Suuuuuufjan!!

This Monday, Christian and I went to the Beacon Theatre to see Sufjan Stevens. The show was amazing. I would highly recommend it, but sadly, NYC was the end of his tour. He was promoting his new album, The Age of Adz. I only started listening to the new songs about a week ago, so I was afraid I wouldn't be able to keep up. It was still great even though I was only slightly familiar with the music. His opening act, DM Stith was pretty good as well. It was just one guy on stage with a guitar. He has a beautiful voice and even played in Sufjan's band after his set.

Christian and I had pretty decent seats in the lower level (there are several balconies above) even though we were all the way in the back. Besides the two girls making out in front of us, we had a good vantage point of the show. Sufjan opened with Seven Swans. It was incredible. While I am liking the new album more and more, I still love his old stuff.

The stage was full of people. There were two drum sets, a piano, trumpet, trombone, flute, clarinet, a few backup singers/dancers, and several others I can't place. Sufjan played his fair share of guitars and other instruments too.

There were some amazing costume changes and theatrics.

One of his last songs is 25 minutes long and turned into a big dance party. I was afraid being in a seated theater would be boring, but everyone came out of their seats for this number. Balloons fell from the ceiling and the band tossed around beach balls from the stage. So. Much. Fun.

He played Chicago, one of my favorites, as an encore. The entire crowd (or maybe I could only hear Christian and myself) sang along. It was such a good show! I've been playing the songs in my head ever since.

{Pardon the dark pictures. I couldn't quite use the method to get good shots!}