Lionel Richie and Earth, Wind & Fire — two of the largest R&B acts of the ’70s and ’80s — kicked off a joint tour Friday at St. Paul’s Xcel Energy Center and thrilled the group of about 13,000 with a night of hit after hit after hit.

Like Richie’s first group the Commodores, EWF were often classified as a funk band, but they’ve at all times been so rather more, dabbling in soul, disco, rock, jazz and Latin jazz. And despite the 2016 death of band founder/leader Maurice White, the three core members — Verdine White (bass, vocals), Philip Bailey (vocals, percussion) and Ralph Johnson (vocals, percussion) — have kept the group going strong. By way of infectious energy and sheer joy, they easily bested Richie (more on him in a bit).

With 11 musicians on stage, EWF conjured a wall of sound that gave their quite a few hits true power. The group’s cover of the Beatles’ “Got to Get You Into My Life” (which Paul McCartney wrote as an ode to each Motown and weed), “Fantasy,” “That’s the Way of the World,” “Boogie Wonderland,” “Let’s Groove” and the inevitable “September” sounded as shiny, vibrant and exciting as ever.

Even EWF’s slower songs packed a punch, like “Keep Your Head to the Sky,” which they began playing on a dark stage, with members of the audience using their cell phone flashlights to offer a sky of “stars.”

Really, the one criticism is that at a mere 75 minutes, their set felt a bit rushed. More Earth, Wind & Fire is an excellent thing.

So far as Richie goes, he’s clearly a talented entertainer and songwriter. In the primary half of the ’80s, he was considered one of MTV’s biggest stars with a string of smashes that include “Truly,” “All Night Long (All Night),” “Hello,” “Stuck on You,” “Dancing on the Ceiling” and his Diana Ross duet “Limitless Love.” But he took a break from music to take care of his ailing father, who died in 1990. Richie has said that sent him right into a deep depression that he couldn’t shake until the birth of his son Miles 4 years later.

Richie has never returned to that level of success, but he’s remained a favourite with audiences — oddly enough, he’s absolutely adored within the Arab world — each for his concert events and his other endeavors like serving as an “American Idol” judge.

Since 2016, Richie has played a series of Las Vegas residencies, and it’s quite clear he’s picked up a few of the cheesier, old-school Sin City vibes. Very similar to his 2019 concert on the Minnesota State Fair Grandstand, Friday’s show tended to pull at times as Richie over indulged in canned stage banter between numbers. He also let the group cover for him when he couldn’t hit the notes, which was often.

Still, Richie comes across as an amiable guy and he made sure to play every considered one of those aforementioned hits together with a bunch more.