One can’t help but wonder why bands choose to share the billing with Earth, Wind and Fire, because they pretty much always blow everyone else off the stage as they did yet again Saturday night at St. Paul’s Xcel Energy Center.

About 12,000 people showed up for the third date on EWF’s latest dual-headlining tour with Chicago and just like in 2016 (and 2009), EWF handily won the night with a smooth as silk and seductively funky set stuffed with highlights.

At first glance, the two acts may seem like an odd pairing. But they’re both from Chicago and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees, are currently built around three longtime members and augmented by a half dozen or more extra players, made songs that remain staples of wedding receptions and aren’t afraid to lean on the horn section when necessary.

The two bands are swapping spots each night and Saturday, Chicago took the stage first. They sounded much better than back in 2016, largely because vocalist Jason Scheff is no longer in the group. The band hired him back in 1985 after Peter Cetera flew the coop. While he ended up being the longest-tenured lead singer in the band’s history, by 2016, his voice was largely shot and it often sounded like he was singing through his nose.

Rock and Roll Hall of Famers Chicago opened the show Saturday, July 13, at St. Paul’s Xcel Energy Center on a dual-headlining bill with Earth, Wind and Fire. (Joe Lemke / Special to the Pioneer Press)

Founding member and keyboardist Robert Lamm now handles most of the leads and he proved to be an ideal choice with a strong, confident voice that also harmonized beautifully with his bandmates. During “You’re the Inspiration,” he held one note long enough to earn cheers from the crowd. That said, he did sound a bit winded during the next one, the excellent “Beginnings,” but it was still impressive considering the guy has been in the band since 1967.

Lamm and fellow longtimers Lee Loughnane and James Pankow expertly led the hired hands, the longest-tenured of which is drummer Walfredo Reyes Jr., who joined the band a dozen years ago. But, as always, Chicago’s biggest weakness is the group’s notorious over-reliance on saccharine ballads. I guess it’s just a hard habit for them to break.

Led by founding member bassist Verdine White and vocalist Philip Bailey and drummer Ralph Johnson, who both joined in 1972, Earth, Wind and Fire delivered an evening of hits and deeper cuts with a timeless elegance that made hearing classics like “Shining Star” and “Fantasy” feel every bit as fresh as the day they were released.

Now 73, Bailey sounded as good, if not better, than his previous two shows with Chicago. It helps that he’s got his golden-voiced son Philip Doron Bailey in the band to help him when he needs it. At just 70 minutes, EWF’s set could have easily been longer, but it also meant there wasn’t much time wasted. And when they hit “That’s the Way of the World” and “Let’s Groove” at the end of their show, it was nearly impossible not to swoon along.

For the encore, both bands took the now-crowded stage for a fun, if sometimes overblown, set of songs that included EWF’s “Sing a Song” and Chicago’s “25 or 6 to 4.”

Since Minnesota United started losing players at the beginning of June, to international teams and to injuries, the Loons have simply been trying to hold on until they had their team back together – and hold on to points, late in games.

They couldn’t do it in Portland, they couldn’t do it in Los Angeles, but Saturday in Houston, Minnesota finally managed it, drawing 1-1 with the Houston Dynamo. It ended Minnesota’s six-game losing streak and gave the Loons a precious point in the standings for the first time since June 8.

Of course, it also extended the Loons’ winless streak to eight games, but after six consecutive games with zero points, even earning one must have felt like a weight coming off Minnesota’s shoulders.

Minnesota broke the deadlock in the 70th minute – and they did it, as they so often have this season, from a set piece.

Joseph Rosales took a corner kick from the left, and while his initial ball into the penalty area was cleared, Franco Fragapane picked up the clearance. Fragapane played an outstanding pass back to Rosales, curving it with the outside of his right boot and leaving Rosales wide open to play in another cross. This time, Robin Lod was making a run at the near post, and he flicked the pass inside the post to give Minnesota the lead.

Twelve minutes later, though, Houston was back level, from a corner kick of its own. Minnesota’s defense failed to get a head on the corner, which bounced to Sebastian Ferreira, who had time to steady himself and blast a shot from five yards away that was moving too fast for any Minnesota player to affect it.

MNUFC’s best chances of the first half came barely 200 seconds in, as a pass from Lod found Joseph Rosales open on the left side of the penalty area. The Honduran’s shot was straight at goalkeeper Steve Clark, however.

Moments later, a cross found Bongokuhle Hlongwane making a run at the near post, but his flick cannoned off the outside of the post and away.

According to the league’s website, Minnesota had just 19.8% of the possession in the first half.

