Stevie Wonder revisits 'Key' messages of unity, love

It was only natural to think of Amos Brown when Stevie Wonder performed the song "Village Ghetto Land" Saturday night at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

A few minutes earlier when starting the show, Wonder dedicated the Indianapolis stop of his "Songs in the Key of Life: The Performance" tour to Brown -- the radio personality and journalist who died Friday after a suspected heart attack.

Brown devoted his life to striving to make Indianapolis a better place to live. Wonder's pointed ballad, built on a sonic bed of lovely symphonic orchestration, depicts a environment of violence, poverty and fear:

"Broken glass is everywhere, it's a bloody scene," and "Families buying dog food now, starvation roams the streets."

Death of Amos Brown leaves 'a communication crater in our community'

Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.

These are conditions that persist "still in 2015" -- a line that Wonder added to Saturday's rendition. (On the topic of solutions, the Motown great later paused to endorse teaching arts in schools as a way to inspire children ).

When comparing the 21st century to "Songs in the Key of Life's" release year of 1976, "Sir Duke" and "I Wish" still resound as monumental jams. Thanks to the tour's (mostly) track-by-track format of performing the classic double-album in its entirety, "Sir Duke" and "I Wish" arrived in succession to showcase "some of the funkiest horn players on the planet," as Wonder touted with full accuracy.

At 65, Wonder is in great voice and he remains a master of many musical instruments. In recent years, he's picked up the harpejji -- a stringed rectangle that's a hybrid of of piano and guitar.

Wonder's celebrity status hasn't waned across four decades, evidenced by a story he told about Friday's day off between performances in Little Rock, Ark., and Indianapolis. At Oprah Winfrey's request, he flew to Los Angeles to be the surprise musical guest at a 60th birthday celebration for Maria Shriver.

Back in the heartland, Wonder dived into the ocean of accomplishment that "Songs in the Key of Life" represents.

Accompanied by Latrelle Simmons and four additional top-flight backing singers, Wonder thrilled an estimated audience of 15,000 by revisiting the album's lessons.

A show-stopping "Joy Inside My Tears" reminded that Wonder perfected slow-motion, minor-key funk a few years before Prince did his thing.

The instrumental "Easy Goin' Evening (My Mama's Call)" became a harmonica tour de force for Wonder, who segued into "Lift Every Voice and Sing," which is known as the African-American national anthem, as well as U.S. national anthem "The Star-Spangled Banner."

At the end of this tune, Wonder mentioned that he didn't want to listen to any politician who doesn't talk about bringing people together.

Radio's Bob Kevoian plans to be well-traveled retiree

Early in the show, Wonder commented that, "We were made to live together as one," after a rendition of "Knocks Me Off My Feet."

"Feet" amazed when Wonder engineered one of the best guys-sing-together-and-girls-sing-together passages you'd ever expect to hear at a concert.

Responding to choir leader Wonder, the ladies handled "I don't want to bore you with it" and the men held their own when singing "But I love you, I love you, I love you."

Call Star reporter David Lindquist at (317) 444-6404. Follow him on Twitter: @317Lindquist.