Awesome Wonder

My wife and I have a list of musical artists for which we have always said no matter what the cost (well within reason), and no matter where we may have to travel to see the concert we are going. We had 2 artists remaining on that list, and one of them is Stevie Wonder.

So you can imagine how excited we were when we heard he was on tour again, and that he was actually coming to Dallas and performing at the best venue (of its size) for a concert the Nokia Theatre in Grand Prairie. Maybe I am a homer, but this place was built to host a musical concert, this arena + your favorite musical artist makes for a memorable experience.

Before I discuss the concert I have to mention 1 thing. The day the tickets went on sale, I called my wife a little after 10:30 a.m. (tickets go on sale at 10). I asked her how good were the seats she was able to get? She said, oh my I completely forgot! How could this happen before we left for work this morning this was the last thing we discussed?? If the shoe was on the other foot, I would have been roasted!!! So I did what women claim to do, but we all know how it really gets done, if you need to get something done do it yourself. Surprisingly I was able to get good, but not great seats (look for a future blog on what I like to call the self-congratulator).

I consoled myself by thinking how close to the stage do I really need to be? It's not like Stevie is going to break it down and do the Souljah Boy (although he seemed like he would have if he could have, and he did dance a little). Also, surprisingly the video screens were on for this concert. You wouldn't think this was significant, but I have been to at least 10 concerts at this venue and recall the screens being on only once before. We weren't certain if they were on because the high cost of the tickets, or if it was because 50% of the audience was w-h-i-t-e??? In any event the video screens, plus my binoculars, and the fact that the seats really weren't too bad set the stage for a great concert.

OK, if you are still with me let me talk about how awesome Stevie Wonder's concert was. Too start this was the most people I had seen for any event I had every been to at this venue. Every seat was filled, and the crowd was pumped.... I mean so pumped that the crowd roared at the start of every song, one time they roared so loud, Stevie was like "Hold on ya'll let me sing the song!" Stevie went for 3 hours straight, no opening acts or nothing. I walked out of their dripping sweat sitting (and dancing) in the audience , I don't see how he does it!

Aside from the fact that at this point in life his body is shaped like a "pregnant penguin" (as stated by the woman sitting next to me) and his hairline is much closer to the back of his head than it is too the front, and that his daughter Aisha sang several songs, but is actually 1/3 the singer of his other back-up singer Kim Brewer this was about as hype of a concert as I have ever been too. You really can not appreciate how great he sings until you have seen it in person. I think he can sing in every key there is, and his voice never seemed to go weary.

As I recorded he sang the following songs, but frankly we were up and dancing so much I can't honestly tell you whether the order is correct or if I missed a song in there somehow:

1. Love's In Need of Love Today (with Aisha)
2. Too High
3. Visions
4. Living for the City
5. Master Blaster (Jammin')
6. Impromptu jamming with voice box
7. Higher Ground
8. Golden Lady
9. Ribbon in the Sky, Ribbon in the Sky Remix, Ribbon in the Sky Extended Version (with audience participation)
10. Overjoyed
11. You and I
12. Days of Wine and Roses
13. Send One Your Love
14. How Will I Know (with Aisha, and the only song from his most recent album that he played)
15. If You Really Love Me
16. Don't You Worry 'Bout a Thing
17. Signed, Sealed & Delivered
18. Signed, Sealed & Delivered (countrified)
19. My Cherie Amour (with Stevie letting crowd sing first verse)
20. For Once in My Life
21. I Was Made to Love Her
22. Ain't Gonna Stand for It
23. Boogie on Reggae Woman
24. Sir Duke
25. I Wish
26. Do I Do
27. You Are the Sunshine of My Life
28. Superstition
29. I Just Called to Say I Love You

I probably missed a few. At the end of the night we could only come up with 1 popular song he did not sing, "Isn't She Lovely." Another friend reminded me today that he didn't sing, "I Never Dreamed You Leave in Summer." It's from the Poetic Justice soundtrack. I promise you, after 3 hours of non-stop rocking (because every song is "The Jam"), you were not wanting for more. You had more than you can handle and felt like you really didn't pay quite enough for the ticket considering the show he put on. Not to mention between all the great songs you got to see a whole lot of that great Stevie Wonder personality, sense of humor, and some good old preaching as only Stevie can do.

Every artist needs to sit in one of his tour stops, so that they can see how a concert is supposed to be done, the guy sitting behind me was from Detroit and said this was good as a Motown show back at home in the 70's! If you missed him, I encourage you to not even hesitate to make a fun trip to see him at one of his upcoming tour stops, I promise you it will be the highlight of your trip!