Into Boogie Wonderland Revisited It is one thing to expect Earth, Wind and Fire to perform its greatest hits from the band’s illustrious four-decade. After all should they not be performing like old stars from the 70s of R&B and Pop fusion taking their last self-aggrandizing farewell tour? I mean, isn’t it “after the lovin’s gone” time? Apparently not! The 12-member band turned the Time Warner Amphitheatre into a stage into groove-atorium Tuesday night before a more than captive crowd. Much like its cross-over success of funk, R&B, funk and pop rock, the audience attending was a cross section of color, creed, affluence, sex and size. EWF led the audience of passionate fan through two hours and nearly two dozen of its most well-known songs and left little doubt they are not going away any time soon. Wasting little time, the band christened the night with “Boogie Wonderland” as the three remaining original members, Phillip Bailey, Ralph Johnson and Verdine White took center stage jiving and swaying, movin’ and groovin’. A sampling of the power-driven platinum platter s served up shows just how classic and timeless the Rembrandts of Rhythm and Blues Pop catalog is to be witnessed. Hits, “September Song”, “Serpentine Fire”, “Sing A Song”, “Gotta To Get You into My Life”, “That’s the Way of the World”, “Shining Star” “Devotion”, and “Let’s Groove” enjoyed the backing vocals of nearly all 5,000 in attendance. Even the more obscure oldie “Kalimba Story” proved a favorite. After a 20-minute break, the band came back on stage, as Bailey guided the tour sharing his sentiment that the majority of second half songs were baby-making music. It was his guess that many of the younger audience members were conceived to numbers such as: “Always and Forever”, “After the Lovin’s Gone”, and even an old Stylistics gem “Betcha by Golly Wow.” Probably the most impressive aspect of the live performance was the perpetual movement of White on bass, as he danced all over the stage while simultaneously popping strings and guiding the younger rhythm section of new EWF members. Bailey was without a doubt the crowd favorite, as the lead singer hit the highest of high soulful notes with a volume and vibrato that harkened back to his younger days. Johnson led a full-out funky and tribal attack on percussion with Phillip Bailey Jr., drummer Gordon Campbell and percussionist singer B. David Whitworth. Keyboard fusion came by way of Myron McKinley and the guitar duo of Morris O’Connor and Greg Moore weaved in and out with a flamboyant funky flicker. And while the infamous Phenix Horns are long gone, sax player Greg Bias, trumpeter Bobby Burns Jr. and trombone player Reggie Young added just the right sass and squeal. Earth, Wind and Fire’s firmly restated its case as captains of the old “cosmic consciousness”, on this night. And more importantly it showed that the love of its music given and taken, is still alive and the gas in its collective tank is high octane.