People camped outside the Majestic Theatre yesterday to ensure an up close opportunity to the recently resurfaced Sufjan Stevens. It’s hard to cast your eyes across the interweb these days without noticing the chatter of Sufjan’s new material he’s road testing in select cities on a short run of tour dates. I chose to ignore the trickle of new material in video form in advance of the show, and instead let it greet me for the first time in concert. If you’re looking for some good audio/visual of the new material I’d suggest checking out “Impossible Souls from Castaways” and “Age of Adz from Castaways” – both of which made appearances in last night’s set.
Sufjan’s almost complete exit from the music business after the slightly unbearable success of his album Illinoise
To say that Sufjan Stevens was in a good mood last night would be an understatement. Donning a Wisconsin t-shirt and a camouflage hat, he guided his band, complete with horn section and including Nedelle Torrisi of the opening back Cryptacize, launched into new number after new number. Most of this new material is long in length, I counted at least 4 new songs surpassing the six minute mark. On many occasions throughout the night Sufjan reminded the crowd that the night’s material was a work in progress. He earned the audiences patience by sprinkling in Illinoise favorites like “Jacksonville,” “Casimir Pulaski Day” and the super creepy “John Wayne Gacy, Jr.” My favorite from that record, “Chicago” also made an appearance in the set as did “To Be Alone With You,” a gem from Seven Swans.
Overall, I walked away pleased with the night’s offering. I didn’t love all the new material as it tended to meander a little too much for my listening patience. However, a work in progress is just that. There are definitely some amazing songs amongst all the new material that was presented, and these live shows are the best way to trim them down and make them work. In the end, Sufjan fans have little to complain about. The material seemed very well received and whenever it is released officially, people will once again be eating out of Sufjan’s hand.
Discuss: Did you make last night’s show in Madison? What did you think of the new material? What were the highlights of the show? Drop a comment with your thoughts/reviews on the show.
Great review of the show!
I drove from Milwaukee to the show last night – first time in the Majestic and I loved the room. Sound was crisp and the bands were tight. New material was ridiculous, but I liked how different it sounded from his “state” albums and Seven Swans: free-form, electronic, glitchy. The new songs dragged and meandered a bit much; my guess is they’ll be edited down a few minutes on record, but they were interesting and showed Sufjan stepping into a different musical realm (which he’ll probably dominate). “Pulaski,” “Gacy” (for the 1st encore song!), and “Majesty Snowbird” were highlights (and all the jokes/laffs!), but the toned-down “Chicago” was cool as well… Wasn’t the best concert I’ve ever seen, but I also left satisfied and it made me want to see him on his next stops (hopefully with a bigger band?) in the Midwest… Oh, and CRYPTACIZE was a great opener!
Best show i’ve seen in a long time. i loved the new songs, and i thought the sound in there was just incredible, the Majestic sounded great.
i also reviewed the show here if anyone’s interested:
http://comeonchemicalsblog.blogspot.com/2009/09/live-review-sufjan-stevens-in-madison.html
Awesome! I really loved the programmed beats interwoven with live drums, synths, and acid jazz trumpet… Like a friend said, it’s cool to witness the “still figuring it out” process although I wonder how “unpolished” it really is, and how much of the long breakdowns of sound are going to stay.. He’s moving in an interesting direction, defining a complete different sound for his name- love the experimentation, I’m on board! Great show!
Seeing Sufjan up close and personal in a (sort of) intimate venue was definitely an amazing experience. The last time I saw him was from the top balcony at the Pabst a few years ago.
I have a few videos from the show posted here:
http://www.youtube.com/user/TrueEndeavors
It was amazing! The new songs were an unexpected, but pleasant surprise. An equally pleasant surprise was how intimate and casual the concert was. I also wrote up a few words: http://www.teshack.com/2009/09/sufjan_stevens_at_the_majestic.php
Just checking out “Impossible Souls from Castaways” on the Tube, and it’s great. I didn’t go to the gig (wrong continent), but I think I will if he ever comes to my corner of the world. Lovely guitar playing by the way…and a great song!
Book report boy strikes again. Maybe Sufjan’s next project will be an assessment of plastics on the environment.