after heavy rain postponed monday night's concert at northerly island for 24 hours, stevie wonder finally took the stage in chicago last night for the first time in over a decade, & he was fantastic...escorted out by his daughter (& background singer) aisha, stevie welcomed the crowd & acknowledged the anniversary of 9/11 before taking a seat at his grand piano & diving into the lead-off track from his 1976 masterpiece, songs in the key of life...two songs later the world trade center attacks were brought up again during the climax of "visions" in the form of a powerful rant that brought the crowd to their feet, which is where we stayed for most of the night...a true entertainer, stevie played musician, comedian & preacher as he rolled through his incredible catalog (including 6 song's from 1973's innervisions) interweaving antecdotes & audience participation that may have actually forced him too run into some time constraints, as he seemed a little rushed trying to squeeze in as many favorites as possible as the night winded down...if he missed a couple ("boogie on reggae woman" was a noticeable omission) it didn't matter, as the show seemed to flow effortlessly from beginning to end, feeling intimate & larger than life at the same time...a truly wonderful experience, i hope he doesn't take another twelve years to do it again.setlist:
love’s in need of love today
too high
visions
living for the city
master blaster (jammin’)
higher ground
golden lady
ribbon in the sky
overjoyed
how will i know
all i do
rocket love
don’t you worry about a thing
signed, sealed, delivered, i'm yours
my cherie amour
sir duke
i wish
isn’t she lovely
you are the sunshine of my life
superstition
you haven't done nothing
give up the funk (tear the roof off the sucker)
-band intro-
mercy, mercy, mercy
birdland
part-time lover
hey love
uptight (everything's alright)
i was made to love her
these three words
i just called to say i love you
do i do
another star (stopped)
happy birthday
here's one of my favorites that he didn't get to last night...
download: stevie wonder - as
related: one of the best parts about last night's show is that it didn't seem scripted, stevie stopped the "another star" finale a few bars in, to invite a local woman (as well as jesse jackson) onstage & play "happy birthday" (off 1980's hotter than july)...he also made a tribute to jazz legend joe zawinal, who died yesterday, by playing portions of "mercy, mercy, mercy" & "birdland" (both written by zawinal) after the band intro...very cool.
download: cannonball adderley - walk tall/mercy, mercy, mercy
related: i almost expected george clinton to walk out on stage when stevie broke into "give up the funk" halfway through the show...clinton is in town with his current version of p-funk, playing the house of blues tonight.
download: parliament - give up the funk (tear the roof of the sucker)
www.steviewonder.net
1 comment:
I couldn't agree more...He truly is amazing. It really seemed like he enjoyed playing for the crowd just as much (if not more) than we enjoyed having him play for us! Every song was heart-felt, & so were the 9/11 and 'love and peace' comments in between them, like you mentioned. I especially loved the medley of hits that he squeezed in at the end. It is so great that you wrote down the set list...looking back, it makes me realize how amazing the show really was!
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