Autumn Marathon

He Danced…

Sufjan Stevens’ concert at the Philadelphia Academy of Music on Wednesday was the best set I attended all year.

As one of the tweets I read afterward correctly said - “the whole concert was a coherent work of art.”  The music was challenging, but beautiful; the songs mostly new, but with some classic tunes included.  They were all carefully sequenced. Projections on the stage screen were artsy and enhanced the music. Perhaps most surprisingly, given Sufjan’s origins as a folk singer with a guitar or banjo…he brought backup dancers (who also sang) and dance was integral to the show and in keeping with the music.

Most of the set was comprised of songs from his two new releases…with strong electronic overtones.  The main set started with Seven Swans and ended with his iconic Chicago…but both were offered in electronic orchestrations.  The encore was just Sufjan (no backing band) playing guitar and piano.  Here is the set list.

One thing common to both Sufjan’s old and new albums is the use of a horn section. This is true even in his oldest, quietest songs.  It’s still true in the most purely electronic songs off the current album.  The horn section is a big part of what makes him “sound like Sufjan.”

Sufjan’s voice was hoarse: it became more noticeable in the second part of the concert.  He mentioned the strain of a month on tour and that the remaining shows close to his Brooklyn home in Boston and NYC.   Still, he clearly left it all out on stage during the two hour performance.

It’s so encouraging to see an artist experiment, not simply sticking to formulas that have worked in the past. This is incredibly brave because failure is an option: either if the music itself isn’t that good or if the musician’s fans won’t accept the change. Sufjan’s talent and hard work may allow him to pull it off.