Sufjan Stevens in Concert

Boy, we can do so much more together. --"Impossible Soul" by Sufjan Stevens

In The Book of Moses, Moses speaks with God "face to face." In that intimate setting, the Creator tells Moses "thou art my son: wherefore look, and I will show thee the workmanship of mine hands; but not all, for my works are without end, and also my words, for they never cease." God also explains to Moses his divine origins: "I have a work for thee, Moses, my son; and thou art in the similitude of mine Only Begotten; and mine Only Begotten is and shall be the Savior, for he is full of grace and truth."

In the promised vision, "Moses looked and beheld the world upon which he was created; and Moses beheld the world and the ends thereof, and all the children of men which are, and which were created; of the same he greatly marveled and wondered." After his grand vision, Moses states: "Now, for this cause I know that man is nothing, which thing I never had supposed."
Finally, in the wake of Moses' divine knowledge of Self and Creation, Satan comes and tempts Moses. Moses commands Satan to depart.

I could not help but relate this (true) story after seeing Sufjan Stevens in concert. It somehow fit into how I was feeling, how I was registering my own internal sense of something profound. In some small but weighty measure, Sufjan's music and performance captured the vastness and intimacy of God's designs, the cosmic juxtaposition of our insignificance relative to His creations and the immediacy of our relationship to Him. Sufjan's impressive ability to expand and then diminish his complex song structures--to depict the personal and Universal in his storytelling--stirred within me with the willingness to wrestle with demons, internal or otherwise.

Three random thoughts.

First, if the above seems heavy, well, it is. Sufjan Stevens does not do the unimportant. The reach of his new album--sonically, lyrically, thematically--penetrates the heart with elemental magnitude. Stevens replaces the autobiographical, historical, and topographical narratives with an internal dialogue of the Self. Stories are replaced by his primal utterances. Secrets, worries, hopes, and confessions are paraded through rich contours of orchestral and electronic music, unleashed to discover private meaning.

Second, Age of Adz was meant to be heard live. It seems foolish to try to explain the performance, other than to say it sounded--and looked--fantastic. Sufjan's cast of players were phenomenal and deserve credit for bringing to life the endless musical ideas that spin out from his elliptical orbits. And the intergalactic, multi-media experience was a perfect complement to his musical message.

Third, I left the concert inspired. I have seen many shows from artists that I enjoy, but rarely, if ever, have I felt the kind of resolve to improve, be better, lift. It is difficult to describe the goodness that permeates Sufjan's music, but it is a tangible quality, interspersed with the flights of lyrical and musical whimsy, that is nothing short of divine.

• "Seven Swans." A prophetic, apocalyptic vision turned nightmare by the (almost) spiritual death-metal interludes. A surprising twist that seemed to unlock the seals of the Apocalypse. Or at least open the show.
• "Too Much." When we first saw Sufjan dance. Oh yes, there was dancing.
• "Age of Adz." Stunning. The rise and fall of the music and lyrics--the massive crescendos followed by intimate admissions--was breathtaking. Easily one of the highlights of the night. Life. Love. Death. The end of times. This song has it all.
• "Heirloom." The first of several well-placed folk comedowns where Sufjan would take the stage, guitar in hand, with a few select players from his ensemble. Beautiful.
• "I Walked." Sufjan described this as a "slow jam" for some lady love. Niiiiice.
• "Enchanting Ghost." Another fine song from the All Delighted People EP.
• "Vesuvius." Sufjan's internal struggle with existential ennui and the meaning of it all. This song was large, as were the lighting effects to go with it.
• "The Owl and the Tanager." A haunting solo performance on the piano with Sufjan's backup singers and their absolutely gorgeous voices.
• "Get Real Get Right." Sufjan gave a ten-minute discourse about, among other things, the shapelessness of his music and his artistic venture into the void since the making of his last proper album, Illinois. He spoke of collecting soundscapes and returning to a primitive approach to songwriting, unformulating all that he had known before. As the story goes, Sufjan finally received inspiration from the late prophet Royal Robertson, a black Louisiana-bred Baptist and schizophrenic sign-maker, and his B-movie, sci-fi apocalyptic artwork, which ultimately gave form and companionship to Sufjan's musicmaking and ushered in the Age of Adz. "Get Real Get Right" is an ode to that relationship and a description of the inscrutable Robertson that alleviated Sufjan's formlessness. Got it?
• "Futile Devices." We were privileged to hear the first-ever solo on a handheld Casio keyboard. Lovely.
• "Impossible Soul." The climax of the night. Maybe the the most ridiculous, thrilling, entertaining, and spiritual 30 minutes of music I've ever experienced live. Space harmonies. Electronic backbeats. Changing costumes. Autotune. Dancing. I got whatever it was that Sufjan was doing; overwhelmed in the closing acoustic minutes of this epic song, I felt myself on the verge of tears. It was utterly carthartic, in-the-moment musicmaking that will be impossible to reproduce in the future. Sorry, but you really did have to be there.
• "Chicago." Before the encore, Sufjan closed with his magnum opus of sorts. The magnificent horns still sound magnificent.
• "Concerning the UFO Sighting Near Highland, Illinois." Sufjan played this solo. The piano refrains from this song kept me up at night when I first bought the album over five years ago. Splendid.
• "Jacksonville." Who doesn't like Andrew Jackson?
• "John Wayne Gacy, Jr." I would have preferred "Casimir Pulaski Day," a much more uplifting downer. But you cannot deny this is potent stuff.

*Rizzo, Whitney, Rip, Ty, Kate, G-Reese, and Bruce the CEO likewise enjoyed the performance with The D Man. Good on ya!