Download the show at Netzoo
A while back while at Sasquatch Festival at the Gorge in Washington, I tried to persuade Sufjan Stevens and his booking agent that he should play our Pool Party we were going to be throwing at McCarren Park Pool in July. I was a bit shocked when the agent told me the size of venues he was going to be playing and the economics of that didn’t bode so well with our Pool Party budget. The last time Sufjan came to town he played the El Rey, this time around he stepped up to the Wiltern Theater and had no problem selling all 2,200 tickets.
Sufjan Stevens is SET. He’s obviously one of those people that sees the world completely different than any one else on this planet. Thankfully he’s smart enough to have his own label and therefore gets to call his own shots. When it works, it pays off in spades. An album for each of the 50 states? No problem. A five CD Xmas collection? Done. A touring band of 14 musicians? Why Not?
While at Austin City Limits I locked up the truck early on Friday and ran a couple miles across town to catch his show at the Paramount. It had me thinking…if you don’t like playing outside, you can still play during a festival, just do it later at a super nice theater. Upon entering the show my blood was pumping and after taking a hobo bath in the restroom then grabbing a beer I made my way to the fourth row. His Austin show was by far the best show I’ve seen all year, so even though the Wiltern show was sold out, there was no way I was going to miss it. I kept checking Craigslist and the morning of the show I scored a ticket from nice guy Andy. I snagged a couple more while waiting in line then called up Jeremiah to come down to shoot. Perfecto!
My Brightest Diamond opened up and the songs where Shara Worden was rocking were the best. The anticipation for Sufjan was so high that MBD’s slow and mellow songs were a bit hard to focus on.
Sufjan’s music exists on another plane. It transcends just about anything else that’s out there. Seated at the Wiltern as the band played “Sister,” “Man of Metropolis” and “He Woke Me Up Again,” you realized that people weren’t just listening to his music. With the full string and horn section, the sounds actually hit you in a different way. The band was completely spot-on and never missed a beat. By the time they got to “Predatory Wasp” everyone was sucked in. I sat there with my eyes closed and drifted away. I’m trying to think of how to say this without being too dramatic…hmmm, basically, I think it was the best piece of music I’ve ever heard. It was perfect. It was almost like it’s own little symphony or story that hit every level. Just about every emotion I know was flowing through me. The song slowly morphed into sonic bliss and the last couple minutes transitioned through complete noise to a slow tempo, string-only finish.
Inflatable Supermen and Santa Clauses were flying around the audience and my only gripe of the night was that people were hording them and not using them for their intended purpose. Even after Sufjan told everyone before an upbeat song to show their joy by throwing them around, hardly anyone did. The quote of the night was a brave gal’s shout from the balcony mid way through the set, “Give up your Supermans, you hogs!”
The whole show was a highlight. There were no weak parts and with the full band and some nice mellow lighting, movies and visuals, each and every song was a treat. The tour anthem, “Majesty Snowbird” shows how talented Sufjan is and what we all have to look forward to; more amazingly beautiful music. “Chicago” was a crowd favorite as well as “John Wayne Gacy Jr”. He even threw in his Christmas song, “That was the Worst Xmas Ever” – hence the flying Clauses. For the encore the stripped down band showed that Sufjan’s music stood up just as well with four members as with a full band.
At this point, I’m pretty sure the cat’s out of the bag. With a sold out show at the Wiltern and most of the dates sold out as well, Sufjan has the luxury to take out a large band and play his music exactly how he sees it without any worry. I can’t imagine where he’ll go from here but I’ll be trying catch any and all shows I can.
I ran out to Bessita right after the show then pulled up on Wilshire to sling some Mochi and other treats. Once done I loaded up a box of goodies for the Sufjan bus and dropped it off before calling it a night.
