Some shows you go into knowing that no matter what gets played, you aren’t leaving that venue satisfied.  There’s too much you want to hear, too many b-sides floating around out there, too many fan favorites for just one encore, too many songs that you put on repeat but the chick with the horn-rimmed glasses and plaid shirt next to you skips every time.

Last night in Ithaca, Sufjan Stevens played an instantly sold out show to a few hundred fans who all walked in knowing this.  Deftly balancing new material, older classics, and sing-alongs, Sufjan and his 5-piece band walked a fine line between disappointment and appeasement.  And it.  Was.  Awesome.

Opening the show with three new songs in a row, Stevens took the air out of the room, and quickly filled it back up by proving that yes, he is working on material, and yes, it does kick ass.  After the opening, I was more interested in buying his new album than listening to Illinois for the hundredth time.  Until he started playing from the canon.

Of the first slew of new songs, “The Age of Adz” had to be the stand out.  Long, loud, and with electronic flourishes, it marks a departure for Sufjan that someone still seems to fit alongside his banjo plucks.  You know, like Digital Ash in a Digital Urn.  But good.

With a comment about “stopping that glam rock shit,” Sufjan and the band launched directly into the back catalogue, immediately beginning the appeasement process with two relative rarities, the 2000 compilation track “All Delighted People” and “Majesty Snowbird,” the ten-minute live behemoth.  It was like a quick reward to the real fans for sitting through the new stuff.

What followed were songs exclusively from Illinois and Seven Swans.  I knew that he had performed Seven Swans in it’s entirety at ATP NY, so I was ready for a good chunk of it, and it ended up comprising about a third of the set list.  One third Seven Swans, one third New Songs, one third other.  Seems balanced enough to me.

Personal highlight:  “To Be Alone With You.”  C’mon, that song is so fuggin’ good.  Especially when crammed into a “hits” section with arguably the two best Illinois tracks, “Chicago” and “Casimir Pulaski Day.”  And yes, I saw people crying during some of these.

The band left the stage for the obligatory encore-tease, and came back on to play one more new song, something like “There is Too Much Love.”  If this is the direction Sufjan plans to go, sign me up.  There was a Chromeo synth.  The song started out like old Flaming Lips, pre-Soft Bulletin.  It sounded like the girls from the Dirty Projectors were backing him up.  And in the extensive outro, there was a free jazz horn freak out.  You’re going to want to hear this.

After an eons long break before the second encore (which may have been a mistake, I can’t tell) Sufjan and the female accomplice, Nedelle from Cryptacize, came back out on stage and did a silent, harrowing “John Wayne Gacy Jr.”  And that was it.

Casual fans were disappointed, I’m sure.  Not enough Illinois, not a single track from Michigan.  And first timers might’ve been dismayed by the set length at a scant 13 songs.  But Sufjan Stevens did a brilliant job of balancing new songs, hits, and rare specimens in pleasing a room full of fans just glad to have made it in.  One third Seven Swans, one third new songs, and one third Other.  And all of it great.

Editor’s note: So what if we were crying Drew..sometimes when I hear “to be alone with you” I can’t help but think of Seth Cohen and Summer from the O.C. rekindling their “made for each other” relationship. It gets me every time….Oh and note to everyone, check out opening band Cryptacize, they were fantastic and are playing in Troy, NY with the Fiery Furnaces in November!

Drew Nelson, photos by Angelina Castillo