Sufjan!

I bought tickets for the Sufjan Stevens concert months ahead of time and was excited to hear him perform his new album, "Carrie and Lowell," which I love. It worked out well that Ben's parents were in town so they could babysit (and save us a bunch of money on a sitter since the venue was in Durham). We skipped the opening band and walked around the American Tobacco Campus to enjoy the beautiful weather. The concert was amazing, one of the best I've been to in recent years. He performed the entire album and it was hauntingly beautiful. The auditorium got so quiet at times. It was fascinating to watch his band members rotate around to different instruments too. He played some old favorites at the end which was fun. I had only seen him perform once before and it was his crazy Christmas show at a small venue in D.C. so this performance was quite different. I'm really glad we saw this tour. 

(Sufjan is at the piano in this shot. There were cool old home videos playing on the screens while he was performing "Carrie and Lowell.")

christmas sing-a-long. sufjan style.

The first sign of Christmas around our house is the sound of Sufjan Stevens and his multitude of Christmas tunes. I knew we had to go to his Christmas Sing-a-long (where he was promoting another huge batch of newly released Christmas songs...we're up to 10 volumes now!) and it was the perfect way to kick off the Christmas season.

The show was fantastic. Really fantastic. I was so glad it was at a smaller venue. They had a massive wheel on stage that they would spin to determine which song we'd sing. Lyrics and instructions were handed out (see below). The show alternated between Sufjan and company performing and audience singing along.

He ended with the epic "Christmas Unicorn" song which evolves into a fantastic cover of Joy Division's "Love Will Tear Us Apart" (and involved throwing inflatable unicorns out to the audience). And then came back for an encore of classic Sufjan. (Go here for some great photos of the craziness taken at a different show.)

I'd be happy to make this a new tradition.

We ended the evening with donuts and hot chocolate. It just seemed like the right thing to do.