Yeah, so I got sick on Monday and barfed a lot. But it was approximately 18 hours after I had eaten anything… so mostly I puked up bile from my stomach, plus then I would go and drink a lot of Vernors or Cherry 7UP and then barf that back up. At least it tasted good… in my nose. I haven’t the foggiest clue as to what set it off (E. Coli??), but, suffice it to say, I’m still alive and I slept a TON. I watched The End of the Spear, a really tremendous movie about the true story of missionaries murdered by a fierce tribe of Wadoni indians in the Amazonian rainforests of Ecuador. It was kind of agonizing to watch… and I was in agony (sick), so it kind of fit together with my mood. Then I watched Liar, Liar, because I figured if the old adage Laughter is the best medicine ain’t true… well, I might as well try.
So, I slept through three classes on Tuesday, then, making it only to the fourth, and final, one. I’m a little behind on homework. I worked tonight. I work again in mere hours (5:30am… curse the buttcrack of dawn!). I am not going to sleep tonight… because I have too much work. Ahhhh…. so that’s why I’m blogging! To just waste more time not actually doing my work! Gahhh!
Later,
~Joel
Yesterday I saw Sufjan Stevens play at the Egyptian Room of the Murat Center in Indianapolis with Justin, Michael, Kelly, Patrick and Kim. It was a bombastic experience… I screamed aloud at the beginning of the set, “Make love to my eardrums!” And Sufjan performed admirably.
My Brightest Diamond opened with a spare, sedentary set that made me want to nod off in my chair. It was good music… but I just wasn’t in the mood for such a languid, emotive (and all red-robed musicians bathed in red light) opening. After that, we had an intermission of sorts, during which Mike and I stood in place and sang any songs that came to mind. At one point, we danced along to some of the intermission music and made up some fish-reeling motions that got us laughed at. Justin and Kelly joined in and we were a quartet of dancing doofs for a couple of minutes. Then, the lights dimmed, the girls screamed and fainted, and the band filed onto the stage to take over our minds for the remainder of the night.
- Sister
Beginning with a lengthy instrumental number, Sufjan petered out into mere plinking piano and vocals for the only vocal portion of this song before standing and saying, “hello.”
- The Transfiguration
Without much further ado, Mr. Stevens launched into this tune. I was really quite pleased with it’s execution, and the “lost in the cloud, a voice…” climax was very nice. Clouds billowed on a screen behind the band.
- The Lord God Bird
“In the delta sun…” This one might be my favorite Sufjan song of the past two years. Nothing, so far, has matched its simplicity, its beauty, and its weight and effect on me. Live with full orchestral backing musicians turned it into something much more bombastic. I still loved it. But the best song of the night wasn’t to come until later on… when the album of the night’s namesake song was played.
- Dear Mr. Supercomputer
Sufjan introduced this instrumental song after talking a little bit about how happy he was to be in Indiana. He introduced the “Butterfly Brigade” and chatted up the audience a little bit before saying, “This one is for the supercomputer.”
- Jacksonville
A video filled with Superman imagery and the Illinoisemakers cavorting on the hills near Jacksonville supplemented this solid tune.
- A Brief Reprise for Mary Todd, Who Went Insane For Very Good Reasons
Jacksonville segued straight into this one… afterwards Sufjan got back up and said, “Thank you, Mary Todd. That’s what that was, right? Brief reprise for Mary Todd? Am I wrong?”
- Detroit, Lift Your Weary Head!
Michael let out a long, raspy sigh of pleasure when Sufjan proclaimed, “This one goes out to Detroit, my hometown.” He’d been hoping to hear it played live. Sufjan omitted this one, conspicuously, from the show he played for us in Detroit before Illinois was released.
- The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades is Out To Get Us
The Suf told a funny story about being chased by a pterodactyl-type flying creature that barked and hissed and buzzed and was out to get him and a friend of his at summer camp when they were kids. Prolly the 2nd best performed song of the evening (to me) it ended with a seemingly endless 2 minute wall of noise.
- The Majesty Snow Bird
The theme song of the tour, this was a very enjoyable tune that was apparently about a bird??? I cannot recall my interpreted snippets of the lyrics right now… but it was most enjoyable and went on for some time.
- John Wayne Gacy, Jr.
I heard lots of emo kids exclaiming, “Oh, I *love* this song!” It’s about a serial killer. Hmm… emo kids.
- A Good Man Is Hard To Find
“This is another song about a serial killer.” admitted Sufjan as soon as Gacy had ended. I love this song. Before Lord God Bird, it was my favorite. Hmm… emo kid (me).
- Seven Swans
IMHO, the greatest song of the whole night. Totally unexpected… and moving, and powerful and really cool. Sufjan prefaced the song with a lengthy story that may or may not have been made up. It was about going home for Easter and having a bonfire and then accidentally lighting the trees on fire and having to call the fire department. Then the vision of seven swans appeared through the sunlit smoke. “He will take you… if you run… he will chase you… he is the Lord.”
- Chicago
The capstone of the evening. Everybody cheered. Clothing came off. People started making out with each other. Dozens and hundreds of emo kids and indie kids all in their trendy, vintage clothing… or lack thereof- making hot love on the floor of the Murat Center. It was like some kind of bohemian speakeasy concert. Sufjan bravely sang on, even as the crowd became more feverishly lost in the delerium induced by the music. I blame this outcome on the Murat Center bar that was located behind us, and was selling all manner of alcoholic beverages.
- Encore: To Be Alone With You
After the band left the stage, the crowd clapped and cheered for more… and Sufjan obliged, along with a handful of plain-clothes helpers. These songs were played in the intimate, personal type of mode that we experienced back in Detroit. I’d like to see Sufjan in that kind of a setting again… but I doubt that it’ll happen again for cheap.
- Encore: The Dress Looks Nice On You
“This is for all the ladies in the audience… and it really, truly is the last song.”
Mew, anybody? This Friday? I could gopher it.
This is a really cute song. A really cute video. From a cute girl in Scandanavia with an unfortunate name: Sarah Assbring. Still, ya oughta check this out. El Perro Del Mar drops an album in the U.S. on November 7th.
God Knows (You Gotta Give To Get)