{"id":672582,"date":"2026-11-02T11:04:11","date_gmt":"2026-11-02T11:04:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/672582\/"},"modified":"2026-11-02T11:04:11","modified_gmt":"2026-11-02T11:04:11","slug":"stevie-wonder-in-dublin-sky-high-ticket-price-worth-it-for-a-few-hours-with-a-musical-genius-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/672582\/","title":{"rendered":"Stevie Wonder in Dublin: Sky-high ticket price worth it for a few hours with a musical genius \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Stevie Wonder: Songs in the Key of Life 50th Anniversary Tour3Arena, Dublin\u2605\u2605\u2605\u2605\u2605<\/p>\n

When Paul Simon stepped up to receive the 1976 Grammy for album of the year, he nodded to various collaborators before adding, \u201cMost of all, I\u2019d like to thank Stevie Wonder,<\/a> who didn\u2019t make an album this year.\u201d <\/p>\n

Wonder, who dominated the Grammys in the mid-1970s, had won the same award the previous two years. He was back on the podium a year later for another masterpiece, Songs in the Key of Life. So much music was spilling out of Wonder that the double album came with a four-track EP of additional songs, and every note remains godlike. <\/p>\n

No surprise, then, that 3Arena<\/a> is, despite sky-high ticket prices, sold out as Wonder performs the album in its entirety on Sunday night. A few hours with a musical genius is, perhaps, a priceless experience.<\/p>\n

After a spoken introduction asking everyone to close their eyes to see the world as he does, and some slight wavering as his 76-year old voice settles in, Wonder leads a band that makes the RT\u00c9 Concert Orchestra look short-handed through the album\u2019s twists and turns.<\/p>\n

Given the musical chops on display, it\u2019s surely no easy task to secure a place in Wonder\u2019s troupe. One of the percussionists \u2013 there are three, along with two guitarists and full horn and string sections, plus a phalanx of backing singers \u2013 shows their virtuosity armed only with a tambourine and triangle.<\/p>\n

\"SundaySunday November 1st – Stevie Wonder at the 3Arena, Dublin. Photo by Kieran Frost for The Irish Times <\/p>\n

The early highlight is probably Wonder\u2019s voice opening up fully for Sir Duke, with its spectacular brass breakdown, before the bassist Nathan Watts, who played on the album, takes us into a joyous I Wish.<\/p>\n

But then again, with a record this vast \u2013 21 songs, clocking in on the studio version at 104 minutes \u2013 there are several \u201cAh, I\u2019d forgotten this one\u201d moments, such as the rush of hearing the melody of Knocks Me Off My Feet before combined string and brass drive it towards its glorious key change, or the horns and melodica gathered around Wonder\u2019s chromatic harmonica for the instrumental Easy Goin\u2019 Evening (My Mama\u2019s Call). Some of Wonder\u2019s interludes beat other artists\u2019 best efforts.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a night full of incredible moments, not least when Wonder\u2019s harmonica slips into Michael Jackson\u2019s Billie Jean, when the stately Joy Inside My Tears finishes with an unexpected violin solo or when the harpist Brandee Younger steps up to accompany him on If It\u2019s Magic \u2013 which it very much is.<\/p>\n

Then Wonder knocks a solo out of a harpejji (a tiny cross between a piano and a guitar) with such casual melodic brilliance one suspects he could get a tune out of a forklift if he had to. Kudos too to the sound engineers who make every note of this soulful symphony clearly audible whether it\u2019s a blasting horn or a strummed guitar.<\/p>\n

\"SundaySunday November 1st – Stevie Wonder at the 3Arena, Dublin. Photo by Kieran Frost for The Irish Times <\/p>\n

There\u2019s no flagging towards the end: a fantastic As prompts some of Wonder\u2019s best singing, and even after he has finished with the album he doesn\u2019t seem interested in heading home. Instead he jokes about running over time as he closes with both Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I\u2019m Yours) and Superstition.<\/p>\n

He seems to be enjoying himself immensely, whether declaring his love, giving a singing lesson \u2013 \u201cYou\u2019re a little out of key. We\u2019ll do it again\u201d \u2013 or mentioning some possible Irish blood in his background.<\/p>\n

We won\u2019t experience his like again.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Stevie Wonder: Songs in the Key of Life 50th Anniversary Tour3Arena, Dublin\u2605\u2605\u2605\u2605\u2605 When Paul Simon stepped up to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":672583,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[3265,93,61,60,86641],"class_list":["post-672582","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-3arena","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-stevie-wonder"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/672582","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=672582"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/672582\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/672583"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=672582"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=672582"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=672582"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}