photo: Ben Stanton
BOB’S FAVORITE CONCERT EVER?
“……THIS PAST WEEK, NEARLY 40 YEARS LATER, I WENT TO A SHOW THAT MAY BE THE NEW GOLD STANDARD — SUFJAN STEVENS, AUG. 3, 2011, PROSPECT PARK, BROOKLYN. IT’S ALL PART OF A FABULOUS SUMMER FESTIVAL CALLED CELEBRATE BROOKLYN. IMMEDIATELY THIS SHOW WAS A VISUAL SPECTACLE, INSPIRED BY AND PAYING HOMAGE TO THE SPACE AGE FOLK ART OF AMERICAN PAINTER ROYAL ROBERTSON. BUT AT ITS HEART WERE THE SONGS FROM THE AGE OF ADZ WHICH, LIKE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON, ARE ABOUT THE DEEPLY PERSONAL — MADNESS, CONFLICT, LUNACY — WITH MUSIC THAT SOUNDS ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN. AND IN THAT CHAOS, IN THAT CONFLICT, ARE MOMENTS OF RESOLVE. THERE WERE TIMES IN THE POURING RAIN AT PROSPECT PARK WHEN THOUSANDS OF WET, ENTHUSIASTIC FANS WERE SINGING THESE LINES FROM SUFJAN STEVENS’ 25-MINUTE EPIC “IMPOSSIBLE SOUL”. IT WAS ONE OF MANY CATHARTIC MOMENTS IN A CONCERT FILLED WITH JOY, BEAUTY, HEART AND TRIUMPH — BUT ALSO BEACH BALLS, ROUSING CHOREOGRAPHY, SOME OF THE BEST MULTIMEDIA I’VE SEEN AND EXTRAVAGANT PAGEANTRY…..”
– BOB BOILEN, NPR MUSIC
photo: Ben Stanton
