10.14.2006 Sufjan Stevens/My Brightest Diamond

so the annual birthday show rolls around again. I've had some pretty cool birthday shows in the past, (opeth, deftones, G3, probably more) but this was the only one that took place in a church. The promoter couldn't have picked a better place for this. There were 2-3 other top-draw shows, but I ended up going to this one because I knew this one was going to sell out, I wasn't aware Yo La Tengo was playing and I couldn't get tickets to YLT before they sold out.

Got to the venue around 8:30 (1/2 after doors were supposed to be open.) and boy was there a line up to get in. The lineup basically went around the corner pretty much the full block. Man i didn't know there were so many sufjan stevens fans in vancouver, or rather how many people read pitchfork. It's a church and if you're not there early you won't get a good seat, err i mean pew. I think it basically took me 30 min to actually get into the venue when they did eventually let people in. To my chagrin, the opener 'My Brightest Diamond', who also plays/sings in sufjan's band, started as people were being let in. Thus I was only able to catch maybe 2 songs. Shame, cuz she's got a pretty voice, possibly even classically trained.




Sufjan Working the Guitar



Sufjan's band entered the stage in full costume. They were all adorned in masks and wings. It was like a scene out of Cirque de soliel. Now I'm not really a fan of chamber-pop or whatever the genre you want to put him in, but this guy knows how to hold my attention. He's got a fantastic voice and knows how to use it and he's also a wonderful storyteller. Most of his between songs banter consisted of him telling stories which related to the song he was about to play.




Sufjan Also Plays Piano


Right: My Brightest Diamond, Shara Worden


Now You Know Why He Doesn't Play Small Clubs Anymore





Sufjan Stevens - A Good Man Is Hard to Find (Live 10.14.2006)



$27/$27 and to think I wanted to go to YLT instead.

thanks to treehugger for the headsup.