The Obamas made a surprise appearance with Wonder in the DC-area
Stevie Wonder wants to heal America’s broken heart. And certainly, his soulful repertoire has the power to unite. Fourteen thousand people’s desire to commune with music for a marathon two-and-a-half hour, 30-song set during his Sing Your Song! As We Fix Our Nation’s Broken Heart fall 2024 tour stop.
Wonder’s piano was set as far downstage as possible. The tour’s namesake song, “Can We Fix Our Nation’s Broken Heart?” kicked off the show.
Wonder was walked to the stage by Barack and Michelle Obama in his arms, as he exclaimed, “I have friends! We have friends!” With the Obamas behind him, Wonder sang an election-themed cover of “Heat Wave,” changing the chorus to “Land Slide.”
The 44th President, dressed in jeans and a leather jacket, only spoke at Wonder’s prompting. At first giving a prolonged “Hey,” Obama joked that he and the former First Lady just wanted, “To make sure Stevie gets in his seat okay.”
This being the DC-area stop focused on uniting the country politically, an appearance from a high-wattage Democratic star made sense. Wonder has a storied history of using his music to support Democrats for office. He appeared during the DNC, speaking briefly and playing “Higher Ground.”
Stevie Wonder spoke of “love” and “healing” the country but never took his focus off his belief that music can be a tool for peace. Of course, there is and always has been messaging in his songs. But those messages are meant to provoke pensive thought, not incite aggressive action. Take the lyrics to the aforementioned “Higher Ground” — “People keep on learning/Soldiers keep on warring/World keep on turning/’Cause it won’t be too long.”
But it wasn’t all politics and prose. The people came to jam to the hits. And he gave them plenty. “Master Blaster (Jammin’)” brought the groove early on. “Signed, Sealed, Delivered” had the crowd on their feet. Seminal Wonder ballads “Isn’t She Lovely” and “I Just Called to Say I Love You” came later.
The band was massive, with 12 people in his string section alone. There was a full horn section, two percussionists, and five backing vocalists. The guesstimate is that at least two dozen people on stage contributed to creating Stevie’s iconic sound.
Stevie’s soulful R&B voice with its distinctive and slight nasal is still in Wonderful (pun intended) form. This is the most obvious in his velvety ballads, in particular “Overjoyed.”
At about the midpoint of the evening, Wonder turned the stage over to guest vocalist Shelea McDonald. She used her stunning voice to deliver a killer cover of “You’ve Got a Friend” by Carole King. The Morgan State University choir took CFG Bank Arena to church with a jumpy gospel number, decked out in blue and orange robes.
Wonder returned to his elaborate keyboard setup to play his way through more hits and covers including “Sir Duke,” “Superstition” and
“Do I Do.” He left the crowd feeling euphoric and hopeful for the future.
Wonder said that he believes love is the thing that will bring a brighter tomorrow to heal the paralyzed to walk and let the blind men see. As long as the light of pure goodness that is Stevie Wonder is still joyously spreading peace through his music, all he hopes is ahead for us seems within reach.
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