Stevie Wonder--in full effect!

Earlier tonight, Stevie Wonder wowed me and several thousand other guests of the Pollin family (Abe Pollin's relatives) at the Verizon Concert for a two-hour concert titled Living for the City. This was a special treat, as I somehow hadn't had the chance to see Stevie live (crazy, I know), and won one last week at a meeting of local food pantry volunteers.

Contrary to expectations, the show wasn't very late--it was scheduled to begin at 8:15, the introductions, etc., began about 8:30, and Wonder started performing at around 8:45.

Of course, Wonder sang many of his hits--Signed, Sealed, Delivered, You and I, All is Fair, Higher Ground, All I Do, Sir Duke, etc.--though of course, not all of them, or we'd have been there past 2 am. Oddly, Living for the City was not performed, although in fairness, that song's a mini-production that could have stretched over 20 minutes.

Wonder generously shared the stage with local and relatively unknown artists. A highlight was the harmonica duo with a gentleman named Frederic. A very familiar looking local lady played the congas (though not go go style) throughout much of the evening. Lots of folks in the audience were up and dancing, though not me, not with a fear of tumbling down the aisle like Jimmy Stewart in a scene from the movie Vertigo.

The Pollin family was there, front and center, welcoming everyone, and explaining this as a way to show thanks to the community for its support over the years. Amazing, one of the Pollin sons, Bob Pollin, explained he started the process of getting this concert together three weeks ago! Which means that the selfish idiot who stole the teachers' tickets probably hasn't done much with them, as there hasn't been enough time to scalp them, has there?