GovernorSilver Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 Cost me a pretty penny to catch the show at Verizon Center in DC last night, but it was worth every penny. This review pretty much describes the show I saw and heard: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/live-reviews/stevie-wonder-songs-in-the-key-of-life-tour-msg-20141107 It was a thrill to see two of my keyboard heroes (Wonder and Greg Phillinganes) play live for the first time, and together onstage too. For the DC show, he had as many as 5 drummers going at once (2 trap drummers, 3 percussionists) for some songs. Wonder named just about every single person who played the show towards the end (8 string players, about the same number of horn players, the 2 guitarists, the 3 backing keyboard players, 5 drummer/percussionists, the army of backing vocalists, and special guests India Arie, Frederic Yonnet and Nathan Watts). Phillinganes as music director had the opposite job of his Toto gig - instead of trying to cover 2 keyboard players' parts all show, he kept his own parts minimal while conducting the string section and generally overseeing the band. At one point, he noticed three women who were dancing a couple of rows in front of me, waved at them and danced in response. He also did a bit salsa dancing with India Arie. I couldn't help but keep thinking to myself "this is one of the baddest keyboard players in contemporary music, but he's just having a good time onstage because he's got nothing to prove". He played a lot of synth bass, practically making bassist Nathan Watts a guest. He used a bit of Moog Sub 37 for that role, but mostly played synth bass on his Korg M3. He used the M3 for the one synth lead solo that he took. Eddie Brown's axes were a Nord Electro 4 and a Roland (Fantom? not sure). The Nord was used for a lot of his electric piano parts, and his organ solo. The 3rd backing keyboardist had a Sub 37, Clavinet D6, and a Roland that I was too lazy to identify (it had drum pads). Stevie's own rig was an acoustic grand, Clavinet D6, Vintage Vibe electric piano, and the Harpejji. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marczellm Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 The 3rd backing keyboardist had a Sub 37, Clavinet D6, and a Roland that I was too lazy to identify (it had drum pads). Silver => Fantom Black => FA-06/08 or A series MIDI controller Life is subtractive.Genres: Jazz, funk, pop, Christian worship, BebHop Wishlist: 80s-ish (synth)pop, symph pop, prog rock, fusion, musical theatre Gear: NS2 + JUNO-G. KingKORG. SP6 at church. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dana. Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 Regrettably, I couldn't make it to the MSG show. I'm hoping they will film one for a DVD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doerfler Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 Cost me a pretty penny to catch the show at Verizon Center in DC last night, but it was worth every penny. good for you, GS. wish I could have been there with you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LX88 Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 Hmmmm.... Vintage Vibe EP. Interesting. He used Rhodes for so many things and I know he is a fan of the new Rhodes. It's been a couple years since the new Rhodes stuff came out. I wonder what has become of that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GovernorSilver Posted November 10, 2014 Author Share Posted November 10, 2014 Hmmmm.... Vintage Vibe EP. Interesting. Yeah, there were two big screens, and when I saw a closeup of his sparkly silver electric piano, it had the unmistakeable "VV" logo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GovernorSilver Posted November 10, 2014 Author Share Posted November 10, 2014 Cost me a pretty penny to catch the show at Verizon Center in DC last night, but it was worth every penny. good for you, GS. wish I could have been there with you I think you would have enjoyed it. I'm with D-Bon in hoping there'll be a DVD release. For his encore, Stevie announced he's now going to be a DJ, then he and the band ran through 1-2 min. snippets of 3 songs not on the album in rapid succession. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dana. Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 Hmmmm.... Vintage Vibe EP. Interesting. He used Rhodes for so many things and I know he is a fan of the new Rhodes. It's been a couple years since the new Rhodes stuff came out. I wonder what has become of that. Production has ceased. Last I heard, the future of the company was uncertain. Their last tweet was in 2011. