Oct. 19, 1974 review: Stevie Wonder at the Aud

 


Even with all the love and acclaim he continues to receive, it’s still startling to rediscover how totally transcendent Stevie Wonder was in the Fall of 1974. When his tour brought him to Memorial Auditorium, he was riding high on a string of hits and the latest of them – “You Haven’t Done Nothin’” and “Boogie On Reggae Woman” – were on his newly-released “Fulfillingness’ First Finale” album. 

Oct. 19, 1974 

Stevie Makes It His Night

By Outstunning Them All 

          It was Stevie Wonder Day Friday, officially proclaimed for all of Buffalo by Mayor Makowski. And it was Stevie Wonder Night, officially signed, sealed and delivered with love for all of Memorial Auditorium by the man himself.

          There were two ways to greet the occasion. Au naturel was the old denim route. The other was as a stunning creature. Furs, feathers, faces and fancy platform shoes would do the trick.

          “Flyin’?” observed my associate, who spent most of Stevie Wonder Day working up a mighty stun. “I got a $900 coat here. They think they’re flyin’?”

          Unfortunately, nobody was flyin’ for Rufus, the opening band and one of Wonder’s several protégés. And Rufus wasn’t flyin’ either, not even with something under their belts like “Tell Me Something Good,” a hit for them written by Wonder.

* * *

WHAT HURT was the sound, pitifully unbalanced and far from being full enough. It stifled their talented female singer, Chaka Khan. When their hit didn’t prove to be the rouser it was on the radio, it was all over except for the waiting.

          Wonder sent out his 10-piece band, Wonderlove, to show their highly competent chops, instruments first, then three sisters who sang backup, then a darkened stage and Wonder’s voice singing scat syllables to a sunny song.

          The lights came up and it was him in white with a bright orange turtleneck, sunglasses shading his blindness, toying with the keyboards as he brought the whole place alive singlehandedly.

* * *

HE STARTED slow but broke it with the first of many impishly playful bits – a hunt for the perfect quack on the synthesizer, which he converted into the insistent rhythm for “Higher Ground.”

          He went up for a couple songs, down for a shimmery trio climaxed with “Golden Lady,” then up, bringing the whole crowd of maybe 9,000 up with “Boogie On Reggae Woman” as he bumped and boogied with the backup ladies.

          Over to the grand piano and suddenly he was a late ‘50s producer, instructing his hornmen in the subtleties of ooo-ah harmony for what turned out to be “Earth Angel” and a string of upbeat oldies like “Grapevine” and “Respect” until it subsided again with “My Cherie Amour.”

* * *

THEN THEY introduced him like in his early days. 1963. Little Stevie Wonder. “Fingertips” on the harmonica. Then down again for a love trilogy.

          He loosened after City Comptroller George D. O’Connell presented him with a plaque, hoped to keep being “an inspiration in some kind of way to all of you” and topped it with a quiet new social song, “Living Off the Love of the Land.”

          He finished sassy with a flourish of hits. A drum solo on “Don’t You Worry ‘Bout a Thing” and a dash through “You Haven’t Done Nothin’,” “Living for the City” “You Are the Sunshine of My Life” and “Superstition.”

          The lights came up immediately. He needed no encore. Two hours and 10 minutes of Wonder had outstunned them all.

* * * * *

IN THE PHOTO: Stevie Wonder in 1974.

* * * * *

FOOTNOTE: The Memorial Auditorium date does not show up on setlist.fm, but the following night’s show in Boston Gardens is there. Here’s the list:

Higher Ground

I’ve Been Away Too Long

Lookin’ for Another Pure Love

Visions

Uptight (Everything’s Alright)

My Cherie Amour

Fingertips

Don’t You Worry ‘Bout a Thing

Living for the City

You Are the Sunshine of My Life

Superstition

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