From the moment Sufjan Stevens took the stage at Hilbert Circle Theatre in his futuristic silver jumpsuit with angel wings and a banjo in his hands, it was obvious this would be a memorable concert. What I witnessed on stage was light-years away from the show that I saw five years ago in small Illinois town, performed by a little-known folk singer, but was still utterly brilliant and spectacular. It began with the title track from Sufjan’s epic gospel-rock album, “Seven Swans” where he sings about the second coming in an intense manner “If you run / He will chase you / Because he is the Lord”. The track was performed far more powerfully then on record with his 10-piece band adding striking percussion and horns. After the climax, he matter-of-factly stated, “That was my dramatic introduction. My name is Sufjan Stevens.”
After the (literally) biblical opener, the night took a sharp left turn, with a long string of new material from Age of Adz, starting with Sufjan’s most extraordinary foray into electronica “Too Much” which he explained was about our culture’s over-emphasis on the word “love”. The rippling, glitchy noises were toned down a bit, putting the song in closer range to the highly-accessible pop song that was heard on Sufjan’s 2009 workshop tour, while the background visuals displayed quickly edited shots of retro-clothed dancers (including Sufjan himself on a few occasions) getting down to the song. The glorious “Age of Adz” followed with a blast of horns while images of space ships and mythical beasts adorning the screen. Sufjan humorously described that the sci-fi existential apocalyptic song is what happens when you’ve read too much Walt Whitman and Ray Bradbury.
Sufjan was in a rare, comical mood during much of the evening, giving introductions to the songs and entertaining his adoring audience with a hodgepodge of references to authors, mathematical equations, mathematical equations, and pop culture. After one such particularly lengthy introduction to his self-proclaimed slow-jam, “I Walked”, Sufjan humorously proclaimed, “nah just kidding, this is just a pop song”. The live version of the track had a much more prounced drum beat making it far dancier with Sufjan took advantage of busting out a light-up visor and some of the dorkiest ultra-white dance moves that I thought possible. Like just about everything about the night though, instead of coming off as pretentious or out-of-touch, I found it to be incredibly endearing.
The main set also included a couple of palette-cleansing acoustic folk songs from the All Delighted People EP, of which “Heirloom” was particularly lovely. “Vesuvius” was another highlight. Introduced as a song about the “magnitude of magnum”, a spirited extended version of song was played that, at one point, had the entire stage at one point bathed layers of fire. “Get Real Get Right” isn’t my favorite track on record, but I really warmed up to it live, especially after the emotional monologue given beforehand where he dedicated the track to the album’s biggest inspiration, prophetic Louisiana artist Royal Robertson. Sufjan described how he felt a personal kinsmanship with Royal, a gifted painter who slowly descended into madness.
Then came the moment I was most looking forward, Sufjan’s 25-minute dance / soul / rock / folk / pop mangum opus, “Impossible Soul”.. The song represents one of the most ambitious, imaginative, genius, magnanimous, harebrained, and altogether magnficient displays of pop music that I think has ever been created (or attempted) and I was glad to see it was not leveled down one bit for the live performance. In fact, with Sufjan’s outrageous Fresh Prince of Bel-Air meets King Tut meets Kanye West outfit during the disco party hip-hop jam section of the song and the sample of Salt n’ Peppas “Push It”, you could say that the song was even more epic. The entire crowd rose to their feet and stormed the front of the stage while Sufjan and his back-up dancer / singers back-and-forthed on the infectious “Boy, we can do much more together” refrain over of the most bombastic electronic beats imagniable. So yeah, it was good.
After the gorgeous acoustic finale of “Impossible Soul”, Sufjan thanked the crowd for their “patience and fortitude” through what he referred to as their 25-minute psychotherapy session. The band then played their most popular song “Chicago” to an estatic crowd (who were still on their feet from the dance party). After a brief pause, Sufjan came out by himself to play a heartachingly gorgeous solo piano rendition of “Concerning the UFOs…”, one of the few Illinois songs I’d have yet to seen live, followed by breathtaking acoustic performances of Sufjan classics, “Dress Looks Nice On You”, “Casimir Pulaski Day”, and “John Wayne Gacy Jr.” The songs made use of the fantastic acoustics in the theatre without any amplification. Hearing those songs performed so intimately and emotionally was truly a pleasure. Sufjan Stevens has long been my favorite modern artist (and, to be honest, one of the main reasons I started this blog) so I’m a little hard-pressed to describe his show without usage of hyperbole but, honestly this was one of the best concerts I’ve experienced. I’m not sure how he could top it, but if I know Sufjan Stevens, I’m sure he will find a way.
MP3 Sufjan Stevens – Age of Adz
MP3 Sufjan Stevens – John Wayne Gacy, Jr
There’s a lot more Sufjan Stevens pictures after the jump. Click here for the entire set.
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