Questlove — Academy Award-winning filmmaker, Tonight Show mainstay, and drummer for The Roots — kicked off the 2026 Tribeca Festival on June 3 with the world premiere of his latest documentary, Earth, Wind & Fire (To Be Celestial VS That’s the Weight of the World), at New York’s Beacon Theatre.
The film explores the visionary bandleader Maurice White — a complicated genius who spread a message of cosmic positivity while keeping emotional walls up with nearly everyone around him until his death in 2016. Talking heads include Stevie Wonder, H.E.R., Anderson .Paak, Flea, and Barack and Michelle Obama. But the film’s real heartbeat is the treasure trove of archival footage Questlove unearthed and masterfully cut together — revealing a live act whose onstage grooves ran far deeper and rawer than their polished studio recordings.
Following the screening, surviving classic members Verdine White, Philip Bailey, and Ralph Johnson joined The Roots onstage for a transcendent miniset through “Shining Star,” “That’s the Way of the World,” and “September.” Only Questlove can premiere a film and then hop behind a kit to funk through three all-time classics with the very band he just documented.
Source: Billboard
Technical Details
Paul Falcone provided support for monitors, RF and stage; largely manning the very large RF rig required to support a band of this size.
The gear list was rounded out largly with Shure Axient Wireless, Sennheiser Wireless and DigiCo Consoles.