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Underground > Radio & Music >

Sufjan Stevens - Illinois

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18:44 / 11.09.06

Where do you all find out about Sufjan dates / releases / etc? I joined a Sufjan yahoo group about 6 months ago hoping it would keep me up to date but there's virtually no traffic on it. I only visit his website occasionally, so by the time I see stuff there it's old news and tickets are like gold dust. I love this guy's music, and unlike other favourite artists I haven't managed to tap into a community that can keep my finger on the pulse. I don't want to keep missing out on this any more!

14:38 / 04.11.06

I saw Sufjan Stevens at the Barbican last night and it was utterly brilliant. He played with a 10 piece band; he played piano, banjo & guitar then there were 5 brass and woodwind players, drums, and 3 people that varied between guitar, bass and keyboards (one of whom being St Vincent aka Annie Clark who also supported- playing a solo set reminicent of Regina Spektor...)

The set included stuff from Michigan and Seven Swans and Avalanche but was largely made up of stuff from Illinois- which is alright with me!

The band were dressed as butterflies - coming on stage with wings and masks and matching thurderbird style millitary jackets.

The Barbican was the perfect venue as the sound is absolutely incredible- i'd never seen music there but definitely will again- for those that haven't been the space is designed to give the best possible acoustics with thick wooden floors and weird bent ceilings and columns reflecting the sound.

I was accompanied by a friend who had never heard Mr Stevens after my companion for the night reluctantly pulled out after forgetting about the gig!?! The friend was suitably blown away- and i'm sure is purchasing his back catalogue as we speak.

The show was the best thing i've seen all year- and in fact for ages, and will be remembered as a fucking great gig. Chicago sounded fab- played a touch faster than the record, and the band seem to love playing the nearest thing they have to a hit, as did the set closer Jacksonville- although if i'm honest i loved every second- songs from the other albums which i own but hadn't loved as much burst into life and the new songs he played were also pretty amazing.

As a front man he was funny and told wonderful weird stories to introduce the songs- and i forgot to mention the piles of inflatable Supermen and santas that werfe kicked into the crowd at various points in the set.

In another recent thread someone berates the illinois album as not being to their taste- a bit sad really cos IMHO this was the finest gig of the year so far, with oodles of tunes to match- blooming brilliant!

14:40 / 04.11.06

Falski i read pitchforkmedia.com and nme.com among others for pretty up to date tour dates etc. ( i also posted about tickets being on sale here too!)

I guess you've gotta browse the interweb pretty regularly to keep up to date on tour stuff.

Psi-L is working in hell

14:23 / 08.11.06

I was also at the Barbican last Friday and agree with everything you say Copey...definitely the best gig I've been to this year, in fact probably since I saw Stevens last autumn.

He had more orchestration than last time, which definitely allows the full richness of his songs to be expressed live, especially in such a great venue such as the Barbican Hall.

Loved every second of it, and also really liked his new song Majesty Snowbird, (a version on youtube here) he seemed to suggest that a new album featuring songs about birds could be heading our way in the new year. This is of course after his Christmas Collection is released at the end of this month. Somewhere in all this prolific song writing the Oregon album is also said to be due early next year. It's almost too much Sufjan goodness....almost.

Going back to that new song, it kind of feels that he's moving ever more in a symphonic direction, and away from the stripped down acoustic sound of say, Seven Swans. Not sure how I feel about this, as I do like the latter sound very much, but having seen him with a brass and woodwind section on stage it certainly is impressive.

22:31 / 17.06.07

I got Seven Swans a couple of years ago from a friend, and whie I liked some of it immediately, I don't know, for some reason I gave up on it quickly. Maybe it was too earnest, or I was turned off by the heavy Christian influence, which is sad but probably had something to do with it. I re-listened a few months ago, and it was one of those dawning realizations of how good it actually was. So I got Illinois, and now I'm having trouble not listening to it. The songs are constantly running through my head. There is an interesting range of emotions on this album, but it's very cohesive. I'm surprised no one has mentioned how Philip Glass-like some of the songs are, with the redundant overlapping scales of simultaneous instrumentation, piano horns and flute. I like the more dynamic upbeat overall attitude, but the more sober songs are still great.
The John Wayne Gacy song is very poignant, actually sympathetic in a way, though I think sympathetic to all involved. I think Casmir Pulaski Day may be my favorite now, but I really shouldn't even say that. Just today, probably. I look forward to more of his work.

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