Sufjan Stevens inspires with sweet symphonies

10/11/2006 3:55 AM, Reuters
Craig Rosen

"I love you." "I love you, too." "We all love you."

Those three successive proclamations came from the crowd three songs into Sufjan Stevens' 100-minute set Monday night at the Wiltern. Indeed, there is plenty to love about Stevens and his elaborate brand of orchestrated pop.

The Detroit-born, Brooklyn-based popsmith has been embraced by critics, name-dropped by Snow Patrol and heard on "The O.C." and in "Little Miss Sunshine." Accompanied by a dozen musicians, including string and horns sections, Stevens delivered a set that was a revelation.

"Teenage symphonies to God" is how Beach Boys mastermind Brian Wilson once described his orchestrated pop. It's a description that also could work for Stevens' sound. Adding to the heavenly quality of his music, Stevens and his accompanists took the stage wearing feathered headdresses and sporting wings reminiscent of the angels in Wim Wenders' "Wings of Desire."

While Wilson celebrates the 40th anniversary of the Beach Boys' landmark "Pet Sounds" with a series of live dates, Stevens has adapted Wilson's orchestrated pop blueprint and applied it to his own experience with songs about "civic pride," tragedies and the human condition. Signed to the indie Asthmatic Kitty label, Stevens might never write a song as popular as "Wouldn't It Be Nice." Yet while Wilson is celebrating his past accomplishments, Stevens showed Monday that he is in his prime, even if this live date fell in between the release of an album of outtakes ("The Avalanche") and a forthcoming holiday disc ("Songs for Christmas").

As Stevens said early in the set, the wings were appropriate for his "songs of flight." As he performed "The Man of Metropolis Steals Our Hearts," his ode to Superman from last year's "Illinois," dozens of inflatable likenesses of the superhero were unleashed on the crowd.

Moving from grand piano to banjo and acoustic guitar, Stevens not only brought to mind Wilson's ork-pop masterpieces and Vince Guaraldi's rollicking "Peanuts" theme but the delicate folk of the late Elliott Smith and the haunting sounds of fellow indie faves Antony and the Johnsons.

While Stevens' elaborate sounds could be a bit twee for some, the musician and his accompanists also showed that they could groove on the slightly funky "Jacksonville" and rock on "The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades Is Out to Get Us!" with a noisy climax that recalled the Beatles' "A Day in the Life."

As if to prove that his creative well is far from dry, Stevens unveiled the nearly 10-minute "Majesty Snowbird," which began like an epic soundtrack and evolved into an explosive collision of electric guitars, strings and horns. When Stevens appeared with only two other musicians during the encore, he was as engaging without the orchestral assault, proving that he is a singular talent who can stand on his own or a stage full of musicians.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter