*Sufjan Stevens

Unlike most bloggers, I was not quick on my game with hot videos or high-pixeled pictures or bootlegged mp3's. I was there for the fun of it. Myself and my friend, who found tickets to a sold out show for 50 bucks each, drove down three hours from my school to Portland, or more specifically, the Crystal Ballroom. I was pretty suprised to see the type of crowd there. A lot of teeny boopers, and then a lot of late 20-30 somethings. No one in between. I sort've felt like the odd man out. Luckily we found a spot of to the very right side of the stage where no one thinks to stand apparently, and we stayed there. Sufjan opened with "Sister" and I just about lost it. He was doing the guitar part on the piano, then the guitar kicked in, and the strings, and vocals and....WOW! It was amazing from there on out. Majesty Snowbird was (not suprisingly) one of the best moments of the night. Predatory Wasps... was great too. Had a nuts jam session at the end of it. I'm excited he played as many as he did from Seven Swans, although I am dissapointed, after seeing it from other shows, that he didn't play the title track from the album. Oh well. Still amazing.

Speaking of amazing, no, I did not run into any celebrities (apparently others have), BUT I was able to snag the setlist Sufjan was using!:

Booyah!!!


He also played "To Be Alone With You" somewhere in the middle of that, and came back with "They Are Night Zombies!!...".

I have a few videos via my Razr phone, but we all know how amazing those turn out so I thought I'd spare you, and spare my dignity.


As for music...here's some Sufjan Stevens b-sides you can knock yourself out with:

Sufjan Stevens - "Borderline"
Sufjan Stevens - "Opie's Funeral Song"
Sufjan Stevens - "Variation on 'Commemorative Transfiguration & Communion at Magruder Park"
Sufjan Stevens - "The Friendly Beasts"