Sufjan Stevens, 9th May 2011, Olympia (Paris): époustufjan ! + “Illinoise” (2005) review

This blog has always been a huge fan of Sufjan Stevens and this was with excitement that we went to see his show at the Olympia last Monday. I was lucky to see him live in Paris last time he played in the Bataclan in 2007 if I am not mistaken and I remembered an incredible show. However, one must acknowledge that this tour is even more ambitious and I was flabbergasted: wings, spaceships, mad professor, balloons! Based mainly on last LP “The Age of Adz” and the visual art of Royal Robertson, Sufjan has left a bit his romantic side for a kind of nerdy dance music, very close to what the band “Of Montreal” does but with more sense of melody and emotion. Please see pictures I took below:

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He finished the show with three songs from “Illinoise“, his LP from 2006, which is to mind one of the five best LP’s done in the 2000’s. Have a listen to it and you will find a different music world where things are meticulously crafted, where instruments of all range are beautifully  played and where music is done with ambition and humility (9.5/10). And remember that after “Michigan” and “Illinoise”, Sufjan still has 48 US States LP’s to do!

Click on link to see opening song “Seven Swans“, pretty impressive! Please find as well video I took of Sufjan when he did the encore with “John Wayne Gacy, Jr.”, probably the sweetest song about a serial killer ever written!

6 thoughts on “Sufjan Stevens, 9th May 2011, Olympia (Paris): époustufjan ! + “Illinoise” (2005) review

  1. Assister à un concert de Sufjan Stevens est toujours un grand moment… je ne peux m’empêcher de repenser avec une certaine tendresse au lâcher de ballons père noels auquel j’ai assisté au concert à l’olympia en 2006.
    Je dois avouer que, même si j’aime beaucoup ce que fait le monsieur d’habitude, le dernier album m’a laissée un peu dubitative…
    En tout cas bravo pour ce blog! Il va me falloir encore un peu de temps pour le parcourir, il y a de la lecture… et en anglais s’il vous plait!!
    A bientôt (à la disco de LP! 😉 ) et bonne continuation!

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