Sufjan Stevens rocks Madison

Here's a long overdue update from the Sufjan Steven's concert last month.

Since Sufjan hasn't toured much lately, a few friends and I decided to make the trek up to Madison, WI to see him play, the closest he would come to Denver. When it was all said and done we had a great time and the concert totally rocked our socks off. Here's a sampling of what we saw: some old songs, some new, all awesome.




I have a few general criteria for what makes a concert awesome to me and Sufjan hit almost all of them:

1- Be interesting - Sufjan made some great banter between songs. I hate it when the only thing a musician says is "thanks" and then keeps on playing.

2-Give me something unique - I've already bought the album, so mix it up a little bit and give me something I can't get anywhere else. Sufjan certainly did by not only playing brand new songs but also re-arranging older ones to fit the band he was touring with.

3-Show some energy - Sufjan did a pretty good job of looking like he was into the music and enjoying himself up there. I like that.

4-Smash something - OK, maybe it's a stretch, but I really want to see a musician smash an instrument after - or even during - a show. Sufjan didn't smash anything but I guess I can forgive him.