Pop Reviews : Earth, Wind & Fire

Still cosmic after all these years, Earth, Wind & Fire roared through a show at the Universal Amphitheatre on Thursday that was long on both spacey spectacle and in-your-face musicianship. But, rather than being alienating to the unconverted, his group’s grounded accessibility is as workable now as it was during the group’s halcyon days in the ‘70s.

Thursday, in the first of a five-night Universal engagement, EW&F; poured on all the elements that make a crowd get crazy, including more than two hours of hit-after-hit emphasis. Singer Philip Bailey, who made great strides as a solo artist during EW&F;’s four-year break from performing and recording, took no back seat on Thursday, his stratospheric falsetto giving “Fantasy” and “Reasons” new leases on life. Before the group’s hiatus, Bailey rarely was given much solo time on stage; now he’s given practically equal standing with leader Maurice White.

All in all, it was the kind of evening that prompted Magic Johnson, Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall to jump on stage for the closing number, “Touch the World.” And why not? The band evoked such a riotous, free-for-all atmosphere that some good-natured scene-stealing was probably inevitable.