The Concert Report...

Well, I have been to a couple of concerts recently. I feel them worth telling you about.

Sufjan Stevens - 09/24/2006 - St. Louis, MO - The Pageant
What can I say? He's simply brilliant. First off, the man came out with huge eagle wings on, and his band was sporting butterfly wings. They had whimsically dubbed themselves "The Majestic Songbird & the Chinese Butterfly Brigade" for this tour--which ranks up their with the "Sufjan Stevens & the Illinoisemakers" moniker from the last tour. This show was epic. The band consisted of an 8-piece string section (2 cellos, 2 violas, and 4 violins) and a 3-piece horn section (2 trumpets and a trombone). One of the violinists doubled as a guitar player on a couple of songs. He also sported a pretty typical drummer (who also played a little piano), a guy who switched between guitar and bass (and a little piano), and a chick who was all over the place. She played this wierd keyboard, guitar, bass, and sang all the backup vocals. Sufjan switched between acoustic, piano, and banjo (of course!). The setlist contained songs mostly from the masterpiece Come On Feel the Illinoise. He played a few songs from Greetings from Michigan and a few songs from Seven Swans. Surprisingly, there was only half of a song from The Avalanche, which was "Dear Mr. Supercomputer." We were lucky enough to hear a few songs about birds. The first of which was "The Lord God Bird." This was especially meaningful to us, because the song is about a bird thought to be extinct that was found alive in the delta region of Arkansas. The next bird piece was a brand new song with which I have fallen in love. The song is called "Majesty Snowbird," and it is an epic masterpiece. I have two bootlegs of the song, so you may feel free to ask me if you could hear it. This was one of the most amazing concerts I have ever seen. Also, My Brightest Diamond (which was led by the Sufjan's background vocalist and consisted of many members of his band) was a terrific opener.
My Brightest Diamond - B
Sufjan Stevens - A

Mute Math - 10/11/2006 - Tulsa, OK - Cain's Ballroom
This show was a fun little trip. I hadn't planned this concert much in advance. Things just happened to work out, so I went to the show. I have been wanting to see Mute Math for a while, but it has never worked out. They were at Bonnaroo, but they were at the same time as Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!, so I didn't get to see them. I was excited to finally get the opportunity to witness Mute Math in concert. After waiting through a weak series of openers, Mute Math finally took the stage. They were every bit as energetic as I had heard. Some of the best moments were the instrumentals. The absolute best highlight of the show was "Obsolete." On their album, this song is a cool bass-driven interlude between "Stare at the Sun" and "Break the Same." It was so much more live. The band experimented quite a bit during this track. Musically, it was amazing. Sonically, it was amazing. They made sounds that blew my mind. The encor, which was also instrumental, was pretty sweet as well. It involved Paul Meeny's homemade instrument, The Atari. At one point, Paul was holding this thing out for the audience to paly (it's essentially a touch sensitive cross between a guitar-looking thing that sounds somewhate like a theremin). Eventually he let go of the isntrument, leaving it in the crowd's hands to make all sorts of crazy sounds. It was great. Paul was a heck of a frontman. The only drawback to this show was a weak set of opening bands.
Mute Math - A-
Shiny Toy Guns - D+
Jonezetta - C+
Transit Wars - C

Wilco - 10/16/2006 - Springfield, MO - The Shrine Mosque
Wilco came to play. They were freaking awesome. First off, they opened with "Via Chicago," which is one of the most amazing live songs ever. The band was in stellar form this night. Nels Cline is probably the baddest guitarist on the planet--and completely underrated. I just happened to be about 10 feet from Nels during the show, and he blew me away. On a new song, which is pretty rocked out, Glen Kotche pulled off a bad drum solo. It was completely sick. Also, I saw Jeff Tweedy pop a guy upside the head and drag him to sidestage by his hair. The guys first mistake was jumping on stage. His second mistake was touching Tweedy during a song (or at all). Tweedy was in rare form. He punched that guy. He gave some other guy the bird in the front row for bullying a smaller guy in the front row. He didn't talk much, but he was pretty fun when he did talk. The crowd was a lot more energetic than in Fayetteville last Spring. It's always fun when the crowd is packed in tight--dancing and singing along. Also, the opening band (The Altered Statesman) was really good. They had a total chilled Memphis rhythm & blues sound--though they were from Nashville.
Wilco - A+
Altered Statesman - B

Here's the current list of the 10 best shows I have seen with my own eyes. For the record, I have only put one performance per band. For example, I've seen Wilco twice and both deserve to be near the top of this list, but I want to diversify the list. So, one show per band.
10. Guster - Cain's Ballroom - September 2004
9. Andrew Bird - Bonnaroo - June 2006
8. Mute Math - Cain's Ballroom - October 2006
7. Dave Matthews Band - Bonner Springs - August 2004
6. Coldplay - HFStival - May 2005
5. Sufjan Stevens - The Pageant - September 2006
4. Ben Harper - The Starlight Theater - June 2003
3. Death Cab for Cutie - Cain's Ballroom - April 2006
2. Wilco - The Shrine Mosque - October 2006
1. Radiohead - Bonnaroo - June 2006