sufjan stevens at kings theater

these totally don't do the show justice, but it was one of the most lovely shows i've seen this year. kings theatre is one of my favorite venues now. can't wait for the passion pit show there. everything was perfect except that sufjan said he doesn't live in kensington anymore. it was nice to know he lived in brooklyn, but no more. anyhow, the lighting was amazing and simple landscape and home video projections. lowell (of carrie & lowell) was in the house! to top it off, he ended with my fav "chicago." he revealed that he did indeed "drive to new york city in a van with my friend and slept in parking lots." he said it sucked. heart you sufjan.

the lonely man of winter revisted

all time best host: alec duffy. i was fortunate enough to meet alec back in late april when my buddy adam invited me to a special sufjan stevens listening party. (wish you were there adam!) it was an experience i would never forget, so when i received an email from alec to return to said treasured locale i could not pass it up.

there was chocolate chip chilli and some serious egg nog all provided by the host. i brought some glögg (aka swedish mulled wine), which was a hit. it was a reunion of those who were fortunate to have listened to the unreleased sufjan holiday tune and a few newbies. i must say listening to it again with snow still on the sidewalks of brooklyn was magical. alec also told us an enduring story of meeting the man behind the song. when they met after his gig at the bowery this past fall, sufjan said "i love your song" to alec and he returned the compliment. apparently, there were 16 verisons of the song before "the lonely man of winter," and sufjan wrote the song after picking alec's. the song was personally written for him. wow and wow. but best part of the meeting was alec getting to shotgun a tecate with sufjan and his posse. priceless!

from there we listened sans headphones to the track again. it was my guest mollie's first time hearing the tune and alec graciously offered the same personal headphone experience. skullcandy sent alec headphones when he said that he some times didn't have enough to go around. they were most stylish. i was able to take away the lyrical goodness, such as "unicorn and buffalo bags" and "long drives to denver". thanks alec for continuing this intimate tradition.

sufjan listening party goodness

best uber special listening party: "the lonely man of winter", unreleased track from sufjan stevens. alec duffy won a contest put on by mr. stevens back in the winter of 2007 and won an amazing unreleased track. instead of posting it on some blog, he decided to host listening parties in his own home. listen to the story on studio 360 below.


my buddy adam invited me to this uber special occasion and funny enough the location of said party was literally 2 blocks away from my home. alec and pal dave welcomed us with fresh baked cookies and tea. i felt totally bad empty-handed and even worse when the other guests caroline and anthony brought homemade chocolate chip cheesecake. i promised to return to alec's with brownies. we sat and discussed our affinity to sufjan and i told adam to tell the sad story about his lost sufjan ticket on his bday. there was sweet redemption this evening. anthony said how he missed him back when he played at his university and alec said how he saw sufjan at bowery with pep squad in tow. adam added that he drove down from sf to sd to see sufjan play his first gig on the west coast at the casbah. apparently sufjan was uber nervous and shakey.

alec explained the reasoning behind the intimate nature of the dispersion of this track. he and dave had discussed incorporating with a play, but after some threats of youtubing the play and spreading through the interweb. alec decided on the personal listening sessions, which i openly appreciate. after the convo, alec passed around the letter and packaging with the track.

after some technical difficulty with the headphones, we listened to 3 minutes and 13 seconds of lush layered melancholy lyrics of wintry solitude. we were fortunate enough to get a second listen to swap headphones. a discussion about what we thought about the song followed. i distinctly remembered the line "driving to denver" and wanting the track for my very own. adam, the musician that he is, was thorough in his description about technique. alec added that he was impressed by the care and complexity of the composition. we signed a guest book before departing.
we said our goodbyes and am sad i can't recall the lyrics - only a fleeting melody. caroline was able to sing the chorus. thanks alec and dave for being such great hosts. thanks adam for inviting me. i'm forever indebted to you, which means you are welcome to rooftop beers whenever.