Sufjan Stevens @ State Theatre, Sydney (Night #3)
I’ve always felt that if you have the opportunity to see the final show of multiple night stand, you should take it. Tonight was Sufjan Stevens’ third and final Sydney show and he bid the city farewell with a two-hour, three encore show filled with memorable moments that left me thrilled I was in the audience.
On his own, Sufjan took to the the opulent State Theatre stage promptly at nine. He quickly plunked himself down behind the grand piano sitting centre stage and opened the show with Michigan’s Romulus. As the chords echoed through the theatre you could here a pin drop. When Sufjan began singing his voice was pitch perfect, as it would be all night. The bar had been set. High.
Since last seeing Sufjan in 2005 after the release of Illinois he’s not really released a proper record (The Avalanche doesn’t count) so I was surprised how excited I was to hear songs off a three year old record, some of which I’d seen before. Casimir Pulaski Day sounded brand new even!
The early highlights for me were the songs off Seven Swans, perhaps my favourite of his records. Seven Swans featured a thumping, horn drenched arrangement while All The Trees of the Field Will Clap Their Hands was simply beautiful. Heading back from Bible country to Illinois, Jacksonville introduced some jauntiness into the evening. Yes, I said jauntiness.
Then things took a sharp turn towards This Might Be A Bad Idea Land. When I saw Sufjan had played a section of his recent BQE “tone-poem” I wondered how it went over. Does anyone here in Sydney care about an expressway in Brooklyn? Probably not. But this is a guy who writes albums about states so why should this be any different. After a lengthy introduction, the band played an excerpt of BQE and while it wasn’t super-memorable musically it did feature Sufjan (and a local hula hoop pro) dancing with a hula hoop. It was great! (And hilarious when Sufjan dropped his…twice.)
This Might Be A Bad Idea Land avoided. Barely.
The show then continued on – sans hula – with The Predatory Wasp…which featured WAY too much piano noodling at the end. One of the few lowlights. As the song ended the curtain came down and Sufjan was left on his own at the piano again. And with no introduction he began John Wayne Gacy, Jr.
Art is best when it’s confrontational, and while Sufjan is an affable guy, this was a confronting performance. With only voice and piano to fill the room, the silent audience had nowhere to hide as Sufjan detailed the life of the serial killer and the intimate connections between humanity and horror. It was haunting and gut-wrenching. The entire audience seemed transfixed. What could possibly follow that?
A request! Earlier in the day “Nick” bumped into Sufjan in Hyde Park and requested The Lord God Bird an, as of yet, unreleased song. Sufjan and his band actually had to learn the song as they “never play it” but they executed it wonderfully and they left the entire audience, not just Nick, happy. The main set then closed with two more new bird songs, including the massive Majesty, Snowbird. It. Was. Epic. A mini standing ovation followed.
The band returned for an encore and played Illinois standout, Chicago. Surely the most exuberant song on the night but, sadly due to the venue’s comfy seats, no one seemed to tap a foot or even sing along. If that had been in a bar there would have been mass singing and dancing. As the song ended I thought the night was done. The band left the stage and some people started to leave.
Idiots.
Sufjan returned to the stage on his own to play To Be Alone With You on acoustic guitar. Another Seven Swans track…so I was thrilled. As he left the stage I thought, “Well that was a perfect ending.”
Sufjan thought differently. He once again returned to the stage complete with half the band to end the night with Seven Swans’ The Dress Looks Nice On You. Surely an unplanned encore (the rest of the band had already changed back into street clothes!) it brought the two-hour show to a fitting, understated ending. I could not have asked for more.
Setlist
January 14, 2008
Romulus*
Seven Swans
Concerning The UFO Sighting
The Black Hawk War
Come On! Feel The Illinoise!
