Concert Review/Photos: Sufjan Stevens @ Academy of Music 4/9
Please note: This article is published as an archive copy from Philadelphia City Paper. My City Paper is not affiliated with Philadelphia City Paper. Philadelphia City Paper was an alternative weekly newspaper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The last edition was published on October 8, 2015.
No wings to carry him away or cheerleading outfits to proclaim his love for a state were worn by Sufjan Stevens on Thursday night. Only a baseball cap, U.S. flag t-shirt, denim jacket and his voice — which was as gentle, earnest and naked as ever — separated him from a nearly full Academy of Music. In support of the spare and emotionally devastating 2015 LP Carrie & Lowell, this first concert of the tour saw Stevens lead Philadelphia into the caverns of loss that haunt the human experience. It was sublime.
No wings to carry him away or cheerleading outfits to proclaim his love for a state were worn by Sufjan Stevens on Thursday night. Only a baseball cap, U.S. flag t-shirt, denim jacket and his voice — which was as gentle, earnest and naked as ever — separated him from a nearly full Academy of Music. In support of the spare and emotionally devastating 2015 LP Carrie & Lowell, this first concert of the tour saw Stevens lead Philadelphia into the caverns of loss that haunt the human experience. It was sublime.
With tall and thin LCD screens that looked like panes of glass at a church as the backdrop, the entirety of Carrie & Lowell was played. The album is dedicated to Stevens’ mother, who passed away in 2012, and spent the evening etching his memories into harmonies, guitar lines and piano keystrokes. The show’s heart was reached with the brilliant “Fourth of July.” The simple and striking refrain of “We’re all gonna die” weighed mightily in the Academy’s aged depths. Images of childhood, sunset tranquility and abstractions filled the LCD panels while Stevens and his trusty band took mini detours into Seven Swans, Greetings from Michigan and Illinoise. Never shaken by repeated technical difficulties that were affecting one of his guitarists, the band transformed the tender notes of such songs as “The Dress Looks Nice on You” into transcendent live theatre.
The rapt audience clapped and most likely was driven to tears, as I was on numerous occasions. After the always jaw-dropping confessional of “John Wayne Gacy, Jr.” Stevens apologized for the show being a downer. He uplifted the crowd with the highs of “Chicago” as the show’s conclusion. Stevens once again proved he is one of modern music’s most compelling voices, especially live.
Toronto-based Cold Specks opened with a brilliant, soulful set. Ladan Hussein’s electric presence and voice brought songs from their 2014 Neuroplasticity to life.
SETLIST
- Redford (for Yia-Yia and Pappou)
- Death With Dignity
- Should Have Known Better
- Drawn to the Blood
- All of Me Wants All of You
- Eugene
- John My Beloved
- The Only Thing
- Fourth of July
- Carrie & Lowell
- Heirloom
- No Shade in the Shadow of the Cross
- For the Widows in Paradise, For the Fatherless in Ypsilanti
- The Dress Looks Nice on You
- To Be Alone With You
- Blue Bucket of Gold
Encore:
- All the Trees of the Field Will Clap Their Hands
- John Wayne Gacy, Jr.
- Chicago
For more photos by Chris Sikich, see sikichphotography.com.
