When tickets for the Sydney Festival first went on sale back in November, I was pretty sure I needed to see Sufjan Stevens twice. But, what if his first show was good, but not memorable? What if the second show was a carbon copy of the first? What if all his stories were just repeated? You know, how silly was I. Basically, I can state this. Why didn't I buy tickets for all three nights? The man is a living treasure, a precious songbird warbling in the night, an exquisite jewel encrusted with diamonds of pure joy. Excuse me for rambling, but he was that good. By the way, the video above is from his Brisbane show on Thursday, the BQE Hula Hoop extravaganza.

Sunday night he started with "Sister", its dramatic interlude piercing the night air. Then when he started discussing the geographical certitudes of Michigan and launched into "The Upper Peninsula", I knew I had nothing to worry about. The night would be sublime and so it proved. Another surprise was him playing "The Avalanche". The album that it gives its name to is quite wonderful, so it was nice to hear a nod in that direction. Of course, great songs like "Chicago" and "Jacksonville" were aired again, duly appreciated. But I was thrilled to hear "John Wayne Gacy, Jr.", a song delivered with such quivering emotion that I could feel my knees buckling. As he showed on Saturday night, Sufjan is quite a raconteur. His elaborate and elongated story of his visit to Bondi Beach, where he travelled with nail polish and sun block and ipod and a million other things was at once bewildering and eternally charming. That it turned into a story of plumbing the depths of the ocean to encounter a mythic wasp creature was a thing of epic hilarity. That it preceded a revelatory rendition of "The Predatory Wasp Of The Palisades Is Out To Get Us!" was nothing short of astounding. After I picked my jaw off the plush carpet and focused on the matter at hand, I noticed he was playing "Barn Owl, Night Killer" (it went missing on Saturday, so it was good to hear on this night). "Abraham" was plucked from "Seven Swans"and Sufjan duly plucked his acoustic with tender fingers. I should mention here that I am far from being a believer in any form of greater being or any kind of organised religion. And it is well known that Sufjan is a devout Christian, no more evident then on "Seven Swans". However I feel that he is a pure spiritual being. No dogma or Hillsong hypocrisy. When he weaves his beliefs into a song, it is done with an honest heart and pure intent. In fact, I barely notice. He is telling his story, not telling me what my story should be. Humbly, that is my view anyway. On with the show. "Majesty, Snowbird" brought out the wings again and playing past the scheduled end time the band launched into "Chicago" to bring a well earned standing ovation. To say the encore finished perfectly with "Casimir Pulaski Day" is stating the starkly obvious. Sufjan pulling away from the microphone and creaking out a last dying verse will stay with me forever.

It would be a given to say that the band was in magnificent form again. The arrangements are quite complex and diverse, yet they never missed a note. They alternately lifted the roof and they also massaged the most tender of quiet moments. They followed Sufjan everywhere he went. To the highest notes and to the most touching of moments. As they left the stage, Sufjan grateful to the extreme, I thought life can be magical, music can be a gathering of people looking for the same thing. The stars can be aligned to place us somewhere momentous. Transcendental.

"And in my best behavior
I am really just like him
Look beneath the floor boards
For the secrets I have hid."

Set List
Sister
The Upper Peninsula
The Avalanche
Concerning The UFO Sighting Near Highland, Illinois
The Black Hawk War, or, How to Demolish an Entire Civilization and Still Feel Good About Yourself in the Morning, or, We Apologize for the Inconvenience But You're Going to Have to Leave Now, or, 'I have fought the Big Knives and will continue to fight them until they are off our lands!'
Come On! Feel The Illinoise!
John Wayne Gacy, Jr.
Jacksonville
The Predatory Wasp Of The Palisades Is Out To Get Us!
Barn Owl, Night Killer
Seven Swans
Abraham
Majesty, Snowbird
Chicago

BQE (4th Movement-Abridged)
Casimir Pulaski Day