Review: Lionel Richie could have used a little Earth, Wind & Fire in schmaltzy St. Paul performance

All night long, we kept waiting and waiting. Waiting for Lionel Richie to collaborate with fellow Rock & Roll Hall of Famers Earth, Wind & Fire. Just like EWF did with Chicago on their 2016 co-headline tour.

It never happened Friday at Xcel Energy Center. It was opening night of the Sing a Song All Night Long Tour. Maybe Richie and EWF hadn't had time to rehearse together. That's too bad because the EWF/Chicago encore, in which they were onstage together and alternated songs, was as exciting as an excellent Super Bowl halftime show.

Friday's concert was nostalgic fun punctuated with emotional ballads, but just not as special as it could have been. Richie and EWF, who both had hits in the 1970s and blew up in the '80s, are a good fit. To collaborate, Richie certainly could have welcomed the EWF horns on the encore of "All Night Long (All Night)," which in St. Paul featured a lone saxophone instead of a full-blown mariachi-like horn section a la the 1983 recording. Maybe these two still-vibrant oldies acts — who have been plotting to tour together for "200 years," according to the excitable Richie — can squeeze in a little joint rehearsal as the tour rolls on.

Richie's 95-minute performance was certainly artfully orchestrated, especially the staging and visuals. The veteran pop star-turned-"American Idol" judge had a striking video display, featuring six cubes over the stage and a giant backdrop on which lyrics, clouds, psychedelia and live images of the singer were projected amid film strips and a checkerboard. Mix in the de rigueur lasers, flame-throwers and stage-fog blasters, and the entertainment quotient was praiseworthy.

Backed by a five-man band, Richie opened the concert by emerging from underneath a runway to deliver, of all things, the 1983 quiet storm hit, "Hello." That might seem on the nose — when you have a ballad-heavy repertoire, why not start with a ballad instead of a banger?

The crowd of 13,000 swooned to the piano man's many romantic serenades, including "Three Times a Lady," "Still," "Just to be Close to You," "Truly" (on which he couldn't hit his high notes) and "Endless Love," during which he asked women in the crowd to sing the part that Diana Ross did on the 1981 hit recording. When it comes to schmaltz, Richie rivals Cecil's Deli, in business in St. Paul since 1949 (the year Richie was born).

Except the chatty, skillful entertainer mixes hammy with cheesy. All night long, he kept poking fun at how long he's been around (he started performing in 1968 with a bunch of Alabama college buddies in the Commodores) and how his fans (and himself) used to dance back in the day.

Truth be told, Richie moved to the rhythm Friday but didn't exactly dance all night long — or much at all. He sashayed down the runway at times but relied on his guitarist, bassist and saxophonist — none of whom was introduced — to bring the physical energy.

At least Richie brought the musical energy at times, most notably with the Commodores' funky "Brick House" (which mixed in some of the Ohio Players' "Fire"), "Dancing on the Ceiling" (which sounded more popish than usual but eventually rocked with a taste of Van Halen's "Jump") and the festive finale "All Night Long."

Between all the schmaltz and shtick, Richie got serious for a few minutes and gave an impassioned speech about how during the pandemic he studied how people treat each other. In conclusion, he said fans didn't come to the concert as a political party or as a color. "We came as the human race," he said. He then launched into "We Are the World," a sincere if schmaltzy sing-along he wrote in 1985 with Michael Jackson.

As for Earth, Wind & Fire, even though the group has been on tour all summer, it took the 12-man band half of their opening 80-minute set to build momentum. Too many tunes were truncated until EWF remembered that their songs have bridges, like the sax solo in "After the Love Is Gone" and the guitar segment in "That's the Way of the World," two highlights. The group turned it out for "Fantasy," "September," "Boogie Wonderland" and "Let's Groove." While EWF's low-energy ensemble dance steps didn't exactly excite the crowd, 72-year-old Philip Bailey's voice certainly did, especially his goosebumps-inducing falsetto.