The State Theatre is possibly the only place where the blue crystal, red velvet drapes, gold gilding and art deco flourishes rioutously work together. It was uncharacteristically filled with a younger, t-shirt and denim jeans wearing crowd than normally seen in its opulently decorated interior, leaving beer cans and plastic cups all over its foyers, and rather bemused ushers in their wake.
In interviews Sufjan Stevens comes across as rather shy, the music tends towards the quiet and lyrical, and the setting seemed rather too grown up for anything but a serious music show. So I was pleasantly surprised by what a great concert this was: a perfect mix of brilliant musicianship, soft delicate beautiful moments and bright stomping joyous rock songs, visual whimsy and Stevens' rambling charm.
The concert began in a hush, as the ten membered band (including Stevens) filed onto the darkened stage and started playing the quiet beginning of Seven Swans. The first three songs were played without a break in between, one piece segueing seamlessly into the next, from near-acoustic moments of voice, melody and harmony, to the blare of the full band, which included a five-piece brass section, in the more complex instrumental interludes. The band were excellent and uniformly talented, between them playing a vast collection of instruments including a bugle, a trumpet, a clarinet, a saxopohone, a straight (tenor?) sax (the last three played by the same guy), a French horn, a trombone, at least five different people on piano during the set. Stevens himself rotated between acoustic guitar, piano, ukelele and even cowbells!
All through the night, I was struck by how complex the songs are, the beauty of them often obscuring the fact that they are wonderful constructions of melodies and counter-melodies, rather fugue like as each instrument picks out its call and answer lines. The Tallest Man, in particular, was wonderfully immediate and better live in performance, for the ability to visualise the clockwork nature of the music. And I would've been happy to just bask in the amazing interplay between the instruments and Stevens' pretty husky voice woven within it, but he proved himself to be an endearing artist between songs too, starting with a meandering list of things he liked about Australia set before a slideshow of Sydney scenes, and moving onto to rambling, dryly humour anecdotes about inspirations for certain pieces of music (the one about his sister's college roommate that prefaced Jacksonville was by far my favourite, in delivery and in story). I also really liked the humour and whimsy in the presentation: the band's matching multicoloured patchwork tops, the hula hoop girl during BQE and Sufjan's matching display with his own lit-up hula hoop, and the pretty wings the whole band wore during the last song of the set.
When Stevens and the band left the stage the first time, the audience gave them a standing ovation, and were rewarded by a two song encore; the first piece a more acoustic performance of The Dress Looks Nice on You followed by the perfect closer in the magnificent Chicago. It seemed so much care had been put into making the concert experience as relaxed, sweet and enjoyable as possible, and to me they fully succeeded.
Seven Swans
Concerning The UFO Sighting Near Highland, Illinois
THE BLACK HAWK WAR, or, How to Demolish an Entire Civilization and Still Feel Good About Yourself in the Morning, or, We Apologize for the Inconvenience But You're Going to Have to Leave Now, or, 'I have fought the Big Knives and will continue to fight them until they are off our lands!' *
Detroit, Lift Up Your Weary Head! (Rebuild! Restore! Reconsider!)
Casimir Pulaski Day
Jacksonville
All The Trees Of The Field Will Clap Their Hands
4th movement (abr.) of Brooklyn-Queens Expressway
The Predatory Wasp Of The Palisades Is Out To Get Us!
To Be Alone With You
Sister
The Tallest Man, The Broadest Shoulders
Majesty, Snowbird
The Dress Looks Nice On You
Chicago
* yes, that is the title. In full.
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