Loons manager Eric Ramsay was at pains, the day before the game, to insist that Minnesota’s system isn’t just a simple 5-2-3 formation every week. In this one, the manager introduced a few wrinkles, having his team defend with a 5-3-2 formation and then flip to a 3-4-3 look when in possession.

The match also marked Carlos Harvey’s first start for Minnesota at center back, playing on the right side, in the spot that had often been occupied by Kervin Arriaga before Arriaga’s sale to FK Partizan.

Kickoff of the game was delayed for almost an hour, due to lightning in the area. Houston’s game last Sunday was postponed after Hurricane Beryl arrived a bit earlier than planned, and the Dynamo had to wait a bit longer to return to the field.

On the subject of returns, Minnesota will finally welcome Tani Oluwaseyi and Dayne St. Clair back this week from Copa América. Both of the Canadian Loons started the third-place playoff against Uruguay, marking Oluwaseyi’s first start ever for Canada. The striker played 66 minutes and the teams tied 2-2 after regulation, but Canada lost the penalty shootout 4-3.

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By: Nathaniel Ballantyne

New York – New York – Former President Donald Trump was rushed to the hospital after being grazed by an assassin bullet that pierced his right ear during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. “I felt the bullet ripping through the skin,” said Donald Trump as he walked out of the hospital. The suspected gunman was killed, and two other people were badly injured. 

This assassination attempt came two weeks after Donald Trump won his first presidential debate against his opponent, President Joe Biden. Biden, who was out of the White House, was briefed by the head of the Secret Service and Homeland Security about the assassination attempt on Trump. The White House says that Biden attempted to reach out to Trump by telephone to no avail. Several

High-ranking officials in the Democratic Party have already publicly condemned the attack on Trump.

As a former president, Trump has a certain level of Secret Service protection, but the team protecting him is not as large as it should have been. According to the Secret Service, there is a plan to increase his team before the Republican convention this week.

Assassination attempts on U.S. Presidents have been numerous, ranging from the early 19th century to the 2020s. On January 30, 1835, Andrew Jackson was the first president to experience an assassination attempt when Richard Lawrence twice tried to shoot him in the East Portico of the Capitol after Jackson left a funeral held in the House of Representatives  Chamber. 

The attempt failed when both of Lawrence’s pistols misfired. Since then, four sitting presidents have been killed: Abraham Lincoln (1865, by John Wilkes Booth), James A. Garfield(1881, by Charles J. Guiteau), William McKinley (1901, by Leon Czolgosz), and John F. Kennedy (1963, by Lee Harvey Oswald). 

Additionally, three presidents have been injured in attempted assassinations: former president Theodore Roosevelt (1912, by John Schrank), Ronald Reagan(1981, by John Hinckley Jr.), and Donald Trump (2024). In all of these cases, the attacker’s weapon was a firearm. 

Many assassination attempts, both successful and unsuccessful, were motivated by a desire to change the policy of the American government.  Not all such attacks, however, had political reasons. Many other attackers had questionable mental stability, and a few were judge legally insane.

Historian James W. Clarke suggests that most assassination attempters have been sane and politically motivated, whereas the Department of Justice legal manual claims that a large majority have been insane.  In this case, we may never know whether Trump’s attempted assassin was insane or whether this was politically motivated.

Some assassins, especially mentally ill ones, acted solely on their own, whereas those pursuing political agendas have more often found supporting conspirators. We have yet to find out whether the killed assassin had any co-conspirators in his attempt to kill Donald Trump.

In the past most assassination plotters were arrested and punished by execution or lengthy detainment in a prison or insane asylum.

Since the vice president, the successor of a removed president, usually shares the president’s political party affiliation, the death of the president is unlikely to result in major policy changes. Possibly for that reason, political groups typically do not coordinate such attacks, even in times of partisan strife.  

Threats of violence against the president are often made for rhetorical or humorous effect without serious intent, while credibly threatening the president of the United States is a federal felony.

Donald Trump is the last former president since Ronald Reagan in 1989 to be shot.  The answer to the question of whether this was politically motivated may never be answered. The gunman was shot dead by law enforcement, and without the gunman, it would be hard to make that determination. 

Many groups, including the Haitian American Pastors Association led by Rev. Rudy Laurent, are praying for Donald Trump’s quick recovery. According to Rev. Laurent, the attack on President Trump was prophetic and only cemented the need for his reelection as the next president of the United States. 

The Republican National Convention is scheduled for Monday, July 15 to Thursday, July 18, 2024, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and we expect increased security, especially around President Trump and his family.