brendan halpin

When you have the opportunity to see a legend, you gotta go. And so I went with my younger daughter to Chicago to see Stevie Wonder.

The tour is called: “Sing Your Song: Can We Fix Our Nation’s Broken Heart,” and I guess Stevie intended it at least partially as a get out the vote effort. I was a little put off by the corniness of the title, but, I mean, it’s Stevie “A Journey Through The Secret Life of Plants” Wonder. You know a little corniness is on the menu.

He opened with the new song “Can We Fix Our Nation’s Broken Heart,” which has a nice groove, if the lyrics are…well, pretty much exactly what you expect from the title. And for the rest of the show he played the hits, with “Village Ghetto Land” really the only deep cut he played. (it was extraordinary, by the way. I was hoping for “He’s Mistra Knowitall,” but I didn’t really think we’d get that one.)

He talked a lot, telling stories about the songs, or telling us we have to Make America Love Again, and he was a funny, charismatic presence on stage.

Oh—about the stage. Stevie was not alone on that stage. He was accompanied by a 6-person horn section, 6 backup singers, a drummer, two percussionists, two additional keyboard players, two guitarists, and a bassist. And then, later, the string section (I didn’t count, but I think it was eight to ten people) came out. Was it overkill? Yes. Was it awesome? Also yes. I mean, if you’re gonna see Stevie Wonder, you want him to tear the roof off the sucka with “Sir Duke,” and that is exactly what happened. (Metaphorically speaking. Fear not, Bulls fans: the United Center’s roof is intact.)

After about an hour and a quarter, Stevie left the stage for some vocal rest, and we were treated to the vocal stylings of Shelea, who did a medley of songs written by women who played the piano as she accompanied herself on piano. This was great. Then she performed her own song “Something’s Coming.” This was not, unfortunately, the West Side Story song, but a saccharine positivity anthem that went on far too long and featured a whole bunch of vocal runs, which…look. It’s impressive that you have the ability to do that with your voice. But when you’re doing a twelve-note run, are you singing the song, or just showing off?

Anyway, then the gospel choir came out and did a song about the blessing of Abraham, which was good, but, like, just not really the vibe of the evening. And then Stevie came back and played for another hour and a quarter! This man is seventy-five years old, and he played for two and a half hours!

And there were some great live music moments. Like when either the harmonica or the mic wasn’t working on “Isn’t She Lovely,” and Stevie flubbed the solo and just went, “let’s do it again,” and his million-piece band didn’t miss a beat. Or when he called attention to the presence of Jesse Jackson in the audience and got all choked up thanking Jesse for all his work. It was clearly a genuine, not-showbiz moment, and I was glad I was there for it.

Stevie is a gifted singer, which people don’t really think about much because of his genius as a songwriter, but go listen to his versions of “We Can Work It Out” or “Silver Bells” for confirmation. And I’m happy to report that unlike some people, (have you heard the new Sting song? It sounds like Tom Waits covering a Sting song!) Stevie has really taken care of his voice. And so for the most part, he sounded great, especially in the second half of the show when his voice seemed to be appropriately warmed up and rested. In the first half there were a few instances of him reaching for notes that simply weren’t there, which he could have remedied by modifying the songs somewhat, but the thing is, if you go see Stevie Wonder in concert, you’ll be able to tell your grandchildren that you lived at a time when giants walked the earth, and so you’ll take what he gives you and thank him for it.

So thanks, Stevie! It was a fantastic fucking show!