Create Pinoy Blog
I wanted to write this last night right after the concert but I got too tired with all that singing and yes, dancing!
The concert started 8:40PM with Stevie Wonder entering the stage
escorted by his daughter Ayeisha of ‘Isn’t she Lovely’ fame (remember
the line, ‘life is Ayeisha, only a minute old’?). Instead of going to
straight to the piano and singing, he and his band did a jazz waltz
Miles Davis number where he played harmonica. He then proceeded to the
piano and followed it up with a relatively unknown number from a recent
album called ‘As if you read my mind’. Then it was “Master Blaster’ ,
and on and on it went.
Stevie Wonder, the legendary singer-songwriter started performing
when he was 13 or so, and has been performing non-stop since. As I
watched him, I tried to get into his mind and see where he was coming
from. I saw a man who lives and breathes music and is overflowing with
positivity. He was so unbelievably infectious in his joy for what he
was doing. And yes, he sang great, still in the original keys of his
recorded material. His bursting vocal improvisations were still novel,
different from the original recordings and had that fresh Stevie Wonder
touch.
He performed generously and enthusiastically for his audience with
his big hits, and not surprisingly, like many seasoned performers, he
also took the time to feed his soul with music he simply liked to do.
In this latter list were songs like ‘Visions in my mind’, a non-hit
song only a few fanatics like me would know, ‘Spain”, a jazz
instrumental that he did not write but is staple among jazz performers
plus a few more. He also paid tribute to the lead singer of the Four
Tops who died recently by doing the classic R & B ‘Can’t help
myself’. At a certain point, he also had Ayeisha sing an unknown song
from a recent album of his.
Strategically, he let loose a whole tsunami of hits for the second
hour of the concert where he sang crowd favorites like “Overjoyed’,
‘Sir Duke/ I wish, What the fuzz? medley” (this got the audience
bouncing all over the place like popcorn in a microwave). He also did
“Lately’, a personal favorite and a high point. “Living for the City’
was absolutely wonderful. There was ‘Signed, Sealed, Delivered”, ‘I
just called to say I love you’, ‘Isn’t she lovely’, ‘You are the
sunshine of my life’. Am sure I am missing a few more. He then called a
man he met a few years back in Aus, a native Aussie who played the
digeridoo before Stevie broke into the funky roaring intro of
“Superstition”. He ended with a few strains of “As’.
Stevie had great rapport with his audience. He was totally
unguarded, spontaneous and completely disarming. How could he not be?
He had a crowd that simply adored his music. Again, putting myself in
his shoes, I could see a man who was totally oblivious to everything a
‘norma’ performer pats attention to–his looks, his unconventional body
movements. Nothing else mattered except the connection he had with his
happy audience which he loved to interact with and talk to, and the
power of his music. His blindness which he has turned to an advantage
has made him more focused on the music, which is really all that
matters.
He put in a good word for Barack Obama twice, much to the delight of
the crowd, and added that though he had never met him or McCain, he has
connected with Barack’s spirit. He also said something to that effect
to his audience about having such a great time meeting so many friends
and yet never having seen them.
“Part Time Lover’ was a highlight and done with a lot of audience
and band participation. It was light yet so much fun. People just got
up and danced the moment the song started.
I saw him 20 years earlier in an open air concert in Manila. We were
all younger then, but Stevie seemed to have hardly aged. He did a
longer concert then at the Ultra field, and he sang more songs like “Do
I Do’, “If you really love me’, “I was made to love her’, and a few
more. Here in Aus, I knew he had to really end by 11PM. He kept on
saying he had a few minutes left. In many countries, the unions lord it
over the venue and going overtime means the producer paying a few extra
thousands of dollars.
It was a great night. I’m still high. I was so glad to have gone
since there is a short list of people I am willing to pay to watch, and
yes, Stevie is one of them. He promised to be back soon to do a charity
show for the handicapped. I will be watching again, if I am lucky to be
in Aus at that time.
What a concert!
