Sufjan Stevens
‘Tis a cruel, cruel thing to inflict a crappy-yet-earnest opening act on the faithful. My Brightest Diamond inflicted a too-long set upon those naive enough to arrive early to the second performance of a two-night stand thinking that the headliner was the only group of the night. Singer Shara Worden has a gorgeous voice but lacks her boss’ sense of lyricism. All was forgiven when Sufjan Stevens and his 14-piece orchestra, including Austin’s Tosca String Quartet, took the stage clad in butterfly wings. The outfit launched into a very long, very intense instrumental opening so breathtaking that it was almost an afterthought when Stevens sat at the piano and sang a short outro. He then introduced himself and the band as “Majesty’s Songbird and the Chinese Butterfly Brigade, singing songs of peace and happiness.” The poignant, heartwrenching “Casimir Pulaski Day” was followed by cheerful elegy “Oh Detroit, Lift up Your Weary Head!” as a film capturing Motown’s buildings, nightspots, and car shows unspooled on the giant screen upstage. The centerpiece of the 10-song set was “Majesty’s Snowbird,” a new piece Stevens described as the band’s theme song. It was a long and gorgeous piece showcasing the Michigan native’s ear for orchestral compositions. The arrangement on this song alone was worth the price of admission. Stevens closed the set with “Seven Swans,” then took a brief break before the one-song encore. The group came back onstage in stocking feet and black “Ride the Hatch” T-shirts and performed a rousing rendition of “Chicago,” the song everyone was waiting to hear. (The night before had also featured “John Wayne Gacy, Jr.”) The grateful audience stomped, cheered, and clapped its admiration for the adorably dorky Stevens, who clapped along with his audience, then took the final bow of the night to a house hungry for more.
This article appears in September 22 • 2006.