A Wonder Autumn Night

Breathe in. Breathe out. Holy Crap. There aren’t enough words to describe the enormity of the event I witnessed this weekend. Let’s rewind.

Picture it, Saturday night. NYC. Jeff, Rich and myself all have tickets to go see the sold-out show, Stevie Wonder at Madison Square Gardens. HUGE! I’ll try my darndest to give you a clear mental picture of what it was all like since there was no photography CLEARLY printed on the ticket and I was too much of a namby pamby to actually smuggle my camera in. Last thing I needed was for it to get confiscated by “The Man.” But I digress…

Stevie was AMAZING. He sounded just like the albums, but better. Plus, he only played the kick ass old tunes. (No offense to his new stuff, but seriously Superstition blows away any other song he might have penned in the last 10 years!) There was so much soul in his voice and his playing, it brought my love and appreciation for the man to an even Higher Ground! (sorry, couldn’t resist).

Nuff’ said…the show ruled (complete with audience participation, like making the men and the women in the crowd sing different harmonies on Ribbon in the Sky and he even asked us them to join in on a countri’fied version of Signed, Sealed, Delieverd). So cool!!!

Sounds like a pretty amazing show eh? Well, this is Mr. Wonder and you certainly don’t get a name like that for just being mediocre. Un huh. Just when you think it couldn’t get any more awesome…Stevie dials the amps up to 11. Let me explain.

The entire concert was an homage to his recently deceased Mother. So he started the show by dedicating his performance to her (along with taking a moment of silence to recognize the 9/11 victims). Midway through the concert Stevie begins to tells us a bit more about his Mom and how she had two favourite signers, Ella Fitzgerald and our next guest…TONY BENNETT! Yeah, the crooner himself came on stage and sang For Once in My Life with Stevie. He’d just performed the song at its proper tempo, but when Mr. Bennett came on stage, they reprised it with a slow, smooth, jazzy quality. Pure magic!



(not the best quality, but hey...at least gives you an idea. Thanks YouTube and jvphish)

The show continues with one hit after another. Then, as we’re nearing the finale Stevie, fires up the keyboard with an EXTRA funk’tified version of Superstition. The crowd goes mental. Suddenly, out of nowhere, PRINCE shows up playing the guitar. SERIOUSLY! Symbol guy…Purple Rain…WOW! Check out the clip!



Needless to say, it was one of the best (if not securing the top spot) concerts I’ve ever seen in my life. And it all ended as beautifully as it began with a poem written to his Mom and a plea for everyone to put aside their difference and remember the importance of family, love and compassion.

Stevie Wonder is love and Saturday night was a shining example of it.

WOW.
LisaC

P.S. Wanna get the snooty? Here's the NY Times take.