Mr. T. Experience battles Earth, Wind & Fire

By Todd Inoue

FIRST IT was Crack vs. DC Talk. Then Maxwell vs. Tom Jones. In this corner, the Mr. T. Experience at Slim's in San Francisco last Friday, and in that corner, Earth Wind & Fire at the Shoreline last Saturday. Let's get ready to rumble in the third installment of concert comparisons. EWF vs. MTX.
Merchandise: MTX displayed a dazzling array of T-shirts, fly swatters in the shape of a heart, bottle openers, patches, stickers, CDs, singles--everything but an MTX jockstrap. At the Sinbad/Earth Wind & Fire/Teena Marie/Larry Graham package tour, titled Sinbad's Soul Music Festival, the merch table was limited to official $20 Sinbad hats and Polo-style shirts. MTX.
Preshow Movie: During the elaborate intro to EWF, a screen displayed a computer monitor loading Mac OS and Netscape Navigator. The cursor clicked on "What's Cool" and scrolled to www.ewf.com. I wonder if Bill Gates knows about this, since EWF's "Shining Star" appears prominently in recent Microsoft ads. MTX? They broadcast vintage Ultraman flicks. MTX for remembering.
Pop Culture References: MTX did a spot-on cover of Elton John and Kiki Dee's "Don't Go Breakin' My Heart" and the Primitives' "Crash." They also dropped references to American Ninja 2, Prozac and Mr. Belvedere. EWF, a pop culture reference itself, played a snippet of Parliament-Funkadelic's "Mothership Connection." Too close to call.
Song Subjects: MTX: Songs About Girls and dumb little bands. EWF: boogie wonderlands, men's secret fantasies, the state of the world and songs about girls. EWF for diversity.
Missing Members: Vocalist and spiritual leader Maurice White has been AWOL from EWF's stage show since 1994, and his presence is sorely missed. As for MTX, I don't think anyone missed Jon Von. MTX.
High Notes: Philip Bailey broke glass in downtown Palo Alto, extending "After the Love" into a vocal gymnastics routine. A perfect 10. EWF in a landslide.
Crowd Participation: MTX bassist Joel had everyone wave to his mom and dad sitting in the back and exult "awww" when informed of drummer Jym's low blood-sugar level. Lyric sheets were unnecessary at Shoreline, where it was EWF karaoke night on sing-alongs "Devotion" and "Reasons." EWF by a hair.