Sufjan Stevens and the Illinoisemakers = quite possibly the most fun band ever. These boys and girls, six in all, wearing bright orange and navy gym class/cheerleader outfits (complete with sweatbands) bounded onto an altar bedecked in trumpets, banjoes, drums, keyboards, a piano and guitars, jumping around and smiling like mad. They had a cheer choreographed for every song, and there was even a human pyramid at the end of the evening, !!! This was all slightly at odds with the venue, the dimly lit church, the Passionkirche, complete with a massive gleaming organ in the background.
So this is the WEST COAST TEAM SPIRIT! tour which Sufjan & his crazies have embarked upon. This gig attracted a big crowd, the pews were packed out and people were sitting on the floor. Before each song, Sufjan talked a little about the city he would next sing about. Then, after the "history lesson", he would plant his hands on his hips and yell, "oK!", a little uncertainly at the rest of the troupe and they would all perform a cheer before going into the song. Too! Much! Fun! This one time, something technical went wrong onstage, and instead of standing around making small talk, the band stayed in character and all started doing clumsy warm-up stretches til whatever broke got fixed. T'was a sight to behold.
The crowd demanded an encore by pounding on the floor with their feet and slamming their hands on the balcony wall, and we got the Illinoisemakers back for a few more songs from Seven Swans and a few solo turns by Sufjan.
now i know how to pronounce his name properly, and i have learned lots of little bits about Jacksonville, Decatur, Metropolis..
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