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dana. Posted January 15, 2015 Share Posted January 15, 2015 In case you missed the first round of shows: "The second leg begins March 17 in Denver, and will take Mr. Wonder and his lively band to Houston; Dallas; New Orleans; Louisville, Ky.; Minneapolis; Columbus, Ohio; Austin, Tex.; Nashville; and Baltimore. The finale will come on April 12 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn." http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/01/15/stevie-wonder-extends-songs-in-the-key-of-life-tour Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philip Clark Posted January 15, 2015 Share Posted January 15, 2015 Regrettably, I couldn't make it to the MSG show. I'm hoping they will film one for a DVD. His Forum show next month will be taped. http://www.grammy.com/news/stevie-wonder-grammy-special-to-air-feb-16-2015 Soul, R&B, Pop from Los Angeles http://philipclark.com Cannonball Gerald Albright Signature Alto, Yamaha YC73, Fender Rhodes, Roland Juno-106, Yamaha MX61, Roland VR-09, MicroKorg XL, Maschine Mikro, Yamaha Reface CP, Roland MKS-50 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Osoff Posted January 15, 2015 Share Posted January 15, 2015 My wife and I caught the show in Boston in November - such a joy! And yes, I was salivating a bit over that Vintage Vibe piano. Now I see the post about the second leg of the tour - i read it to my wife, we look at each other and at the same time, in stereo, we yell out "Road trip!" Hmmm... Barclays Center perhaps? Nord Stage 3 Compact Nord Stage 2 EX Compact Korg Kronos 2 73 Mag C2 organ UHL X3-1 organ GSI DMC-122 Radial KL8 Motion Sound Kp500S Macbook Pro Falcon, UVI, Kontakt, Logic, PT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philip Clark Posted January 15, 2015 Share Posted January 15, 2015 Those of you contemplating the LA dates, I just got this update from Nokia Live. The first performers for "Stevie Wonder: Songs In The Key Of Life - An All-Star GRAMMY® Salute" have been announced and include: seven-time GRAMMY winner Chris Martin of Coldplay, singer/songwriter Janelle Monáe, seven-time GRAMMY winner Willie Nelson, current GRAMMY-nominee Ed Sheeran, and eight-time GRAMMY-winner Usher. The primetime special, presented by The Recording Academy®, AEG Ehrlich Ventures, and CBS, will pay homage to Wonder's iconic career with superstar performances celebrating his incomparable songbook. Soul, R&B, Pop from Los Angeles http://philipclark.com Cannonball Gerald Albright Signature Alto, Yamaha YC73, Fender Rhodes, Roland Juno-106, Yamaha MX61, Roland VR-09, MicroKorg XL, Maschine Mikro, Yamaha Reface CP, Roland MKS-50 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steadyb Posted January 16, 2015 Share Posted January 16, 2015 I saw the show last month at The Forum in Inglewood...fantastic show. And he played over 3 1/2 hours. Played until 12:30am. Awesome show! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steadyb Posted January 16, 2015 Share Posted January 16, 2015 I was also very fortunate to get to watch all of sound check. Very special. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mate stubb Posted January 16, 2015 Share Posted January 16, 2015 Wait, are we talking about Stevie playing down the original album with a bunch of the original players, or an all star suckfest with Coldplay? Moe --- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Osoff Posted January 16, 2015 Share Posted January 16, 2015 Original album with many of the original players, India Arie, Greg Phillinganes, strings, horns, the works, no Coldplay suck fest except apparently at that Grammy show coming up :-0 Nord Stage 3 Compact Nord Stage 2 EX Compact Korg Kronos 2 73 Mag C2 organ UHL X3-1 organ GSI DMC-122 Radial KL8 Motion Sound Kp500S Macbook Pro Falcon, UVI, Kontakt, Logic, PT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mate stubb Posted January 16, 2015 Share Posted January 16, 2015 "The primetime special, presented by The Recording Academy®, AEG Ehrlich Ventures, and CBS, will pay homage to Wonder's iconic career with superstar performances celebrating his incomparable songbook." :idk Sounds like a typical TV tribute program to me. Would I love to see SITKOL performed by Stevie and his band? Absolutely! Would I sit thru "superstars" singing Stevie's songs to him? Nyet. Moe --- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dana. Posted January 16, 2015 Share Posted January 16, 2015 Would I love to see SITKOL performed by Stevie and his band? Absolutely! Would I sit thru "superstars" singing Stevie's songs to him? Nyet. Then you need to get yourself to one of these cities. "The second leg begins March 17 in Denver, and will take Mr. Wonder and his lively band to Houston; Dallas; New Orleans; Louisville, Ky.; Minneapolis; Columbus, Ohio; Austin, Tex.; Nashville; and Baltimore. The finale will come on April 12 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GovernorSilver Posted January 16, 2015 Author Share Posted January 16, 2015 Wait, are we talking about Stevie playing down the original album with a bunch of the original players, or an all star suckfest with Coldplay? Having seen the full concert, I feel no need to watch the Grammys, especially since Stevie's portion of it is sure to be uploaded to Youtube soon after. