Dublin Opinion

Ignorance is NOT bliss. Sometimes I’m slow to check out new music that has been developing a buzz for a while. Last night Sufjan Stevens played a much anticipated gig at the Olympia Dublin, which is weird because the first of November was the first day I listened to Sufjan with any concentration – and I love it.

Here’s the impression of someone I know who made it to the gig.

The band consisted of a 5 piece brass section, two guitarists and a bass player and a drummer and him on piano - but other than the brass section everyone else had a swap around on instruments. Most impressive was the blend between the quiet subtleness of his voice and then the crashing Brass bringing the tone 10 notches higher - but all flowing wonderfully - the crowd loved the gig, and he really fed off it!

Thanks for that Stephen.

Anyway, here are live versions of Lakes of Canada and The man of metropolis steals our hearts.
They probably won’t be there for long. If they’re gone, you can always check this search on Hypemachine.

Here he is playing Chicago, live, er, somewhere. Not Chicago though.

Update

In the interests of piracy I’m adding in some of Sorcha Hamilton’s Irish Times review of last Wednesday’s Sufjan Stevens gig. It’s a nice review.

Lively kaleidoscopic visuals fused into hazy images of sunshine, clouds and a small boy playing with a kite as Stevens moved between piano, guitar and banjo. The five-member brass accompaniment played in animated, unruly blasts, which mixed brilliantly with Steven’s sweet, untainted voice. Quiet, introverted moments often descended into chaotic guitar, drums and gunshot piano.