Sufjan Stevens at the Metro 9/16
I think perhaps it must have been a particularly special thing to see Sufjan Stevens actually play live the songs from Illinois while he was actually in Illinois, Chicago no less. I’ve never seen a line so long before doors even opened. It stretched all the way down Clark and wrapped around the corner of Racine to the next big intersection and this was at 8pm, 2 1/2 hours before Sufjan was even scheduled to go on. There was definitely a camraderie in the crowd (although, the guy behind us started wooping when Sufjan brought out a flag yelling “Yeah it’s the Mexican flag!” and Cinchel and I had to correct him and tell him it was the Illinois flag.) Yeah…a wannabe Canadian correcting someone on his identification of US state flags…what will come next? Will my mind finally stop wandering? Will I stop having dreams about the BeeGees? It’s anyone’s guess, really.
Okay…Sufjan came out and played the first few songs in a flashy one piece jumpsuit with the US stars and stripes on it that had to be just about the gawdiest thing I have ever seen up close. It really looked like something a super patriotic clown would wear and, considering he was later on to sing “John Wayne Gacy Jr.” this sort of takes the image to a whole new level of scary. Thankfully, he took this off after a couple of songs and wore the male cheerleading uniform with the bright orange and blue colors (I did mention they were all dressed up as cheerleaders, yes? They actually did a human pyramid on the Metro stage. I’m not exaggerating) His outfit was made complete with a Cubs hat. (For those why may not know, the Metro is literally across the street from Wrigley Field and as there had been a game today, it was highly likely that Sufjan may have stumbled upon a few street vendors amidst the celebrating drunken frat boys who would gladly sell him Cubs merch.)
And for a few of the songs, the eight of them did cheers they made up beforehand-these would include “Jacksonville,” “Decatur, Or, Round Of Applause For Your Stepmother!” and “Prairie Fire That Wanders About.” The cheers could have been fun if Sufjan was more of a ham. Instead, the choreographed matching uniformness of it all came off rather awkward, as if Sufjan had lost a bet. I even thought I caught a real reluctant grimace and one of the other band members reminded him, “This was your idea.” The look of them all up there was something akin to what you might see on a collegiate mag featuring Joe and Mary USA of x sports team 20 years before the red meat started to really clog their arteries.
Musically, the horns were spot on and the lushness of all of the vocals together was perfect. He played for about ninety minutes and closed the encore with a rendition of “Chicago” full of triumph and wonder. I do wish he had played “The Seer’s Tower” but besides that he didn’t miss any I longed to hear. And, after awhile, I was able to remove myself from some of the jarring campiness and focus on what I really love Sufjan for-the guy who cries in vans and writes songs about it…the guy who reminisces about almost touching a girl’s blouse when you know much more happened amidst the overswelling of cancerous forces…the guy who dares ask in the “Seer’s Tower:” “What have we become America?” Yes, this is the side of those pretty pale blue eyes that I’d like to see.
He showed that side a bit but I’m really kicking myself for not going to see him when he toured for Seven Swans as well. I’d like to see him in sparse minimalism because I think that’s really when all of his true glory would show. Still, it was good to hear these songs with such a nice array of instrumentation and vocals and even just for the sheer experience of it all; visually and musically.
Did I mention they were all dressed up as cheerleaders???? I did already? Well, okay then.