This weekend I caught Sufjan Stevens on the first of his two sold-out shows at the Metro from the Metro's balcony. After a long-winded set from Laura Viers, who was a good musician but otherwise unremarkable (though backed up by the notable Karl Blau, a very large bottled-blond with pigtails), Sufjan and his numerous bandmates came out in their Illinois cheerleader outfits, with Sufjan taking a few numbers in some sort of Captain America pajamas or something. The set was made up almost entirely of songs from "Illinois," not surprisingly, save for "A Good Man Is Hard to Find" and a solo encore of "To Be Alone With You," both from Seven Swans. "Jacksonville," "Decatur," "Metropolis," and "John Wayne Gacy, Jr." all made the set list, and as would be expected at a show in Chicago, Sufjan ended the show with "Chicago." Had they not played the song, a riot surely would have broken out. The crowd was a bit excessive in their excitement to hear every Illinois reference, with cheers breaking out when an Illinois flag was placed on stage and pretty much every time the word "Chicago" was uttered, but it could have been worse. Before several songs, Sufjan led the band in a cheer, at one point constructing a human pyramid on the already very busy stage, at another point rhyming "Metropolis" with "Balki Bartocomus." Regardless of what you think of the gimmickry of the whole 50 states thing, there is no denying that Sufjan's voices is unbelievable. Oh, to be serenaded to sleep every night by that voice.
Unfortunately, since I was on the balcony, I couldn't get close enough for any great pictures, but check out the photoblog for a dozen pics of the night.
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