Sufjan’s Christmas Miracle
Probably the strangest Christmas gift I ever got was the E.T. soundtrack on cassette from my grandmother, when I was 21 or so. Granny was a few years late, but I’m no one to talk as it was just last year that I gifted myself with Sufjan Stevens’s 2006 Songs for Christmas. It has been the hap happiest season of all ever since. Who knew a short year later he would be back with more yuletide magic, the six disc set Silver & Gold
The audaciously meaningful “Christmas Unicorn” (don’t trouble yourself wondering what a Christmas unicorn is, it just is, and you are one) was a scene stealer, as was the onstage banter between Sufjan and Rosie Thomas. Plowing thru seasonal hits and new tracks with frolicsome verve and even a little Neil Young Live Rust guitar at times, the song selection and the talented band did not disappoint. The banjo emerged and personal favorites from the original Christmas set were featured as things quieted down: a pitch perfect version of “That was the worst Christmas ever!” had hearts swelling, or at least this one: “In time the snow will rise, in time the lord will rise.”
“Justice delivers its gift here on earth.”
The hopes and fears of all the years were met, if briefly, for some in a typical concert venue this night. The joy spilled onto the streets- people’s faces were literally glowing with a common light that had been captured in a night of wassailing, minus the wassail. The beauty of a singer and his songs, the ability of song to lift spirits, to transcend cold realities and seasonal disorders that might last year round, was seen in the face of the band leader, one Sufjan Stevens: Christmas genius- tobogganed, tinseled, neon taped, playing skillfully and sharing his heart with the masses, who held it gently and happily. Pretty magical. Well, miraculous, really.
Want to see more photos? Head over to our photographer William Haun’s Flickr feed.