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doerfler Posted January 16, 2015 Share Posted January 16, 2015 Having seen the full concert, I feel no need to watch the Grammys, yeah, yeah, yeah, rub it in Gov. tickets go on sale next Friday for Baltimore Arena, hoping I can pull a couple off before it sells out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keyman27 Posted January 16, 2015 Share Posted January 16, 2015 I'm thinking of going to the Columbus show. Any tips to get good tickets? I don't understand all this pre-sale vs. general public sale Ticketmaster stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Osoff Posted January 16, 2015 Share Posted January 16, 2015 Concert tickets were a lot simpler in the days before Ticketmaster. I can't stand pre-sales. A lot of them are open to paid fan club members of whatever band, some of them I can get in on the pre-sale as a Citi Mastercard holder or Livenation email list member, but there's a lot of BS that goes on with these so called 'Premium Seats' or 3rd party ticket sellers that just have access to tons of seats that are never available to us at face value.... Anyways, I would get on the FB pages of Stevie Wonder, Ticketmaster / Livenation email lists, etc and if you have a credit card issued through Citi that may be an in to the Pre-sale also. I'm thinking about the Brooklyn show and was just looking at the ticket info today. Nord Stage 3 Compact Nord Stage 2 EX Compact Korg Kronos 2 73 Mag C2 organ UHL X3-1 organ GSI DMC-122 Radial KL8 Motion Sound Kp500S Macbook Pro Falcon, UVI, Kontakt, Logic, PT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dana. Posted January 16, 2015 Share Posted January 16, 2015 I'm thinking of going to the Columbus show. Any tips to get good tickets? I don't understand all this pre-sale vs. general public sale Ticketmaster stuff. StubHub Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Osoff Posted January 16, 2015 Share Posted January 16, 2015 Amazing how Stub Hub and all the others have all these guaranteed seats available long before tickets actually go on sale to the public. Oh well - it's an old gripe with the industry. I'll shut up now ;-) I got McCartney tix through Stub Hub last summer - paid a lot, but didn't have any problems getting in... Nord Stage 3 Compact Nord Stage 2 EX Compact Korg Kronos 2 73 Mag C2 organ UHL X3-1 organ GSI DMC-122 Radial KL8 Motion Sound Kp500S Macbook Pro Falcon, UVI, Kontakt, Logic, PT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dana. Posted January 16, 2015 Share Posted January 16, 2015 If you don't mind paying the money (as I generally don't), StubHub is the way to go. Sometimes I don't even bother with Ticketmaster, and I get a better seat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doerfler Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 If you don't mind paying the money (as I generally don't), StubHub is the way to go. Sometimes I don't even bother with Ticketmaster, and I get a better seat. right now, TicketMaster is giving me the blues. I get in to the CitiCard presale, but I get this error "We were unable to process your request. Try again later." Gee, thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doerfler Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 well, I'm IN. got 2 good, not great, but good tickets at Baltimore Arena need to work some overtime now Stevie is 1 year younger than Bruce but now he is the more expensive show. Anyway, seeing Stevie April 9th, then Herbie and Chick April 10th @ Kennedy Center DC Prosit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Paxton Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 Got my ticket in my hand! The New Orleans show will be my first time seeing Stevie live. Coincidentally, I also bought a new car today; I'm way more excited about the Stevie tickets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Osoff Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 I managed to score 2 tix to the Barclay's Center show! It took almost an hour of non-stop clicking and error messages on Ticketmaster. I got as far as the payment and mailing address page 3 times and the website gave me less than 30 seconds to fill out that page which I just couldn't do, and I lost those tix each time. Finally, the 4th time, they gave me 2 minutes to fill that page out. It's an expensive ticket, but I'm thrilled to catch the show and also a weekend in NYC visiting old friends will be a treat. Nord Stage 3 Compact Nord Stage 2 EX Compact Korg Kronos 2 73 Mag C2 organ UHL X3-1 organ GSI DMC-122 Radial KL8 Motion Sound Kp500S Macbook Pro Falcon, UVI, Kontakt, Logic, PT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Paxton Posted January 20, 2015 Share Posted January 20, 2015 Yeah, this is by far the most I've ever spent on concert tickets. Frankly I can't imagine any other show that I'd consider worth that kind of $$. But Stevie doing that album? Oh hell yeah... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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