Hilbert Circle Theatre
Indianapolis, IN
Thu, Nov 4, 2010
Last week Sufjan Stevens wowed Indianapolis with a 2 hour long concert at the classic Hilbert Circle Theater. The venue proved an interesting backdrop to the concert with its senior-citizen troop of ushers and the highly intricate designs and carvings which don the theater from ceiling to floor. The instrumentation was made up of two drummers, two trombonists, keyboards, guitar, bass, organ and banjo/guitar by the man himself. It was hard to beat the back-up singers/dancers though: my wife and I described them and their costumes as 12-year old space cadets. Although they were of age, their down-to-earth uncoordinated dancing style made one think back to years of dancing uninhibited in your own living room as a child. It was always great when the 3rd special dancer was called out--obviously only for very important and high priority dancing needs. Sufjan was very casual and funny, very grateful, and very open with the direction his music is taking. The contrast of the epic musical numbers with symbolic images, intense lighting, and the dancer, with his low-key, between song banter and joking was really great, confirming that the best serious musicians often don't take themselves that serious at all.
Everything was brilliantly performed and perfectly mixed. I had only listened to his newest album Age of Adz once but was glad I had as it made the experience that much more enjoyable--especially during the more serene moments of the 25 minute "experiment in public behavioral psychotherapy" (Sufjan's own words) known as the song Impossible Soul. The crowd was enthusiastic and participatory, especially during the acoustic encore with classics from Illinoise. Sufjan left a mark and I look forward to the next step in his artistic path.
Everything was brilliantly performed and perfectly mixed. I had only listened to his newest album Age of Adz once but was glad I had as it made the experience that much more enjoyable--especially during the more serene moments of the 25 minute "experiment in public behavioral psychotherapy" (Sufjan's own words) known as the song Impossible Soul. The crowd was enthusiastic and participatory, especially during the acoustic encore with classics from Illinoise. Sufjan left a mark and I look forward to the next step in his artistic path.
Favorite moment: Hip-hop style garb and dancing during the crest of "Boy, we can work this out together" chorus of "Impossible Soul."
Setlist: Started with Seven Swans, A whole bunch of Age of Adz stuff including title track, impossible soul, get real get right, too much, closed with Chicago -- Encore included mostly acoustic, group-sing style favorites from Illinoise album like Casimir Pulaski Day, etc.
