Last month, seemingly out of the blue, the iconic Stevie Wonder announced a quick 11-date arena tour around the U.S. The tour is followed by and named after Wonder’s first new song in four years, “Can We Fix Our Nation’s Broken Heart,” which hit the general public only days before this tour was announced. The first stop on Wonder’s Sing Your Song! As We Fix Our Nation’s Broken Heart Tour landed the legend at Pittsburgh’s PPG Paints Arena. This tour marks some of Wonder’s first full shows in years, with most of his previous live performances in 2024 coming from one-off stops at conventions and churches. With his grand return to life on the road, Wonder pieced together a career-defining setlist for the first night of this trek.
Wonder split the night into two sets, adding up to a whopping 23-song setlist for the innovative 74-year-old. He wasted no time getting to the message behind his whole tour as he kicked his Pittsburgh stop off with the freshly released “Can We Fix Our Nation’s Broken Heart.” He quickly transitioned into his bottomless barrel of classic soul records with “As If You Read My Mind” from Wonder’s 1980’s Hotter Than July LP. He would perform “Master Blaster (Jammin’)” from the legendary release. Set one only lasted seven songs and included a cover of Billy Joel’s “Just The Way You Are” and hits from Wonder’s catalog like “You Are The Sunshine of My Life” and “Signed, Sealed, Delivered I’m Yours.”
Set two took up most of the night and allowed Wonder to alternate between his discography and covers. The covers included Wonder taking on “Until You Come Back To Me (That’s What I’m Gonna Do)” by Aretha Franklin and “Betcha By Golly, Wow” by The Stylistics. Wonder then returned to his plethora of hit records, pulling out tunes like “Living for the City,” “Village Ghetto Land,” and “I Wish.” Wonder also performed a medley that included “As,” “All I Do,” and “I Just Called To Say I Love You” before wrapping up the night with “Do I Do” and “Superstition.”
With night one under the legend’s belt, Stevie Wonder sets off on a rare tour. Wonder will now head to New York City for a stop at Madison Square Garden before bringing the show to cities like Philadelphia, Atlanta, and Detroit and wrapping things up in Chicago on November 11. You can check out the full setlist, tour dates, and footage from last night’s below.
2 Responses
Stevie Wonder co-wrote “Until You Come Back to Me (That’s What I’m Gonna Do)”
Love, Loved, LOVED the concert, a memorable mother-daughter date. The whole crowd stayed on its feet dancing the whole night to a horn section, a band, backup singers AND AN ORCHESTRA‼️ Stevie’s voice was still strong and his wit still sharp. But it was his ‘juke box’ list of hit records that took my breath away. Wish he would have played Fingertips but I feel blessed to have seen The Master Blaster still going strong.