Sufjan Stevens’ first of five sold-out shows tonight at Bowery Ballroom was an fantastic and fun. Stevens and his enormous band of Illinoise Makers bring the music, especially from Stevens most recent album “Illinois” but unfortunately, nobody knew in advance that as part of Illinois Spirit Week, each performance has a different theme. Tonight was backwards night, but how were we supposed to know that the ghost of Kriss Kross was supposed to possess us all and wear our clothes backwards? But I’m here to help the rest of you who plan to go to one of the next four shows. Here it your advance warning, so you better show your spirit by following orders. I mean, just look at how much spirit Stevens and his enormous band the Illinoise Makers had! They even did incredible cheers before many of the songs while wearing the colors of the Fighting Illini!
So with that in mind, here’s the breakdown of what you need to do to show your spirit when you head to the show:
Sat 8/20: “Fake an injury” night. That’s right — show-up limping, in a cast, with a hatchet in your head. Just show up pretend-injured.
Sun 8/21: Pirate night. Arrrrgh! (Costume shops: get ready for a rush on eye patches.)
Mon 8/22: Fake tattoo night — draw anything you want on yourself.
Tues 8/23: Homecoming. Come formally dressed — ties, tuxes, evening gowns.
And in case you’re wondering, I’m not making this up. Sufjan made the announcement at the end of his set. Will anybody actually do it? Who knows. But you can sure show your spirit if you do. And since they gave us balloons (!), it’s the least you can do.
By the way, I missed the opening band tonight but caught Smoosh’s entire set. In case you don’t know, Asya is 13: she sings and plays keyboards. Her sister Chloe is 11 — she plays the drums. That’s right — that girl playing drums in the photo below? I am more than three times her age!!! And yet, she has probably already accomplished more artistically than I have. (sigh) Smoosh’s songs are kind of fun an way more sophisticated than one would expect from a pair this young. The lyrics are pretty basic, but the music is just plain catchy. Playing right before such a consummate songwriter as Stevens might actually be a little bit unfair, but watching Smoosh for 45 minutes proved that they’re not simply a novelty act.
Still — 13 and 11? It just felt kind of wrong.
Out of Focus 