Experiencing Wonderland with The Al McKay Allstars
Two days after seeing The Human League at the Rochester Castle Concerts, we were back on Friday 8th of July for the third night in the series. This time it was to see the line-up of The James Taylor Quartet, Third World, The Dualers and the headliners of Al McKay’s Earth, Wind & Fire Experience!
With our timings similar to Wednesday evening, this particular reviewer didn’t catch the set of The James Taylor Quartet, and Third World were already well underway with their own live presentation. In their heyday, the band toured with The Wailers and hit the top-ten in the U.K. with their reggae-infused cover of The O’Jays’ ‘Now That We’ve Found Love’ in 1978. But the remainder of their set would prove how much of a brilliant live band they still are in 2022.
James Taylor. Image Credit: Mark Thompson - mstmusic.co.uk
As we entered the Rochester Castle Gardens, Third World were playing a more recent song, their collaboration with Damian Jr. Gong Marley – ‘You’re Not The Only One’. Released in 2019 on their album ‘More Work To Be Done’, Damian is the youngest son of reggae’s immortal figurehead. What followed was an exciting djembe solo, the player’s enthusiasm reverberating through the crowd as he went from drum skin to bass guitar strings.
Third World asked: Did the crowd like Bob Marley? The result on the stage was unexpected. It would’ve been easy to play renditions of ‘Three Little Birds’ or ‘Could You Be Loved’. Instead, the band played an instrumental version of Marley’s ‘Redemption Song’, the final track from his last album ‘Uprising’, released in 1980. Not only this, but the melody was played on an electric cello, with acoustic guitar and drum backing. The audience, of course, filled in the lyrical blanks.
‘One Love, One Love? Just kidding.’
Third World. Image Credit: Mark Thompson - mstmusic.co.uk
No, Third World didn’t play ‘One Love/People Get Ready’. What they played instead was more surprising. The band closed their set with the modern classic opera song ‘Time To Say Goodbye’, originally made famous by Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brightman in 1996. This was magnificently sung by vocalist AJ Brown in both Italian and English, who was more than deserving of the widespread applause awarded by the audience.
The air was warm, filled with tiny flying things. The DJ readied the crowd for the next act with a set of familiar ska and reggae tunes in what he assured them would be ‘the quickest changeover in history’. What he also told the crowd was the next act were the most requested band to come and play the Rochester Castle Concerts.
The Dualers. Image Credit: Mark Thompson - mstmusic.co.uk
‘For the love of ska music, make some noise!’
Creating a rumbling introduction, the band brought out The Dualers frontman Tyber Cranstoun, whose enthusiasm for the genre and the crowd kept the energy up for almost an hour. The Dualers, who recently headlined the Avalon stage at Glastonbury, would play several selections from their 2014 album ‘Back To Paradise’. This included ‘Blazing Fire’, ‘Amelia’ and their single ‘Red Light’.
‘What a glorious location, what a glorious day!’
In addition to older songs, the nine-piece band teased their new record ‘Voices From The Sun’, with a track called ‘Yippee I Ay’. Due for release in August, Tyber called this new collection of songs the best album they’ve ever done.
The Dualers. Image Credit: Peter Willson - petetakesphotos.com
As well as this snippet of new material, The Dualers drew from their album ‘Palm Trees and 80 Degrees’, which hit Number 11 on the Official Album Chart upon its release in 2019. From this, they played ‘It’s A Wonderful Life’, ‘What A Bangarang’ and as the sun disappeared behind a swirl of cloud, ‘Dancin Till The Sun Comes Up’.
‘Are you in a singing mood? If you love life, make some noise!’
The Dualers also played a couple of covers, first a rendition of John Denver’s 1971 single ‘Take Me Home, Country Roads’, which the band recorded for their 2020 album ‘Reggae Street III’. In homage to reggae and ska legend Toots Hibbert, The Dualers closed their set with a Toots and the Maytals cover, ‘Monkey Man’, which the band were playing long before Hibbert’s passing during the pandemic. After a ten-song set, The Dualers left the stage as they had entered it, with smiles on their faces. A band perfect for the warm summer air.
