STEVIE WONDER
The Borgata Event Center
Saturday, August 25, 2018

        Back to the Borgata - what a great place to see a concert and not a better concert than with the one and only Stevie Wonder. This was the second stop on his limited-series four-city, 10-date US tour dubbed "The Stevie Wonder Song Party : A Celebration of Life, Love & Music."

        Before Stevie Wonder took the stage DJ Mal-Ski entertained the sold-out crowd. He then told the crowd to watch a video that Wonder had recorded for this short tour. On it, Wonder said that the concert will be an interactive fan experience where "people can bring their albums, their singles, their old photos, their memories and celebrate some moments that they've had with me and the songs, and that they've had different experiences with—at weddings, graduations, children being born, or when they fell in love. They can describe them to me as I do the song and they will be put up on the screens throughout the show.”  As Wonder's 12-member band came onstage one by one, DJ Mal-Ski asks the crowd, “are you ready for Stevie Wonder?” They answer with thunderous applause. Stevie is walked out on the stage by two of his backup singers and is led to his piano. The band opens up with "As If You Read My Mind", "Spiritual Walkers" and "Higher Ground".

        As Wonder shifted from piano to keyboards and harmonica, the band ran through all of his golden hits. He was quite humorous and talkative this night, always asking the crowd, "are you with me?" and "I need to hear you sing!" Then, "Don't You Worry Bout a Thing" went right into  a cover of Billy Joel's "Love You Just the Way You Are", that Wonder dedicated to the day's passing of John McCain. Wonder now says that, "This is an emotional time for me. I'm mourning the loss of Aretha Franklin;” but he did not perform any of her songs. After a slow "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow", things picked up with "Sir Duke", "You Are the Sunshine of My Life", "My Cherie Amour", and "I Just Called to Say I Love You", with fan photos now showing on the two video screens on each side of the stage. Wonder now walks just to his right and sits down and plays John Lennon’s "Imagine" on a percussive string instrument called a harpejji, very cool at that. After asking the crowd if they are ready to go home - the crowd responded with a huge “noooooo” - the band finishes up the night with "Isn't She Lovely” and, of course, "Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours” plus "Superstition" to end the concert

        Wonder has hinted that he anticipates the release of a new studio album, "Through the Eyes of Wonder", which he hopes to put out before the end of the year. Sounds interesting and entertaining, just like the show he put on this night.

– Gary Crouthamel, concert photo journalist