It's a Wonder-ful Life
Posted by Norman Bailey on Monday, June 30, 2014
Yesterday was all about the musical legend that is Stevie Wonder.
Up at 7:00 and thinking about how singing tips had gone down with the TuneIN Choir singers. There were a quite a few emails in my inbox so I was about to find out. Whatever that afternoon's rehearsal had in store was secondary to the fact that many of us were looking forward to was seeing Stevie Wonder do his thing at the Calling Festival in Clapham Common, south London, straight afterwards.
Rehearsal over we headed down from St Pauls. In true festival style, it was pouring with rain. A quick stop at a convenience store to pick up some bin-liners for some makeshift rain wear and we we ready.
How magic was the whole Stevie Wonder experience? Well check this out. I rained the whole time. Many other acts were obscured by the downpour. The bonus was that an undervalued Gregory porter was in a tent rather than on the main stage. But this was a good thing because it meant enjoying his scintillating set in the dry of a packed-out marquee. But when it came to Stevie, that was a different story.
At 6pm the word was out that Stevie was about to come on stage. At that moment the clouds cleared and the sun came out. Wow! this man is really on Higher Ground. And he was all you could hope for. two hours of some of the best entertainment you could wish for. Two hours isn't enough to cover a lifetime of great music. But what you got was more than enough.
Stevie's classic song 'As' is in our repertoire, but he didn't perform that one. So we finish off our evening by singing it as rehearsed earlier.
A perfect end to a perfect day.
