Rolling Stone

different look, same sound

"Boy, you better get your ass up and sing…"

Those words came to the legendary Stevie Wonder after the 2006 death of his mother. He said she echoed that to him one day when he was in mourning. The result of that spirtual encouragement is a nationwide tour, which I had the ultimate pleasure of attending when it rolled through Philly last week.

There was nothing keeping me from seeing Stevie. Sure, tickets were a bit steep, but I had confidence that this experience would illuminate my musical soul for quite some time. I was 100% correct. My parents witnessed Stevie 25 years before me and they said how complete and phenomenal his show was. They were 100% correct.

The night started off quite humorous. A Stevie Wonder impersonator entered the building and people went crazy running over to him, taking pictures, getting autographs, and giving hugs. Oops!

Around 8:15, the REAL Stevie Wonder appeared on stage escorted by his daughter and background singer, Aisha Morris. Stevie was in signature style with a sharp black outfit that boasted colorful faces on the sleeves. After an introductory speech why he decided to tour, he sat down at his piano and started to play, "Love’s In Need Of Love Today." Aisha accompanied him on the vocals. The band - consisting of 2 other background singers, 2 percussionists, a drummer, 2 guitarists, 2 keyboardists and bass player Nathan Watts (who has been with Stevie for a long time - thanks to my UK bud Simon for hipping me to that fact) casually strolled out mid-song and started to play. The adrenaline and excitement skyrocketed with the instrumentation filling the arena.

The next 3 hours was a music lover’s paradise. It is impossible for him to cover every hit that the man has had during his 40+ career, but he did a damn good job trying. Where do I even begin with the songs? Damn…

Stevie kept it old school and upbeat for the majority of the night which had people splitting their time between dancing on their feet and jamming in their seats. He switched between the grand piano and electronic keyboard to bust out songs like "Higher Ground", "Too High", "Signed, Sealed, Delivered" (which he turned into a country song complete with claps and stomps…imagine that!), "Superstition", "All I Do", "I Wish", "Living For the City", "Uptight (Everything’s Alright)", "For Once In My Life", "Do I Do", "Master Blaster", "Sir Duke" and my favorite song in the entire universe, "Don’t You Worry ‘Bout A Thing." A few songs he only did a verse and chorus, but they were still just as funky and fulfilling.

He also breezed through a collection of his slow and mid-tempo cuts like "Superwoman", "Golden Lady", expectantly "My Cherie Amour" (which he revealed was written overnight for a girl he liked, who *even after hearing this song* gave him the cold shoulder), "Hey Love", "Overjoyed" (flawless….), "For Once In My Life", "Ribbon In The Sky" (included a little two part audience participation - see You Tube clip below), and the emotional "You and I", which he sang with his daughter as they both got a bit teary-eyed, causing the crowd to also get misty. Yes, there were more songs, but I can’t recall them at the moment.

I was a little surprised to see the lack of a horn/brass section. Don’t take that as a complaint; just a mere observation.

Let me not also forget the presence of the harmonica which he broke out for 3 - 4 songs. As someone told me after the show - a harmonica played by anyone else doesn’t sound the same. So true. Stevie played it with passion and enjoyment, not like it was his job. There was also a point where the 2 percussionists were going back and forth, and in synk creating a Latin vibe that was further encouraged by the adlibs and catcalls of Mr. Wonder.

Stevie is a very funny guy and know for his silliness. However, he also is know for his political and social stance. He used the concert to speak about the world and his disgust, but hope, for humanity. He spoke of the Jena 6, the Iraq War and the current Philadelphia murder rate. He applauded the city’s 10,000 men movement and stressed that he hopes they will continue and truly make a change.

As he started to wind down, he broke into the chorus of Amy Winehouse’s "Rehab" by singing, ‘It’s my time to go, but you say no, no, no’. One of the last things he said was that he couldn’t leave without playing ‘this’ for us. This = "As". Everyone was on their feet, singing and dancing and he and the band jammed on with smiles of satisfaction and gratitude.

Stevie is a genius and I don’t use the word lightly. The hype is to be believed and the legendary status and praise is indeed justified. Entertainers need to take note. THIS is how you put on a damn show and give people their money’s worth. The man is 57 and still on top of his game. STILL!

The audience pleaded for an encore, but it didn’t happen. Afterall, he played for nearly 3 hours. People were amazed and ready to drop money to see him again. Even though I’d have to sell a kidney, I probably would to. Not like the man is getting any younger and hell…neither am I!

Told to me the next day by someone who had lesser expensive seats - "Damn, I feel like I need to give him some more money." A week later and I’m still flying high…Thank you Mr.Wonder.

Here are some You Tube Clips…visual is bad, but the sound is okay…enjoy!

RIBBON IN THE SKY AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION:

GOLDEN LADY (sorry..you gotta hear the taper’s voice a bit also..not so bad):

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 14th, 2007 at 4:28 pm and is filed under Music, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.