One suspects that Sufjan Stevens’ live show would become something bombastic and gimmicky in almost anyone else’s hands. He has a rather large band in tow, including a five-piece brass section, with members clad in butterfly costumes throughout the gig. Sufjan – sometimes seated at the piano, mostly centre-stage – is dressed as an eagle, and throws inflatable Superman dolls into the crowd during the set.
Such ingredients should fill a show with jubilation and silliness, and betray an air of self-conscious wackiness on behalf of the artist(s). That is never the case tonight; there is humour here, but it is delivered with a solemnity and intensity that is captivating and frequently haunting.
Stevens’ between-song (presumably semi-fictional) childhood tales evoke some laughs, but these are laughs of wonderment and surprise. He talks of his parents hallucinating alien visitations after pot-smoking binges on the front porch, and of their midnight fights, which often culminated in waking the kids to inform them that they were to become vegans, or to practice yoga. He tells one particularly fantastical tale of his father’s habit of burning garbage in the family backyard. Following an uncontrollable blaze, the ensuing cloud of black smoke took the shape of seven swans playing seven horns, and prompted an outbreak of dancing among his family and the fire brigade.
These stories are hard to get a reading on: are they warm, fond tales of his beloved family eccentrics, or elaborately embittered recollections of a dysfunctional childhood?
The musical backdrop is enjoyably restrained: airy, light and filled with colourful detail. The brass section is deliciously crisp and nimble – Stevens’ unwillingness to use his large musical palette to pile on thick, unwelcome layers of sound is a pleasing antidote to the increasingly bloated likes of Spiritualized and Mercury Rev, and perhaps therein lies his appeal.
Sufjan’s records have always been enjoyable, but until tonight I never quite understood the fervour he inspires among so many. This was a beautifully eccentric live experience, but one that always felt natural and devoid of calculation; that’s rare in these cynical times.