Stevie Wonder @ Calling Festival - Clapham Common, London - June 29 2014 (Live Review)

Having been reconfigured for 2014, Calling Festival well and truly picked itself up, dusted itself off and returned with a bang. Following Aerosmith’s headline slot the previous evening, another big gun arrived on Sunday in the form of legendary soul great Stevie Wonder.

Before Wonder takes to the stage, though, Liverpool-born and London-based singer-songwriter Jetta gets things underway. Paloma Faith’s former backing singer opens the main stage with her gorgeous, summery tunes, including Feels Like Coming Home and Start A Riot. She doesn’t quite manage that - it’s early in the day, after all - but she certainly gets the crowd in the festival spirit. 

James Bay, Stevie aside, provides the highlight of the day. His soul-tinged, gravelly vocals are absolute perfection and, despite a small crowd in a big space, his voice is never lost. Let It Go and If You Ever Want To Be In Love are the standouts and, having already completed support slots with the likes of Tom Odell, Kodaline and John Newman, he is definitely one to keep an eye on.

The smooth stylings of north London’s Michael Kiwanuka bring relief in the light rain, with his set mainly consisting of tracks from his debut album, ‘Home Again’. His 45 minutes are perfect for those wanting a sit down and although it’s a fairly tame affair, his vocals are exceptional, with the album’s title track garnering the best reaction. 

Then, the flawless Paloma Faith takes to the stage in typically overstated fashion, sporting a massive feather-covered headpiece, and her unique, beautiful voice gets the crowd hyped up for the first time in the day. Relying heavily on her current album, ‘A Perfect Contradiction’, singles Can’t Rely On You and Only Love Can Hurt Like This sound fantastic. But, it’s Picking Up The Pieces and a cover of Prince’s I Feel For You - made famous by Chaka Khan, who had none other than Stevie Wonder playing harmonica on her version back in 1984 - that steal the show.

Jack Johnson fails to deliver the sunshine to accompany his summery tunes, but while his easy-listening set doesn’t exactly get the crowd worked up, there’s no denying that the boy can sing and has some damn catchy tunes. It’s clear that Better Together, Good People and Sitting, Waiting, Wishing, from 2005’s ‘In Between Dreams’, are the biggest crowd-pleasers, with the singalongs proving to be some of the most popular of the day.

With temperamental weather throughout the day, it’s rather fitting that the sun decides to show its face just in time for Stevie Wonder to hit the stage. Leading his fantastic band through a set that spans more than two hours, Wonder showers the huge crowd with the hits and proves, as always, that his choice of stage name wasn’t just for the hell of it. 

Beginning with a selection of mid-tempo grooves – How Sweet It Is, Master Blaster, Higher Ground and Living For The City - Wonder then throws in the pure pop of Signed, Sealed, Delivered to a huge roar. The ballads, including My Cherie Amour and I Just Called to Say I Love You, are led by a gorgeous version of Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow in tribute to the late Gerry Goffin.

The set couldn’t finish in any other way than with a rousing Superstition, with Wonder joined onstage by Richie Sambora, who had played with Dolly Parton at Glastonbury earlier in the day in addition to a Calling set the previous night. Truly, it’s absolute privilege to witness a legend like Stevie Wonder show us exactly why he’s treasured.

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