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Warm (balmy, even!) evening began with Aisha Morris escorting her father Stevland to the piano. The synths he was playing from the monitors I saw were Hohner and a Yamaha Motif 3 - no Moogs on this occasion. Stevie took a few moments to talk about his (recently deceased) mother and her profound effect on him. Stevie mentioned in a few pre-tour interviews that before her death, Stevie had an invitation to perform a gig in Hawaii that he was about to decline when his mother suggested he do the gig to share the gift he has in bringing other people joy. The small number of North American tour dates that followed are also fashioned after her memory. For the overwhelming majority of the 2.5 hour show, people were in rapt attention. Most stood for the up tempo numbers, but there was this odd aura of respect for the quieter numbers - almost a reverse standing ovation, and this is meant in a positive complementary way, people were afraid of missing something, but also of blocking others' views. (Some of the sparse '80's tunes were hard for me to identify and I had to ask the strangers around me for their names, although they were often stumped just as I was - those mid tempo ballads seemed to be the beer tent / bathroom #'s). As a frequent show goer - I could really sense a different uber-heightened level of attention and appreciation in the collective audience. Folks weren't here because someone gave them free tickets or because they had nothing better to do. Despite really wanting to see Wonder up close, after about 10 songs into the set, I joined my wife and sister and some of her friends in the common area behind the concourse to dance and celebrate - the music just made you too happy to stand in your cramped seat with strangers and dork out. I suppose if we had all been seated together with our tickets, it would have been different, but even then the Pavilion's plastic-twist-tie chairs spread out in horizontal infinity-esque rows result in a lot of push/shove we all sort of quickly grew tired of. The beauty of an approx 7k capacity venue is that the sound and the view via monitors was so excellent that it didn't really matter too much once you were inside. 12 musicians 2 Percussionists (Congas ,Glockenspiels, etc) 1 Drummer 3 Backing Vocals (including Stevie's daughter Aisha Morris) 2 Keys 2 Guitars 1 Bass On to the songs: 1. Love's In Need Of Love Today+ I couldn't imagine a better song to open with, and I have personally always loved this song's thematic framing device of a radio dj spreading a message of joy and love to his listeners. 2. Too High* 3. Visions* In the breakdown, Stevie pleads with the audience to "Stop The War" and to "Stop The Hate" 4. Livin' For The City* Arguably the song of the evening - this song raised me to a stratospheric height. All forearm hairs standing straight up. As the song ended Stevie engaged the audience with a call and response with the simple phrase of 'God is good' 5. Master Blaster (Jammin)% Master Blaster featured Wonder's first use of the vox box. Unlike the processed vocals of Roger and Zapp or Peter Frampton or the envelope filter on an Edie Brickell guitar solo, Wonder's penchant of using the vox box fits into an additional soulful texture, and not just a 'neat' trick to sell a song. As Master Blaster came to an end, Wonder went into a fun interlude and added a P-Funk call and response ala 'We Want The Funk' 6. Higher Ground* I'm not even kidding - the few people that stepped out for a beer/ BR break after the audience participation of Master Blaster were Running back to their seats as the opening strains of 'Higher Ground' came on. 7. Golden Lady* The extended vocal phrasing Wonder used in ending this song started with a simple vibrato and cascaded into a layered vocal-ese improv which IMHO recalled Coltrane or Dolphy. A lot going on here besides the craft of a catchy melody. 8. MID TEMPO BALLAD WHOSE TITLE ELUDES ME 9. Ribbon In The Sky^ 10. Overjoyed# 11. All Is Fair In Love* 12. Lately% 13. So What The Fuss@ 14. MID TEMPO BALLAD WHOSE TITLE ELUDES ME (duet between Stevie and daughter Aisha) Extended Conga interlude 15. Don't You Worry 'Bout A Thing* 16. Signed, Sealed, Delivered! 17. My Cherie Amour~ 18. For Once In My Life} 19. I Was Made To Love Her> 20. Isn't She Lovely+ 21. Sunshine Of My Life$ 22. Sir Duke+ By this point - I had been in the public area for quite some time, but if I hadn't been, my desire to move my body would have yanked me away from seat geekdom all over again on this number. What made it even better is 'Sir Duke' flowed right into 'I Wish' for a one-two punch just like 'Sgt. Peppers' and 'With a Little Help From My Friends' 23. I Wish+ (There could have been another few songs following #23 - my notes got really bad. also - the songs below may not have been in this order..) 24. Superstition$ 25. Boogie On Reggae Woman= 26. As+ Props to Wikipedia's discography. + Songs In The Key Of Life 1976 * Innervissions 1973 % Hotter Than July 1982 ^ Musiquarium 1982 (Greatest Hits collection, but first appearance of 'Ribbon') # In Square Circle 1986 @ A Time 2 Love 2005 ! Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I'm Yours 1970 ~ My Cherie Amour 1969 } For Once In My Life 1968 > I Was Made To Love Her 1967 $ Talking Book 1972 = Fulfillingness' First Finale 1974 Great night. A+