A Good Dose of Stevie Is Never Enough…
Still basking in the glow of last night’s Stevie Wonder concert at the ACC (even repeated listens to the DJ Khaled 'I’m So Hood' remix couldn’t get me down…) – it’s hard to do justice with words on how good the man sounds live. That being said, what superlatives can you really use when seeing one of the seminal soul/pop musician-artists of all time that wouldn’t echo with redundancy? So we’ll address what is no doubt the biggest challenge for an artist of this longevity and magnitude in giving a live performance: deciding on a set list.
Stevie with a different type of quandary...
Here are the Dot Runnings' Top 17 Stevie Wonder songs that didn’t get performed at his
15. Never Dreamed You’d Leave in Summer - melancholy Stevie was pretty-much absent for the night, but realistically this would have never made a set list. Great Common (even without the Sense) sample tho…
14. Gotta Have You – Being a real 80’s baby (not not looking at you
13. I Just Called To Say I Love You/ For Your Love – The concert was just over 2 hours long, and the feel good, pop ballad was better encapsulated by My Cherie Amour anyways, plus there was a bonus comedic antidote on the inspiration for that song.
12. Jungle Fever – Judging by the audience, it was an alternate theme for the night. Taking her to see Stevie wins. Big. Plus, something to hold over her when you’re back to the everyday routine of super-sizing…
11. Isn’t She Lovely – Understandably missing as his daughter and female backing vocalist was absent due to sickness.
10. I Believe (When I Fall In Love) – Coulda slipped this one in during the Overjoyed, Ribbon in the Sky, feel-good ballad portion of the play list.
9. Part Time Lover - less crude OPP anthem, implying fidelity not a question for a part time gig. Didn’t really fit the vibe of the concert…
8. I Don’t Know Why – A bad song. He could of really rocked this one out, kinda like…
7. I Was Made to Love Her – a perfect transition for Signed, Sealed, Delivered which was performed much to the delight of the crowd. An underrated aspect to the concert was Stevie’s ability to do the damn thing with the up tempo selections, and it showed last night especially during the combo of Livin’ for the City into Master Blaster (Jammin’).
6. All I Do/ That Girl – Big songs that would play well with his large backing band. On any given night, one or both of these songs would be on the play list.
5. You and I – Underrated torch song that rivals Overjoyed and Ribbon in the Sky. Stevie chose, instead, to have an extended interactive moment with the crowd during Ribbon in the Sky which was memorable in itself.
4. Rocket Love – The ultimate melancholy Stevie joint. Could do it big with the band or just by himself with the piano, it’s a truly dramatic song that normally finds its way onto the play list.
3. Another Star – I heard he finishes with this song sometimes; but I wouldn’t of changed a thing last night when he ended with As. Still, this joint is a barn-burner…
2. Hey Love – This song encapsulates everything that is Motown Stevie; i.e. Lil’ Stevie Wonder, the boy-king prodigy. Personally, I would have been throwing people off the balcony if he sang this…
1. Knocks Me Off My Feet – Really surprising omission considering how seminal and made for Stevie’s voice this song is. Plus, this song translates for a more contemporary generation: I feel Donell Jones still sneaks up on unsuspecting ears and gets fans with this.
For the record, this list was surprisingly tough to compose, as ten couldn’t do it and I still missed some personal favourites (
Shout out to the K, who was hoping to hear Place in the Sun, but got a surprise, spontaneous country moment instead.
posted by Roger Sign at 4:28 PM
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