Stevie Wonder, The O2

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Posted on 27th Jun 10 by | comments 0

Having being lucky enough to have seen most bands and singers still alive that I want to see there are only a few acts left on what I call my bucket list of a concert wish list. Topping that list for a long time was Stevie Wonder and finally that dream came true on June 24th 2010. [...]
Having being lucky enough to have seen most bands and singers still alive that I want to see there are only a few acts left on what I call my bucket list of a concert wish list. Topping that list for a long time was Stevie Wonder and finally that dream came true on June 24th 2010.

Stevie Wonder

As I headed down to The O2 on Thursday evening extremely excited I had an underlying fear of could Stevie live up to my expectations. Arriving at The O2 I was delighted to see I would be at the top of the queue for my entrance as a coveted barrier spot was my desired location.

At approximately 8.20pm the wait was over and Wonder was guided to a certain spot on the stage, he then worked his way to the front of the stage. Right from the start Wonder was totally on form gave a brilliant performance of Master Blaster which he wrote as a tribute to Bob Marley.

Dressed in a striking blue African inspired outfit with his trademark sunglasses and dreadlocks Wonder looked great and had a huge smile across his face for most of the night. There was lots of interaction with the crowd from the start and lots of opportunities for a sing-along.

The band and backing singers were excellent and included percussionists, guitarists, a drummer, a bass player, keyboard players, sax players and 3 backing singers.

For the latter parts of the gig the backing singers were also dancers. The Dublin Gospel Choir came out on stage for the last song of the night and the delight on their faces at being there was plain to see although Wonder didn’t really utilise them to best that he could have
done.

My personal highlight would have to be for the audience reaction to Wonder after Living for the City and the tribute to Michael Jackson which followed this. I’ve been to a lot of concerts but never before had I felt such love from an audience for an artist than I did at that moment on Thursday night. Another of my favourite moments was when Wonder somehow changed his voice back to when he was a child to play his very first number one hit from when he was 12 years old by appearing to drink a magic potion. Fingertips’ is an upbeat up-tempo song that was made to be played live and was originally released as a live record. It was great seeing Wonder dance while he sang this song.

Other musical highlights included sublime performances of Superstition, Uptight, Sir Duke, Signed Sealed Delivered, I Wish and My Cherie Amour.

His vocals are amazing and have the same power now as they did 30/40 years ago. No matter how constructive I try to be I can honestly say I cannot fault this gig in any way. I do admit I would have loved to have heard him play Part Time Lover as it is my favourite of all his songs. However, the calibre of what he did play more than made up for that.

I reluctantly left The O2 at the end of the gig knowing I’d fulfilled a dream but wanting that dream to continue. Any fears I had before the gig were unfounded. Wonder lived up to every expectation and more besides. He truly is one of the greats and I’ll be eternally grateful I was lucky enough to have seen him perform live.

Stevie Wonder

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