At some point at the beginning of the summer, one of the members of Time For My Music, my community group to support the journey of emerging female musicians, told me that she was going to the Stevie Wonder concert at the Utilita Arena of Birmingham on July 7th. I couldn’t believe my ears! How didn’t I know that he was going to perform in my city? Of course, I immediately decided that I would attend too.

Choosing the seats and purchasing the tickets was a whole ordeal. I ended up getting a place on the side, from where I could see him coming from backstage and up the stairs towards the stage. The camera setup was also visible from my position, and I had a good view of the full band that he brought with him.

The concert was FANTASTIC, both from the perspective of a long time fan, and the one of a professional musician who produces shows too. They performed for more than two hours, with only a short break, and no encore. I had a wonderful time and made memories that I will treasure forever (assisted by a few short videos I took to watch back later, haha).

From the production side of things, I could relate to a lot of what happened. For example, Stevie’s ear monitor didn’t work the way he wanted, and he made a comment about having to take a moment to sort things out. The drummer also had an issue; we could see a tech run to stabilise the base drum. Once the show was over, the sound team stood at the bottom of the stairs to collect the equipment from the musicians as they got off, which was very efficient. The brass players packed at record speed! It was interesting to see them doing something so normal after being dazzling stars on stage. As someone who also knows both sides of the musician’s life, the contrast made me smile.

The venue was also ready for their role; they have a massive clean-up crew stationed in groups around the stadium, ready to pick everything up as soon as all the audience left. Everybody did their part to give us in the audience a brilliant time, and for that, I am very thankful.

This concert was part of Stevie Wonder’s “Love, Light & Song UK Tour”, which has already finished. To date, he hasn’t announced any new shows for 2025 or 2026, although I’m sure it’s a matter of time. When he hits the road again, and if you have the chance to see him, I strongly encourage you to do so. It’s worth every penny and every trouble! For me, it was a dream come true.