Chicago / Earth Wind & Fire: Live at the Greek Theatre

I saw Chicago and EW&F live about 15 years ago and of all the concerts I have attended, it was the best by far! The 2 groups have great chemistry and they work great together….no divas here! If you are a fan of either (or both as am I!), you will enjoy it thoroughly! I have read reviews about the audio; I am not an audio maven, I have a sound bar and they sounded GREAT! That is not to say that you need to have a sound bar! Just my amateur opinion! Well worth the money!!!!

Going into this, one may wonder (justifiably) what to expect. Bands past their prime? A sad collection of tired musicians parading out their old hits? In fact, it is anything but that. Surprising, in a way, since both groups are missing original and key members. But not surprising, since both have remained popular for over three decades, and are filled with fantastic performers who have the ability to play and write songs that are anything but easy to transfer from album to stage, and who do it with occasional greatness. Not every song hits the mark, but there are moments of absolutely transcendant musical enjoyment -- certainly in every single song that the two bands play together -- but even in some of the songs each band plays on its own.The differences between the bands? EWF has fewer original members, but really works the crowd, old school in its efforts to involve the audience, and it sounds fantastic. Chicago is and always has been a musician's band -- complex arrangements and surprising power at unexpected moments -- with the real surpise coming in the times it gets the crowd jumping and rocking. No single member charismatic in the way that Philip Bailey is in EWF, but as an ensemble that's played with its current line-up for over twelve years it is simply terrific - the sum greater than the parts. Robert Lamm's voice is a marvel.As for the beginning and the end of the concert -- when the two bands come together -- unbelievable. The sound and picture quality on the DVD immerses you in the entire experience in a way that showed how exciting it must have been to be there. In the finale, there's one hit after another, programmed in just the right order, each building on the last -- giving truth to what a friend of mine said -- 'the best concert I've ever seen." Arguable, of course, but you can tell that these two groups love playing together, and the grooves they find in each and every song provide an exciting experience, even at home in your own living room. Buy this if you are even the slightest fan of either group, and you will walk away happy.

The vast number of excellent reviews of this concert sufficiently puts the nit-picky criticisms to bed, so I'll only briefly address critics by saying that any reviewer who would comment that the sound engineering was poor enough to make the concert as exciting as a "PBS pledge drive" either watched this concert with the power off or with a sack over his head, or both. The disk's engineers tackle well the difficult job of toggling back and forth between one large band and then two playing simultaneously. The resulting DVD sounds very good and is filmed well, despite some overly zippy editing and (inexcusable) failure to detail most of the guitar finger work. It's true that there's been a weakening of vocals in both bands, but that's inevitable given the passage of time and easily overlooked when one considers the electricity these performers still discharge on stage. I saw the bands together at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Maryland and can attest that they give 110% pure energy. Special shouts go out to EWF trombonist Reggie Young whose feet are in permanent motion throughout the concert and whose personality clearly and happily infects the whole theater. EWF's David Whitworth sounds great and keeps the energy level high. Watch for inspired solos by EWF guitarist Vadim Zilberstein. Chicago's Keith Howland must be one of the great underestimated guitarists in the business. Effortless is not a strong enough word to describe the way he plays lightning-fast, crisp Hendrix-Kath-inspired guitar. It's a pleasure to watch the joyous interaction between drummers Tris Imboden and John Paris; the expressions on their faces say more about this concert than all the words on this webpage. During the two-band finale, the whole stage shakes, which is interestingly captured in some of the camera work. One reviewer says of the finale that he dances on the walls every time he watches; that ought to be a sight. I'll simply say that they close with a blazing three-guitar fest--Howland, Zilberstein, and Greg Moore--on "25 or 6 to 4" that absolutely blows your doors off. Review no. 179. Hope it is helpful.

Puedes disfrutar de 2 grandes grupo en el mismo concierto, la música se escucha genial vale mucho la pena

This is a fantastic show with so many good songs - if you want to feel good; I would recommend this disc! I saw these bands tour together again a couple of years ago and was so happy to find this disc from an earlier tour.

Première impression avant l'achat : pas très sûr du résultat car deux groupes sur scène dans des styles différents...j'étais un peu frileux. Impression après écoute : génial ! En fait le point commun entre les deux groupes ce sont les sections cuivres. Funk groove pour EWF et plutôt rock pour Chicago. Mais bon, il faut tout de même préciser que chaque groupe joue seul sur scène pendant une bonne heure chacun voire plus. au début ils sont ensembles pour deux ou trois titres et on les retrouvent ensembles à la fin également pour deux ou trois titres (c'est approximatif, j'ai pas compté, j'étais sous le charme).Quand ils jouent ensembles c'est pas du medley, ce sont des titres qui collent parfaitement aux deux formations. C'est bluffant, vingt musiciens sur scène, ça le fait vraiment. Côté EWF c'est Philip BAILEY qui à la lourde tache de remplacer Maurice White, et il le fait avec beaucoup de professionnalisme. Le résultat est très bon. Enfin Peter CETERA est lui aussi remplacé par un chanteur (le bassiste) qui est également très pro. Bonne image, bon son dont le DTS en HD. Voilà vous savez à présent ce qu'il vous reste à faire.

Añadir a la superbanda Chicago la vitalidad y el ritmo de Earth, Wind & Fire, hacen de este concierto algo indispendable en cualquier amante de la buena musica rock.

Prima di vedere la registrazione di questo concerto, temevo si tratasse di un remake di buona musica anni 70' e niente più. In realtà mi sono trovato a godermi quasi tre ore di musica interpretata da musicisti di ottimo livello, che hanno messo sul palco tutta la loro voglia di suonare col risultato di coinvolgere lo spettatore e portarlo dentro ad un concerto magnificamente interpretato dalle due band. Ottimi l'audio ed il video. lo consiglio non solo a chi ama questi due gruppi, ma anche e soprattutto a chi vuole ascoltare brani che non temono l'usura del tempo interpretati da musicisti che sanno ancora donare grandi emozioni. Michele Iafelice