Stevie Wonder “Songs in the Key of Life” Tour, Verizon Center, 11/9/2014

The legendary Stevie Wonder doesn’t tour all that often, and I had never seen him live, so it was a no-brainer to get tickets for the Washington stop of his latest tour, which was dedicated to performing the entirety of his Songs in the Key of Life album. The three seats we wound up getting (Section 211, Row L, 10-12) turned out to be not bad at all. They were relatively far back (right side facing the stage, probably at around what would be the far goal line for hockey), but at the end of a row, with an unobstructed view of the stage and video screen, and in the last row of the section, so we could stand up at will without having any guilt feelings about blocking anyone else. Getting in and through security didn’t take all that long, and even the Metro on the way home was surprisingly uncrowded, especially since the concert appeared to be sold out. 

Needless to say, the show (which ran close to 3 hours) was fantastic. Wonder started by joking about “losing his voice” and having to cancel the show, and gave special thanks to band members Greg Phillinganes and Nathan Watt, both of whom were also on the original recording. He and his large cast of musicians (including horns, a string section, and backup singers) launched into “Love’s in Need of Love Today”, which is the first track of Side 1 of the album. The crew then moved through Sides 1 and 2 of the first record in the set, winding up with the first two songs from the 4-track bonus EP, “Saturn” and “Ebony Eyes”. After intermission, they resumed with the crowd favorite “Isn’t She Lovely”, where Wonder featured his now grown-up daughter and backup singer Aisha Morris, who inspired (and appears, as a baby, on the original). After finishing up Side 3 (the first side of the second full-length record in the set), Wonder wisely chose to do the two remaining songs from the EP (“All Day Sucker” and the instrumental “Easy Goin’ Evening”) before moving on to the final side, concluding with the favorites “As” (which I’m still puzzled was not titled “Always”) and the driving “Another Star”, which fortunately was long enough to give Wonder time to introduce all the numerous members of his backup ensemble. After the lengthy standing ovation had died down, he teased the crowd by playing the first few bars of “Do I Do” and “Master Blaster” before sending everyone home happy with a full performance (and crowd singalong) of “Superstition”. 

Stevie alternated between keyboards, standup vocals, and harmonica throughout the evening, and seemed to be in fine voice throughout, despite his joking around at the beginning. Highlights included several appearances by special guest India.Arie (in a variety of colorful outfits), and the one-two punch of his #1 hits “Sir Duke” and “I Wish” near the beginning.