Music / Reviews
Review: Sufjan Stevens, Colston Hall
Sufjan Stevens played Bristol for the first time on Sunday night. At least he thought so.
When he commented towards the end of his two-hour set at the Colston Hall that it was lovely to finally visit, one of his band pointed out he was here at the much missed St Bonaventure’s a decade ago in support of Iron & Wine. “Can’t have been very memorable, then”, Stevens joked.
This pleasant chat only began after an encore break, 90 minutes into the set. Up until this point, the gig felt more like a performance piece, with not a single word said between songs.
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Stevens ran through the entirety of new album Carrie & Lowell in this time, while also, rather strangely, including older tracks Vesuvius and The Owl & The Tanager before ending with a gorgeous, drawn out version of album closer Blue Bucket Of Gold. These two tracks are the only inclusions to this part of the set that make it feel anything but seamless.
Carrie & Lowell is Stevens’ most sparse album yet, occupied by fragile finger-picked guitar lines and cold synthesisers.
There seems to be no pattern or formula to the album in the live environment though, and while the likes of Death With Dignity and Eugene stayed true to their recorded selves, some of the tracks were given wild reinventions.
Fourth of July ended in a cacophony of noise, while Should Have Known Better was given a compelling drawn out ending. The only slight hiccup was the new, bassy, almost trip-hop version of All Of Me Wants All Of You, which, while impressive and innovative, felt like it didn’t belong among the rest of the set.
Once Blue Bucket Of Gold ended the main set, Stevens seemed like a different man, chatting freely with the audience and picking his way through his back catalogue seemingly at random.
Tracks from Michigan, The Age Of Adz and Illinois were rolled out with joy, before the natural set closer of Chicago. This stripped-back live version doesn’t quite instil the utter elation expected from the orchestral studio version, but is another example of Stevens bending and breaking his own tracks to put on a completely unique show, where nothing should be expected or taken for granted.
Carrie & Lowell took five years to arrive since Stevens’ last album, and it has been 11 since he was last in Bristol, so this show might have been the last for an awfully long time.
Everyone in attendance at the Colston Hall knew this though, and took in and appreciated every second from one of the most compelling songwriters in the world.
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