Everyone loves Stevie
After a day of eclectic performances across the three stages, the majority of the audience converged on the central arena as the late afternoon sun faded and the evening session began on day two of Hard Rock Calling.
Within seconds of Jay Kay bouncing onto stage in his feathered Indian headdress the excitement levels were turned to eleven as he and Jamiroquai unleashed a veritable hat-full of crowd pleasing hits from the back catalogue.
No one with a soul was left standing still as the funky beats drifted across the royal park accompanied by Jay Kay’s uniquely soothing tones – it was what people wanted, and it just got better.
Highlights of the set included a sparkling rendition of perennial hit Virtual Insanity close to the top of the bill before moving into We’re Too Young To Die, Love Foolospophy and a breathtaking recital of Deeper Underground to finish.
Even the hard core Stevie Wonder fans couldn’t help but tap their foot and feel the groove during this hour long funk-fest. Yep, you heard it here first … Jamiroquai are still really good.
It was obvious something very special was about to happen in the interim period between the two headlining artists. The air thick with dust kicked from the ground, people jostled amongst themselves for position as more faces than I’ve ever seen before in a London park appeared from nooks and crannies around the site to ensure they didn’t miss a moment of Stevie Wonder.
It was his sixtieth birthday party, and it was on stage. You can’t help but think Stevie (rather than being annoyed at having to work) would have chosen to have it this way … and what a party he made it.
It wasn’t long until he was pulling out the big hitters and the crowd responded accordingly. Master Blaster set them up, and an elongated tribute to Michael Jackson knocked them down. Pretty soon 50,000 Londoners were chanting “We love Michael Jackson” over and over again … whether they were all being honest or just going with the flow there are few entertainers who could have pulled this off, but Stevie did it with aplomb.
The show controlled the crowd for the best part of two hours, taking them up and down, round and round, through the hits via the jams. Drums relentlessly pounded, sometimes accompanied by vocals and other times just rolled off on their own. One thing is for certain, this wasn’t a show that anyone was going to leave early. Stevie wooed the happy sun-drenched crowd with a medley of old time favourites; Isn’t she lovely, I just called to say I love you and of course a very humbling Happy Birthday, with full audience participation, everyone pleased to be sharing this moment with the legend.
Superstition thundered through the park and the entire crowd sang along with deafening effect. They must have been able to hear this gig at Glastonbury (where Stevie plays on Sunday) … but as he took his curtain call, the drums thumped on and the chants of ‘Stevie, Stevie’ faded from the crowd,, a sudden realisation passed through the audience … it was over, back to reality …
Well not quite … it’s England vs. Germany and Paul McCartney tomorrow…
..and here’s jerky amateur vid of Stevie Wonder if you want to feel like you were there…
