Appeared to be a Soundcraft Vi, with a Vertec Rig, but all hard to see behind scrim and my seating off and right of the FOH location. Please correct me if I'm wrong. Want. Want very badly! Walking the grounds, not a bad listening point anywhere except to the far right and left sides. Just an excellent rig and mix.
Tight, focused, perfect mix - imho - Killer band and those great songs and unforgettable harmonies. Thanks to the guys for taking time to fall silent in prayer in rememberance of 9/11 along with a packed lawn. Unforgettable.
I have that damned "Fantasy" running through my head today....in a good way.
Steve
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