Sufjan is coming to town and my daughter wants to see him. I was just curious if anyone has seen him live. I have most of his music but can’t imagine what his stage show would be like.
Anyone have a review or description?
Thanks.
I don’t have an answer for you, but I’m kind of curious as well, so I’ll give this a bump.
Yep, saw him open for John Vanderslice back in 2004. He wore angel wings and a farmer’s hat, and I wasn’t overly impressed with his performance, although the trumpet player in his band was good.
Then 3 years later my girlfriend gets into his music, and I listen to his albums for the time…I almost totally forgot that I saw him live before, and had to double check my journal, and it freaked me the fuck out.
Apparently he has cheerleaders. Here is a video from YouTube.
I like a few of his songs, but it takes a bit to get me out to a concert anymore. Tickets are $35.00 which isn’t cheap, but not bad as concerts go. It is on a Friday though.
I’ll check out the videos when I get home.
Saw him play in 2005/6. The cheerleaders were with him too. I hadn’t actually listened to much of his stuff beforehand, but thoroughly enjoyed his music.
All of his songs were happy and about cities in America. They all had their own cheer as well.
Slight hijack…
I’ve only heard him on the Life Aquatic soundtrack… (in which case I enjoyed him immensely as a laid back French cover version of David Bowie songs…)
for some reason, I blindly associate him with Sigur Ros…
in which case…
Justin Beiber slowed down sounds like Sigur Ros
however, Sigur Ros sped up does not sound like Justin Beiber…
Am I being wooshed? The songs from the Life Aquatic were in Portuguese and sung by Seu Jorge.
Not a woosh, just a brain fart. For some reason, Sigur Ros and Seu Jorge are located on the same neuron…
Lost4life, did you go?
I saw him Friday night and I can easily say it was the best show I’ve seen in my life, and I’ve seen a lot of shows.
His new album is very spacey and almost psychedelic, and the visuals were just amazing. I think Seven Swans/Michigan/Illinois work better on CD when you’re alone, but the new stuff works far better in concert. I’m really hoping he puts out a DVD of this tour so I can take it all in again.
Giving this one more try.
Oops, just noticed this. The concert didn’t happen yet. I believe it is next Friday, and I have to work on Saturday, which is rare. That won’t necessarily stop me, but it puts a damper on going out.
Thanks for your review. That makes me more curious about going.
We saw Sufjan here in Chicago on 10/15. It was a really fantastic show… one of the better that I’ve seen, honestly, and I go to a LOT of concerts.
We were worried about going because we’ve heard that he’s pretty hit or miss, depending on what he’s into at the moment. Also have heard that he tends to show up to shows drunk or high and not really “with it” but that wasn’t the case at all at the show we went to.
The setlist was almost entirely stuff from his new album, and his recent EP. However, don’t let this scare you off because most of it is VERY accessible and plays wondefully live. One song is something like 20 minutes long, but was never anything less than enjoyable.
He did do some good stuff from his Michigan and Illinois albums, but saved it for the end of the show and the encore.
What??! Cite? I have never gotten the impression that he drinks or smokes, and certainly never heard anything about him showing up to a concert not “with it”. I can hardly imagine it. Most of his fans were pretty shocked when they found out he says “fuck” on the new album.
What did he do from Michigan? At the show I saw, he opened with Seven Swans (the song), closed with Chicago, and then the encore was 3 more Illinois songs and another Seven Swans song. Nothing from Michigan, unfortunately.
Went recently. It was a techno show. I guess I should have known coming in but had no idea that it would be such a departure and I really didn’t want to see what seemed to me like a Moby show. Also the enormous projections of edited clips of Sufjan Stevens himself dancing, running behind him while he was singing seemed pretty tacky and disappointingly egotistical.
You call 11 live musicians singing and play real instruments on stage a techno show? 
Sufjan Stevens writes, orchestrates, and performs songs, and plays several different instruments himself. Moby spins records.
I’ll look for some cites. He’s certainly a smoker, and I’ve just heard stories of his concert antics 2nd hand. I’ll see what more I can find out.
Crap, you’re right. I misremembered one of the songs. I could have sworn he’d played “Detroit, Lift Up Your Weary Head.” Guess I was wrong…here’s the setlist from Chicago:
1.Seven Swans
2.Too Much
3.Age of Adz
4.Heirloom
5.I Walked
6.Now That I’m Older
7.Vesuvius
8.Futile Devices
9.Get Real Get Right
10.The Owl and the Tanager
11.Impossible Soul
12.Chicago (Seeing this live at the Chicago Theater is one of the highlights of 2010 for me.)
Encore:
13.Concerning the UFO Sighting Near Highland, Illinois
14.Decatur, Or, Round Of Applause For Your Stepmother! (said that he almost never plays this.)
15.Casimir Pulaski Day
16.John Wayne Gacy, Jr.
Cool. Makes me feel better about my favorite singer being a wussy Christian :D.
Damn, I would’ve loved to see Decatur. From memory, the set at my show was identical, except for “That Dress Looks Nice on You” in that spot.
From setlist.fm:
Seven Swans
Too Much
Age of Adz
Heirloom
I Walked
Vesuvius
The Owl and the Tanager
Get Real Get Right
Futile Devices
Enchanting Ghost
Impossible Soul
Chicago
Encore:
Concerning the UFO Sighting Near Highland, Illinois
Casimir Pulaski Day
The Dress Looks Nice on You
John Wayne Gacy, Jr.
Looks like we got “Enchanting Ghost”, which I guess is probably worth the trade for Decatur.
How do you pronounce his first name?