BY MELISSA RUGGIERI
They just don’t make ‘em like they used to.
Albums like “Songs in the Key of Life,” that is.
And Stevie Wonder, too, for that matter.
Wonder’s 1976 influential opus – 21 songs spread across a double LP and a four-song EP – defined aural bliss and furthered the singer-musician’s reputation as an astute social commentator and a master of intricate musicianship.
The album, like many of its era, is also a melancholy reminder of when music mattered more. When albums were crafted as a strategic piece of art and songs weren’t cherry-picked off a menu like the dollar offerings at a fast food restaurant.
Wonder’s 11-date tour to bring “Songs” to life arrived at a sold-out Philips Arena Saturday night with a small village of musicians (more than 30 spread across the stage most of the show); three-plus hours of songs (including a brief intermission); and surprise appearances by Atlanta mainstays Janelle Monae and Earl Klugh (like Wonder, a Michigan man).
Exhausting? Yes. But also blissful.
The chatty Wonder was escorted onto the stage by his two young sons and India. Arie, his guest vocal partner for the tour. Before he played a note, Wonder reminisced about his first-ever plane ride (from Detroit to Atlanta) and joked that he needed to change his accent while in the South.
Then the 64-year-old icon slid behind his stack of keyboards, his background singers launched into the angelic harmonies of “Love’s in Need of Love Today” and “Songs in the Key of Life” exploded in Technicolor beauty.
Wonder’s left leg continuously pumped as he rolled out the keyboard squiggles in “Have a Talk with God” with Arie, whose appearances on stage were paired with outfits designed with a Skittles palette of banana yellow and Leprechaun green.
Credit: Melissa Ruggieri
Credit: Melissa Ruggieri
While a few songs throughout the night sounded a bit rough in the low end of the mix, the majority of them filtered cleanly through the arena – no easy task given the number of musicians on stage. But the massive band, which included Atlanta’s Ryan Kilgore on saxophone and was directed by keyboardist Greg Phillinganes (who played on “Songs”), always stayed on point.
An early highlight came with the rhythmic intricacies of the jazz-funk jam “Contusion.” The instrumental, which heavily features Michael Sembello on record (yes, “Maniac” Michael Sembello), soared with the combination of Wonder’s space-age synths and a gut-clenching groove party from two drummers and two percussionists.
“Songs in the Key of Life” produced plenty of hits, and few live performances could prompt the kind of electrifying double punch that “Sir Duke” and “I Wish” provided at Philips (on the album, they ended and began a side, respectively).
With their glorious staccato horns and insinuating bass lines, the songs are plenty meaty. But add the snare drums that threatened to knock the roof off the venue during the coda of “I Wish” and, well, suffice to say that no one was sitting down.
Part of Wonder’s genius as a songwriter is his ability to teeter between important social commentary (“Pastime Paradise,” which was given new breath nearly 20 years ago by, of all people, Coolio) and pure romantic bliss (“Knocks Me Off My Feet,” which featured Klugh’s flavorful jazz guitar).
In person, Wonder is equally diverse. He frequently made jokes about his blindness (the most amusing that his mother made a pact with Berry Gordy that will expire in 2017 and we’ll all learn that Wonder’s blindness was a gimmick) but turned serious when he asked the crowd to stand if they believe that America has a gun problem (about 90 percent rose from their seats).
During “Summer Soft,” Wonder appeared to get choked up. But he grinned mightily as he sat behind an upright piano for the strutting funk of “Ebony Eyes.”
Credit: Melissa Ruggieri
Credit: Melissa Ruggieri
He launched the second half of the concert with a story about the creation of “Isn’t She Lovely,” the appropriate time for him to introduce one of his backup singers, his daughter Aisha, who is famous for her coos in the song, which were heard in taped form.
Wonder’s voice sounded impressively robust throughout the show and during “Joy Inside My Tears,” he stopped playing to raise and shake his hands like a preacher, singing mightily. The deeper shades of Wonder’s voice, still mostly undiminished, were illuminated on “If It’s Magic,” on which he sang to the recorded harp of Dorothy Ashby, who played on “Songs.”
Klugh returned for the shimmering “As” and rainbow lights hit the curtain hanging behind the stage as the full band – and the always-awesome Monae – joyfully cavorted through “Another Star.”
But Wonder, who unfailingly gives fans their money’s worth, still wasn’t done once this “Songs” book was closed.
Dubbing himself DJ Tick Tick Boom, he playfully teased the audience with snippets of his treasured catalog before settling into a medley of "Do I Do," "For Once in My Life" and "Master Blaster (Jammin')."
Even the most tired members of the audience bounced upright at the first strains of these pop nuggets – and who doesn’t want to sing along with “Happy Birthday” (a fine Atlanta choice given its connection to Martin Luther King Jr.) or “My Cherie Amour”?
No, there aren’t many Wonder’s left in the music industry. But the one still here is well worth celebrating.
Check out our gallery for more photos from the show.
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