Stevie Wonder live in London: An all-time great reminds us of his brilliance

Moments before Stevie Wonder arrives on stage at London’s O2 Arena, we’re treated to an off-screen introduction in which the great man asks the 20,000 strong crowd to close their eyes and let “the eyes of our ears” take over.

It could be hifalutin stuff, but in the case of one of the greatest musicians of all time, it’s the perfect way to enter the world of his genius for a three-hour show which leaves the crowd wanting more. The show is billed a 50-year celebration of his landmark album Songs in the Key of Life, but is widely a showcase of the Michigan man’s brilliance writ large. He may be 76, but here is a show where his voice and unparalleled musicianship seems entirely undiminished by those years.

Backed by a 25 strong band, he opens with the twinkling ‘Love’s in Need of Love Today’, before ratting through the album he was here to celebrate. ‘Contusion’ is among the first of many songs to be transformed into a elongated jam session for his incredible backing musicians, while the booming jazz-funk of ‘Sir Duke’ – still founding as fresh as it ever did – sees the crowd fully rise to their feet for the first time.

Such is the high quality that a 20-minute interval halfway through the show made perfect and deserved sense. Upon returning, Wonder delivers an impassioned speech in which he calls upon the “leaders of the world to make a difference for everyone”. On the night when America goes to the polls in the mid-term elections, you sense that the new blue wave across the country will give him hope that the message is being heeded.

The second half also sees an impassioned run-through of ‘Isn’t She Lovely’ which sees the great man praising his nine children, while backed by a slideshow of their pictures. It’s easy to be cynical about this stuff, but the dewey-eyed thousands inside The O2 would rightly tell you otherwise.

And as an 11PM curfew draws nearer, he delivers a joyous run-through of the disco classic ‘As’, a seat-of-your-pants medley of songs including ‘MyOverjoyed’ and ‘I Just Called To Say I Love You’, before sending fans into the cold November night with a version of ‘Superstition’ which proved why it might just be the coolest song ever committed to PVC.

Throughout the evening, it’s easy to lose count of the times that “I love you!” is shouted at the man himself. The response, and the performance he delivers, gives the sense that the feeling is entirely mutual. Nights like this could heal the world.