Casimir Pulaski Day
All The Trees of the Field Will Clap Their Hands
Jacksonville
BQE (excerpt)
The Predatory Wasp
John Wayne Gacy, Jr.*
The Lord God Bird
Barn Owl, Night Killer*
Majesty, Snowbird
——-
Chicago
——-
To Be Alone With You**
——-
The Dress Looks Nice On You
*Sufjan solo on piano
**Sufjan solo on guitar
Download
Sufjan Stevens – The Lord God Bird (recorded for NPR)
Sufjan Stevens – Majesty, Snowbird (live)
See Flickr for some of my photos from the gig. The photo above was taken by Amanda with her good camera…I’m sure she’ll upload them tomorrow. I’ll update this then.
I should mention Sufjan’s band featured both Annie Clark, who performs under the name St. Vincent, and Shara Worden who is My Brightest Diamond. I’d have preferred it if Annie did opening duties as I found My Brightest Diamond’s support slot a bit dull. Like PJ Harvey without the sex.
Thumbs up on the State Theatre though. What a great venue. If only their ushers didn’t take their jobs so seriously.
UPDATE
Geoff has a nice recap of Sufjan’s time in Sydney with many links to reviews from all the shows. Cheers mate!
January 15th, 2008 09:06
Hi all
Thought SS was a great show if a little sloppy in places. I went to the 2nd night and perspired my way through the hour & half show.
Seven Swans was a real highlight for me – the brass section lifted the roof and knocked me out of my hypnotic state in which the video screen had lulled me into.
It was refreshing to see a live gig and hear melody, harmony rather than big loud guitars all night.
Wasn’t that keen on the support – to much Buckley for me. Couldn’t see the PJ Harvey comparisons?
January 15th, 2008 09:55
Sufjan is such an amazing performer. And all his songs sounded even better live. I loved John Wayne Gacy too. I don’t know how long he noodled on Wasp, but I actually loved it. And I agree about My Brightest Diamond. Not very good. Her voice was way over the top, although I thought she was very good when playing with Sufjan.
January 15th, 2008 10:55
ye, i was there too! awesome performance! awesome night! and to think i almost missed out the tix for nix thing for this gig. lined up on saturday & missed out, missed out again on sunday, and that very last day scored the last $25 ticket and was really stoked to get it! i may be sitting at the very back at the 2nd floor, but at least i brought my binoculars with me. great sound system as well.
ye, my brightest diamond sounded like Jeff Buckley & Bat for Lashes combined, i mean PJ harvey, hehe. i was actually wishing that rosie thomas would open up for Sufjan. that would have made it even more awesome.she also sounds better as back-up vocals for sufjan.
January 15th, 2008 14:29
Still breathless. I could not believe how majestiic the show was. i was really close to the front in the stalls, and every song hit me like those oversized fans you find behind the scenes of a movie production. How good was the Sax solo in ‘Come on feel the illinoise’.
January 15th, 2008 17:02
Muzz: I saw lots of Jeff Buckley in My Brightest Diamond’s set as well. I love him, but her set just left me underwhelmed.
January 15th, 2008 17:25
I thought Shara was pretty good actually. But yeh, I have a bit of a crush on Annie, and would have preferred her too!
January 16th, 2008 13:47
Sean, I am not anti Buckley in any way. Maybe I did listen to Grace just little too much, but I find it hard to see folks trying to ‘do a JB’. So that just bugged me.
January 28th, 2008 17:49
Well – I saw the second night’s concert… and I was completely and utterly blown away. The Brass/winds section, Sufjan’s voice – EVERYTHING. Pity we didn’t get as many encores as the third night.
I’m going to put my support behind Shara and My Brightest Diamond – I was really REALLY impressed by her set.
These last two weeks have been full of such wonderful musical memories! I can’t wait for a new Sufjan album.
Oh and we got BQE as the last song before the encores (I think). You didn’t like it!?! I thought it was AMAZING. Seriously – it literally sparkled. I was taken there. If this is the direction of his new album, then bring it on!
On the second night we got two or three very long winded (and quite funny) segue’s into songs. With talking about Bondi and the sea and wasps and fruitbats and nailpolish and iPods and laptops etc. etc. etc. Did that happen on any other night? It was like an on-going joke throughout the show.
I liked it all.
How awesome is it that the four artists that I’ve seen in the past 2 weeks have all had a brass section!