The Earth, Wind & Fire Experience. Image Credit: Mark Thompson - mstmusic.co.uk
The DJ then switched genres, preparing the crowd for a mixture of funk, soul and disco. All around, people were dancing to tracks by Rose Royce, Rick James and Chic. At half nine, the twelve members of The Earth, Wind & Fire Experience took to the stage, dancing and clapping along to their introduction music when a voice came over the speakers:
‘Ladies and Gentlemen, are you ready for the experience? The Earth, Wind and Fire Experience! Please welcome, the Al McKay Allstars!’
The band then launched into the opening track from EWF’s 1977 album ‘All ‘n All’ – ‘Serpentine Fire’. With Al McKay’s tenure in the band spanning their classic era, the material played this evening would encompass their most successful and well-known music from 1975 to 1981.
A count-in brought in a funky wah guitar riff, this was ‘Pride’ from 1980’s ‘Faces’, a group effort on the writing front, including Al McKay. One of the three vocalists would do a call and response with the crowd, a recurring feature of the Experience’s set, but the crowd jumped right in every time. This was followed by a solo from one of the four-piece horn section. Just one of the elements of the band that would dazzle that night.
‘Mr. Shaunte Palmer on trombone!’
This was when I realised that Al McKay was not a part of the Allstars line-up this evening. The songwriter and guitarist is a left-handed player, whilst the very capable performer on stage was right-handed. There was no announcement or advisory on the day or on the lead-up to the event to say this was so. It didn’t matter, this ensemble would play a magnificent set. Above all else, fans of Earth, Wind & Fire would say the material speaks for itself.
Shaunte Palmer. Image Credit: Mark Thompson - mstmusic.co.uk
‘On percussion, Mr. David Leach! And one more time, on trombone, Mr. Shaunte Palmer! We’re just trying to get warmed up here, we’re gonna give you something from the U.K.!’
And it did. With that, the band went into ‘Got To Get You Into My Life’. The Lennon-McCartney track originally appeared on The Beatles album ‘Revolver’ in 1966, featuring a brass-laden arrangement that EWF would expand upon, adding their trademark harmonies. For Earth, Wind & Fire, this was a single in 1978 that would be included in the long-forgotten film ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’, starring The Bee Gees and Peter Frampton. EWF themselves would cameo in the film.
‘I think ya’ll ready!’
‘Can’t Let Go’ was from 1979’s ‘I Am’, the band’s highest charting album in the UK. One of the singles from this era, it didn’t fare quite as well as the Number 4 ‘After The Love Has Gone’, a song the band wouldn’t play this evening. Everyone put their hands up for this song as the band led a call and response.
A continuing drumbeat led into the 1976 track ‘Saturday Nite’, a song co-written by Al McKay with Maurice White and Philip Bailey. It would be the band’s first entry into the U.K. chart in 1977. There was a moment on the screens either side of the stage where David Leach took his hands away from his percussion. Clicking his fingers, he laughed to himself. He couldn’t have known he was on the screen during that moment - it was lovely to see how much he was enjoying himself.
Al McKay’s Allstars. Image Credit: Peter Willson - petetakesphotos.com
‘Mr. Claude Woods on vocals! DeVere Duckett on vocals! Thank you so much for having us. It’s been a long time, waiting to get back on stage, back in the UK, thank you for welcoming us back with such love! We want you to know something, each and every one of you represents a Shining Star!’
The Experience’s guitarist took a solo in this song, the vocalists all nodding together. ‘Shining Star’ would be amongst the older material of the evening, taken from the 1975 album ‘That’s The Way Of The World’ – the only one from that record to be performed tonight.
Ben Dowling. Image Credit: Mark Thompson - mstmusic.co.uk
With the horn section leaving the stage, the remaining members played a deeper cut, a collaboration with jazz artist Ramsey Lewis called ‘Sun Goddess’, where EWF served as the backing band. This was also released in 1975 and is an instrumental, featuring a sprinkling of wordless vocals. When the three vocalists weren’t performing, they too vacated the stage. This allowed the band to really shine, including the Experience’s keyboard player and saxophonist.
