Stevie Wonder headlining A Wonder Autumn Night -11/17/07

I had worked all day, was going to have to work for most of the night, and on top of that I was experiencing fever chills and body pains (painful hints of a future cold) - BUT nothing, absolutely nothing, was going to prevent me from seeing Stevie Wonder perform live in concert on Saturday.

My determination paid off. The concert was the best I have seen in my life. I still haven't returned to planet earth from Stevie-land. Please don't rush me, I like it up here.

My cousin Karyn and I- thanks to my company - had the privilege of Club Lounge tickets to see Stevie Wonder perform on Saturday at Madison Square Gardens. We arrived at 8:45pm - the show was scheduled to start at 8pm - and started freaking out when we heard that Stevie was already on stage. There were no opening acts! We calmed down a bit when we realized that we had only missed one song. Phew!

Stevie is a master. It took me a second to grasp that I was actually witnessing this legend perform live. Mr. Wonder captivated us all - aside from his tremendous vocal ability, his superb skills on the piano and harmonica and his cadre of hit songs - Stevie utilized multiple other techniques to ensure that we were thoroughly entertained from start to finish.

Here are some examples of how he did it. Stevie

• Duelled aggressively on the harmonica with another expert player to the tune of For Once in My Life; at one point Steve and the other player actually got down on their knees as they continued to musically duke it out
  
• Teased the men in the audience about their sexual prowess - he felt that Detroit men were more skilled than NY men, since the NY men were unable to properly sing a somewhat risque chorus after much coaching from Stevie
  
• Coaxed the audience into singing one of his hits using a country twang
  
• Shared stories of his fumbled attempts to hit on a girl when he was 15 or 16 and then launched into the love song he wrote for her (My Cherie Amour)
  
• Showcased his very talented drummers
  
• Altered his voice as he "sang" and played the piano to a medley of non-Stevie popular songs (oldies and current)
  
• Pushed strongly for world peace; he went so far as to suggest that anyone who was only focused on a hate agenda should just die and go to hell, so the rest of us could get on with the peace and love business
  
• Topped it all off with HUGE SURPRISES

Now, here's more on the HUGE SURPRISES.

Stevie at one point during the concert began speaking about his mom and mentioned that she had 2 favourite singers - Ella Fitzgerald and Tony Bennett. Years ago, Stevie had taken one of Tony's songs and created a new version, i.e. his hit For Once in My Life. Mr. Wonder then told us that it was his honor to be able to perform this song live with Mr. Bennett. This didn't really register with the audience, until we saw THE TONY BENNETT walking out on stage. I wasn't sure what to do with myself. Was this really happening? Both legends proceeded to sing. Mr. Bennett was a bit tempered at first, but he was just teasing us, and for the rest of the song he belted out the notes. Tony still has it, folks.

Best concert ever? By far. AND, as if that weren't all way more than enough, we got the shock of our lives when Stevie began performing Superstitious and guess who walks out on stage in a full black, body-hugging suit with high-heeled boots and an electric guitar?! Prince!! YES, Prince!!!!!!!! Do you know how much I love Prince? I grew up on his songs. I COULD NOT BELIEVE IT. Still can't. As my cousin said, "Prince does not walk among us". Well, ultra-superstar Prince, performed wonderfully on the electric guitar (duh!), walked the stage like only Prince could, and smiled/smirked at us as he rocked the house. I really wanted him to sing, but it was Stevie's night. Prince strutted off at the end of Superstitious to thunderous applause from the audience.



What would you do at this point in the concert? Well, despite being completely entrenched in my Stevie alternate reality, I continued to clap and rock with Stevie through a few more of his hits. Mr. Wonder then closed the show by walking arm-in-arm with his backup singers to each corner of the stage, bowing, shaking his bootie, and smiling hard. The audience continued clapping for about 5 mins after Stevie's departure, hoping for an encore which never materialized. I didn't really care...I had already died and gone to Stevie-land.

Mr. Wonder, you are magnificent. Thank you for a fabulous night.