Sufjan Stevens @ 400 Bar

I can vouch for Sufjan Stevens, he has been hard at work. Fans have been left to wonder what the formerly prodigious musician has been up to as he pulled a Howard Hughes and left the public eye for the better part of the last three years following the widely acclaimed Illionis record and tour. Don’t worry. He is back, and he is armed with crazy 10 minute electro-rock songs. He has come out of his hiding recently with a couple new releases and a national tour of tiny clubs that are much too small for the demand he creates. Minneapolis was lucky enough to get a stop on the tour, even if it was at the 400 Bar, which is just about the last place I would pick to see a show (though it still sold out in less than five minutes). The show, which featured an even split between Stevens’ older, folk based material and his newer drawn out electro-rock songs, was intimate, informal and was one of the best shows I have seen this year.

Stevens came out to a hero’s welcome a few minutes after 9:30 and tore right into “There’s Too Much Love,” the song that got the internets tongue wagging upon hearing it for the first time last week. The song is a seven minute, multi-part electronic opus that is both densely melodic and wildly innovative (even for a guy as eclectic as Stevens). The song may have been slightly too long, but it was exciting live and the five-piece band backing him up (including Nedelle Torrisi from Cryptacize, who played a fun, solid opening set of bouncing avant-pop) clearly were up to the task. In addition to adding electric guitar and synths, the horns that have been present on his previous recordings took on a new, more funky space for the unreleased material played during the show. Stevens followed this up with another new, very long electronic jam titled “Impossible Souls.” Introducing the song, Stevens claimed someone told him that he never wrote love songs and that this was his comeback. The song was spastic and unyielding, but like “There’s Too Much Love,” it still featured Stevens’ excellent songwriting and mind numbingly great vocals. The end of the song found Stevens going on an extended, Sonic Youth-esqe guitar freak out.

For fans coming to hear Seven Swans era songs with Sufjan Stevens calmly strumming his banjo and hadn’t heard of his new musical direction, this was probably the moment where their brains exploded onto the pillars at the 400 Bar (the same pillars that block sight lines throughout the venue). After finishing up the first two songs, and having gone through about 20 minutes of the set, Stevens noted that “those songs were really long” before slowing things down with a couple of acoustic numbers on the guitar and banjo. While the crowd was clearly excited to hear Stevens back featuring the sound that they have known and loved, he took the chance to mention that he was playing more electric guitar because he was “sick of the banjo,” so fans who aren’t liking the new direction may be out of luck as the musician moves forward. The packed house loved hearing the old songs and ate up the next four songs, which highlighted songs from his last three LP’s. He started off with “Upper Peninsula” from Greetings From Michigan, followed by “All of The Trees in The Field Will Clap Their Hands” from Seven Swans, “Casimir Pulaski Day” from Illinois before finishing off the “old favorites” portion of the set with a stunning rendition of “To Be Alone with You” from Seven Swans. After his last few tours, heavy on pomp and circumstance, and the first few songs of the night which were way out of left field, it was quite amazing to hear these classics in a simple and straightforward manner. Throughout the set Stevens was funny and joking with the crowd and multiple times asked his band mates what key a song was in and seemed to be genuinely having a great time.

While many people were shut out by having the show in such a small venue, the people who made it in were rewarded with an intimate and powerful show by an artist who could have sold out a space many times larger. Stevens joked on many occasions that he was glad that we were able to come to his “workshop” and how we were seeing new songs being developed. Near the end of the set he said to stop by after the show to get his card for an “in home workshop” where he could guarantee you could learn guitar in five weeks. After the middle set where he returned to his old sound, Stevens busted out another new tune, this one being an unnamed (at least to me) number he prefaced by saying that this was their “space jam.” The song started with a few minutes of noise manipulation before wandering off into what was the most off the wall track of the night, which was saying something as all of the new tracks sounded just about the opposite of what we have come to expect Sufjan Stevens to sound like. When the latest opus was finished the band opened up the catalog for another song from Illinois, this time playing the amazing “Jacksonville.” While there were some hiccups with the new band, the song still was astonishing and was definitely the highlight of the night for me.

After the rush of hearing my favorite song, things hit a little lull with a new song titled “Majesty Snowbird.” While the song wasn’t bad, once again it was near 10 minutes in length and the first half was all swooshing electronic noises and mellow, keyboard driven stories. The crux of the song was a dream Stevens had where he was attacked by snowbirds who told him that if he didn’t use a melody they gave him, they would kill him. The song was slow and plodding at first but gradually built to a massive conclusion. Epic drums fills, horns blaring, bass notes being pounded and Stevens flailing away on his electric guitar all came together for the powerful last portion of the song. It was quite surreal and one of those moments that is hard to fathom for a fan of his old music. The last two songs of the set found Sufjan Stevens returning to the more mellow material from his past recordings.

First up was “Happy Birthday” from his 2000 album A Sun Came, which he dusted off in honor of Nedelle Torrisi, who was celebrating her birthday Sunday night. The main portion of the set ended with a great version of “Chicago” that found many in attendance singing along with Stevens’ hushed vocals and sparse backing. After a short round of applause (which Stevens apologized for making us go through) the band came back out and ended the set with the epic new song “All Delighted People.” There isn’t much more to say about the last new song of the night. It clocked in at over 12 minutes, was all over the musical map and was another song that defies words but was overwhelmingly innovative and exciting. Like all of the new songs, it may have been a little too long, but it seems like Stevens has a weird, electro avant garde itch he needs to scratch and longtime fans know he is not one to reign in his ideas just for conformity’s sake. It was a fitting and dramatic end to an amazing set.

For fans of Sufjan Stevens, this show was about as good as it gets. Stripped of all the silly theatrics of his last major tour, the old material Stevens played was downright mesmerizing. Seeing new material is always a hit or miss situation, but the night’s new songs have been so long in the waiting and were such a dramatic departure that they had an especially exciting edge to them. If the new songs are any indication, it looks like Sufjan Stevens’ next album will be a folky-electro take on Astral Weeks, with epically long songs about some pretty deep stuff. No matter what becomes of these songs, Stevens’ “live workshop” was an exhilarating experience for the lucky few who got in and proved without a doubt why he is one of the most respected and exciting artists working right now.

[Photos courtesy of dtrip.]

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Also: Sufjan Stevens “Interlude I…” Video