Monday, July 14, 2008
Stevie Wonder at White River Amphitheater 7.11.08
The evening began with Wonder being escorted to the stage by his daughter ("Get out of the Water, baby") Aisha. We all know how lovely and how old she is. Anyway Stevie's entry was almost that of a saintly holy man. Wonder has been of stoutish build for sometime. The white with black abstract pattern on his loose garment seemed to be designed for the stage and elevated his presence. He talked briefly about how great it was to return to Seattle. He dedicated the show to Quincy Jones, one of the Puget Sound's finest. And said something about what a great year it was. Stevie returned to touring about a year ago after the death of his mother. He made a surprise swing through the NW in August 2007 of smaller venues and another trek through the country I believe in the Winter.
In the group's opener of four songs seamlessly from Hotter Than July, Wonder and his group of 12 or so musicians feels like a fully throttled and ready for its forthcoming European tour. This truly is a band hand crafted to deliver a legacy of music. And for two and a half hours that is what the audience received.
Knock Me Off My Feet first tune on acoustic and the first not to be at a kickass tempo by the band. The music that came at the formal conclusion of the tune was a hard kind of blues. He got the crowd to count off a couple times and what followed was a a voice synthesized version of the Stylistics' People Make the World Go Round. "Trash man's not picking up the trash today...---one of the finest of hot summer songs perfect for a July night.
This excursion into non-Wonder penned music continued after the Stylistics cover. With one of the keyboards, he played harmonica to the main theme of Rodrigo's Concierto du Aranjuez which segued perfectly into Chick Corea's Spain which also provided a musical introduction to each of the musicians on stage.
Most of the rest of the evening was an almost seamless exploration of Wonder's best music from the seventies, Don't Worry 'Bout a Thing went into a full salsa breakdown until recovering with a very moving version of Visions with a long Stevie rap towards the end of the tune (when the music is playing, Stevie talking at you is a sublime experience, without it, the stuff of seventies standup comics) that ended with a plea to the crowd to not be undecided about positivity, "because it can only move us forward."
The great transitional pair of Living in the City and Golden Lady from Innervisions came next followed by Creepin'. If there was to be a highlight reel of the seventies, this show could be the soundtrack. Have Mercy.
There was some new material, a couple of guest vocalists, (the guy with the long hair Sajaiya? who was an early 08 American Idol favorite, and the winner of a local Sing with Stevie concert with an egregious introduction by a local deejay) and an evening closer of almost perfunctory oldies medley of My Cherie Amour, Signed Sealed and Delivered, Sir Duke, and Superstition. But for me, it was Wonder's ability to take the audience into a world of his music and unique way of interpreting it and the music of others that did what a concert is supposed to do: both transport the audience and leave its impression on one.
posted by well-executed buffet at 9:40 PM
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