After the concert, it was Earth, Wind & no show

I heard one of the lead singers of Earth, Wind & Fire was not going to show up for the private picture-taking session with fans and benefactors after the PACER Center gala over the weekend.

Turns out Philip Bailey was the one who passed up the post-concert posing at the 26th and best-attended gala for Twin Cities center, which helps children with disabilities.

This was completely predictable based on an August 2007 ewffanclub.com entry with the headline: "Not Happy with Philip Bailey." The website party line is that Bailey is so spent after performances he does not mingle much these days; he saves the energy for his family. Bailey's exhausted because now he also sings parts that were performed by Maurice White, who has Parkinson's and no longer tours with the aging rockers.

"I think whenever you are doing something for a charity organization, especially PACER, [you should] just show up for a few minutes and shake a few hands," said gala supporter Melinda Jacobs, who did not attend this year because of her son's prom. "It's not a big deal."

Besides, a post-concert appearance is the measuring stick by which a certain gossip columnist determines how full of oneself a performer is. Bailey's no-show was by no means on the level of Natalie Cole's post-performance behavior at PACER in 1998. "She wasn't nice, remember," Jacobs said. "She disappeared quick. As far as I'm concerned, with the economy the way it is, nobody's too good to show up and say, It's very nice that you spent this money on this charity and I appreciate it."

One could see how hitting those falsetto notes would take it out of a near-senior citizen. "After the Love is Gone" started off sounding as though Bailey's voice had gone the way of the love. There was cringing in my row as the opening bars of the next song, "Reasons," started. Luckily Bailey's falsetto showed up and was stellar the rest of the night.

From where I was sitting Bailey didn't work the stage nearly as vigorously as Verdine White. White, with his skinny high-water pants and his hair weaved to within an inch of its life, did the post-performance meet-and-greet honors with Ralph Johnson. They were both exceedingly charming, gracious and accommodating.

"I didn't know PACER people partied like this," a woman said.

"From the first song it was chaos," said artist Anthony Whelihan, who did the official portrait of the headliners. "I have not seen so many old people run up to the stage."

Check out startribune.com/video. When the strobe light was right I caught a few of you in impressive stages of dance, including T.J. and his dad, St. Paul Director of Human Rights Tyrone Terrill.

An album cover, at last? Anthony Whelihan finally may be getting his art on an album cover.

At past PACER galas, I've heard the shy, reserved Whelihan stress to headliners Michael Bolton and Jennifer Hudson what a wonderful album cover his portraits of them would make.

Finally found Michael I finally got an answer to an e-mail I sent late last year to singer Michael Johnson.

Long ago I got rid of my all my LPs, and I'd started feeling a need to hear my favorites from him again. I e-mailed him to find out where I could buy a CD carrying only my favorite Michael Johnson songs. I may have also bored him with some personal information: One of the things that excited me when I moved to Minneapolis in the 1980s was the fact that he lived here. (I moved here, and Johnson moved to Nashville.)

Unbeknown to me, he'd had bypass surgery in August. My e-mail would have arrived after that and before announcement of Sunday's "Michael & Friends" benefit concert at the Fine Line, which raised money for his rehab.

When I caught up to him, Johnson said he remembered my e-mail. "I didn't write back because I didn't have any gossip."

There is video of Johnson, performing at the Fine Line, at startribune.com/video.