“I want ya’ll to give it up, on keys, Mr. Ben Dowling! And on saxophone, we call him ‘Blue Eyes’, Mr. Keith McKelley!”
Keith McKelley. Image Credit: Mark Thompson - mstmusic.co.uk
Then the band went into ‘Brazilian Rhyme (Beijo)’, a shorter interlude piece from All ‘n All, written solely by Maurice White. This was extended far beyond the original one minute and twenty seconds it takes on the LP.
‘Thank you so much, can we go home now?’
At just halfway through their set, their question was a ruse. With both the instrumental songs in the set performed, The Earth, Wind & Fire Experience returned to the ‘I Am’ album, stating they wanted to take the audience on a journey. ‘In The Stone’ was the band’s first U.K. single of the 1980’s and rallied the crowd to clap along.
This went straight into ‘Fantasy’, with a woman nearby this poised note-taker shouting, ‘I love this one!’ The music would continue through many songs from this point forth - not an abridged medley as such, more like a lot of songs without breaks. The brass squeaked, in full voice, and the vocals were spot on. Fantasy was from All ‘n All, as was the 1978 single ‘Jupiter’, the next song in the series.
Al McKay’s Allstars. Image Credit: Mark Thompson - mstmusic.co.uk
The Experience were on a roll as they began ‘Getaway’ from the Spirit album. Though not written by EWF, the track sees the band firmly in funk mode, with bursts of brass, accented lyrics and soulful falsetto vocals. The break from All ‘n All was brief as the band returned to the album with ‘Magic Mind’.
The tempo was up but the funk was no less as bass guitar rolled on, heading back to I Am for ‘Let Your Feelings Show’. With their busy sound, EWF’s album credits were always a list as long as their vocal range was wide. I Am contains an interesting collaboration, with Toto’s Steve Lukather providing guitar alongside McKay.
‘England in the house, come on!’
The unmistakable beginning to ‘September’ got the entirety of Rochester Castle Gardens dancing and waving their arms, with everyone trying their hand at the song’s falsetto chorus. September peaked on the chart in 1979 at Number 3, a single recorded to accompany the band’s first Greatest Hits collection, ‘The Best Of Earth, Wind and Fire, Vol. 1’.
David Leach. Image Credit: Mark Thompson - mstmusic.co.uk
‘You are the greatest! We love you! It’s really, really time for us to go, but, we love you so much, is it alright if we…play one more song? Would you mind?’
The accented intro of ‘Boogie Wonderland’ thundered over the speakers. With the original studio version also benefiting from the assistance of The Emotions, the Experience did exceptionally well at replicating the sound without the three female vocal lines. Boogie Wonderland followed September in the charts, hitting Number 4 in the summer of 1979 and opened the second side of I Am. Everyone in the grounds of Rochester Castle thought the show was over…
‘We’re not through with you yet!’
The familiar intro to ‘Let’s Groove’ began. With no encore, the band played straight through. This is the only song the Experience would perform from EWF’s 1981 album ‘Raise!’, the first record made after Al McKay’s departure from the band. Let’s Groove was another Number 3 single, and the last time EWF would make the top-ten in the UK.
Shaunte Palmer put down his trombone just to vibe early in the song before joining in again later. The track was extended with a call and response, and an extra brass solo section before a big finish. Music came over the speakers before the band vacated the stage, murmurs throughout members of the crowd of how brilliantly the Allstars showed Rochester Castle a good time.
‘England, we love you, goodnight!’
The Earth, Wind & Fire Experience. Image Credit: Peter Willson - petetakesphotos.com
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For more information about future Rochester Castle Concerts, visit their official website here.
Follow the Castle Concerts on Facebook @rochestercastleconcerts.
Follow The James Taylor Quartet on Facebook @OfficialJTQ and on Instagram @jtq_official_.
Follow Third World on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @thirdworldband.
Follow The Dualers on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @thedualers.
Follow the Al McKay Allstars on Facebook @AlMcKayAllstarsMusic and on Instagram and Twitter @almckayallstars.
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