Stevie Wonder's Michael Jackson Tribute - Summerfest

Stevie Wonder and John Legend were Sunday's Summerfest headliners at the Marcus Ampitheater.

Dave Tianen reviewed the show. From his account, it was a rather bizarre performance, becoming a tribute to Michael Jackson, at times highly emotional.

Tianen writes:

One thing can be said with utter confidence. Summerfest will not witness another concert like Stevie Wonder's performance Sunday at the Marcus Amphitheater for a very long time.

It was an evening filled with genuine emotion. It was also spontaneous, unpredictable, confusing, a bit sloppy, loving - and for a few moments, quite alarming.

Wonder essentially turned his concert into a tribute to Michael Jackson. He opened his set with a little speech telling people to celebrate the joy and magic in Michael's music and ignore all the gossip and scandal.

At one point, he brought opening act John Legend on stage to join him on a duet of "Get It," one of Wonder's songs that Jackson had recorded. When they were finished, they played a tape of Jackson's hit "The Way You Make Me Feel."

Suddenly, Wonder slumped over at his keyboard. It was hard to tell what was happening. Was he ill? Was he sobbing? Even the band seemed confused and unsure of what to do.

After some long moments, Wonder's daughter Aisha Morris came over and appeared to comfort him. It seemed as though the concert might be over.

But then Wonder rallied and plunged into a rhythm number without explaining exactly what had happened.

Perhaps 20 minutes and several songs later, he stopped and told the audience: "I am not ashamed to express my heart. Don't be afraid to express your heart."

How creepy! That's really disturbing.

Wonder slumping over at the keyboard is not a scene I would have wanted to witness. I think that would have been frightening. I would have been tempted to call 911.

It appears that Wonder is really grieving and having difficulty going ahead with his concert schedule.

The show must go on, but not if Wonder is incapable of delivering the sort of show that concertgoers put out good money to see.

He then brought Legend on again to join in a new song he had just written and planned to donate to the Jackson family. The title, apparently "In the Arms of God," is a celebration that Michael is now at peace.

From there, the set segued somewhat awkwardly into a medley of greatest hits such as "My Cherie Amour," "Uptight," "For Once in My Life" and "Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I'm Yours." When the set list got to "Superstition," Wonder changed the chorus to lead a sing-along of "We love you, Michael, We'll see you in heaven."

Critically, what can you say about a performance like that? Anyone who witnesses Wonder for even a little while realizes he is a truly sweet, tender-hearted man. He is also sometimes seems almost childlike in his naiveté. Without in any way minimizing the tragedy or sadness of Jackson's life and death, there were troubling aspects to his life that go beyond gossip-mongering.

Tianen doesn't say how the audience responded to all this mourning and preaching.

If people were caught up in Wonder's emotion, it could have all been very moving. If they were hoping for more of an upbeat concert, they must have been disappointed.

It is naive for Wonder to tell people to ignore "all the gossip and scandal" in Jackson's life.

The child molestation charges weren't gossip. That's the unfortunate reality. Asking people to focus on Jackson's talent and his musical contributions is fair. Telling them to ignore the dark stuff is unrealistic. In effect, he's asking them to buy into a lie.

I understand that Wonder must really be hurting and he was honest about it. But he's a professional entertainer. If concertgoers were unhappy with the show, I think that would be a legitimate reaction. At least according to Tianen's review, Michael Jackson and grief took center stage last night rather than Stevie Wonder.

If I had to choose, I suppose I'd prefer a Michael Jackson tribute to Wonder spending the evening singing the praises of Obama and making political speeches.

In any event, whatever one's reaction, it sounds like it was an unforgettable concert.
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More, from TMJ4:

Stevie Wonder talked about how much he missed his friend during his concert at Milwaukee's Summerfest, the world's largest music festival.

"I'm just so sad to know that he was never able to live to be old and gray," said Wonder on stage during his show at the Marcus Ampitheater.

"I have peace in knowing that a man with the spirit of Michael Jackson is safe now in the arms of his God."

Video.