Stevie Wonder review – playing his greatest album in full, he knocks everyone sideways
Utilita Arena, Birmingham The opening night of Wonder’s tour marking the 50th anniversary of Songs in the Key of Life leaves jaws on the floor, thanks to sumptuous tracks carrying still-urgent messages Seated amid a bank of keyboards, Stevie Wonder addresses the audience at the first date of his tour celebrating the 50th anniversary of Songs in the Key of Life, his most celebrated album. He says playing it in full…
Key points
- Stevie Wonder opened his tour marking the 50th anniversary of Songs in the Key of Life in Birmingham.
- He performed the album in full with a large band including strings, brass and percussion.
- The show included an encore of Superstition and was received ecstatically by the audience.
Stevie Wonder opened his tour celebrating the 50th anniversary of his album Songs in the Key of Life at Birmingham's Utilita Arena. The show featured Wonder performing the album in full, backed by a large ensemble of musicians.
Wonder said playing the album in full had been a longstanding ambition, but it required many people to bring it to fruition. He previously fulfilled that ambition in North American arenas in 2014 and 2015, and the 50th anniversary shows take their cue from those gigs, with Superstition added as an encore.
A large band on stage
The performance involved three percussionists, a string section, five brass players, six backing vocalists, two guitarists and three keyboard players, including Wonder himself. Wonder played a bank of vintage and modern synthesisers, a grand piano, an upright tack piano and, on Ngiculela/Es Una Historia/I Am Singing, a harpejji.
The album's original recording involved 108 musicians, with eight people credited for handclaps. In 1975, Wonder signed what was then the biggest recording contract in history, worth around $230m in today's money.
Stop!
— Stevie Wonder
Live performance and reception
The show was a live performance rather than a perfect recreation. Wonder fluffed his harmonica solo on Easy Goin' Evening (My Mama's Call) and restarted Isn't She Lovely, crying "Stop!" and "Sue me!" He also stretched songs out and added an instrumental and Contusion to the first half.
The album's downbeat opening songs were received ecstatically, though not quite as ecstatically as Sir Duke and I Wish. After the deep soul of Joy Inside My Tears died away, an earnest voice from the rear of the arena cried, "That was really good".
