managed to get a ticket for this, not parting with it for love nor money. double whammy this November with the Flaming Lips in Vicar Street to look forward to aswell..

It's going to be interesting to see if he can expand his musical palette somehow on his next album.. I liked Michigan and Illinois initially but the songs seem to blend into a bit of a blur of xylophones, banjos and whatever after a while (i.e. he seems to re-use the same bag of musical tricks over and over).. I actually get a lot more out of Seven Swans, which seems to have a degree of personal intimacy and genuine emotion to it that the others maybe don't.

I've seen him twice now. The first was on his Illinoise tour. Famously his songs were accompanied by introductory "cheers" performed by the whole band in a kind of chorus girl arrangement. It was amusing, entertaining and an often funny concert. The emotional heart of his music was leavened somewhat but I never really figured the guy to be as quirky as he was. My girlfriend reckoned it was in her top 3 gigs of all time. After the show, we heard about an intimate acoustic gig that he was going at the University of London the following evening. After parting with a wodge of cash (thanks Ebay), we went along. The set was stripped down... no-one was dressed as a cheerleader and the evening was an altogether more sober affair. There was little banter... the room took on the atmosphere of a church. But, more interestingly, he changed and took on a much more "happy clappy Christian" persona. Anyone familiar with his music (especially Seven Swans) will know that his religion is fundamental to how he is... but by the third or fourth "praise God" from the audience, we left early. I was filled with unease... and disappointment obviously. Now I just cannot listen to Seven Swans. The change in his personality was almost disturbing. Now part of that would be my own personal reaction to religious fervour, but I would add that we were not the only people to leave. I'll be interested to hear which Sufjan turns up in Ireland.

Sufjan played in Dublin just after Seven Swans came out, it was a solo show in the Douglas Hyde gallery in Trinity with material mainly drawn from Seven Swans and Michigan. He was in serious stroytelling mood and gave an introduction for most of the songs. The thing is, the songs that were obviously about religion ("He woke me up" being the one that immediately springs to mind) he made completely implausable stories up about them to avoid saying that they were about God.

I've completely gone off him now because of all that religious crap. Idiot. God is dead.

I am not liking the sounds of all this religous malarky at all. Here's hoping Sufjan leaves the bible at home when he comes to Dublin!!

i wonder will he be doing a set of his christmas songs, he is due to release a 5 cd boxset of the stuff around the gig!! hey raoul how did you manage to get a ticket? ;)!!!

raoul, he is religious... so what? he won't bring the preaching to the olympia though, you have my word... ...thus endeth the lesson

november is a busy one alrite ... sufjan, tv on the radio (which still has tickets available!!!!) and midlake woohoo and all for under 40euro! stick that in your mcd 75euro ripoff merchants

That Douglas Hyde gig was pretty boring. He talked more than he played. Don't know why he thought he had to explain every song before he started. Got off to a bad start by covering 'The One I Love' by REM.

Oh, how the worm has turned...! I'm with Palace on this one. Personally speaking, I have a lot of respect for people who have strongly-felt beliefs, whether they be political, religious, whatever. The courage of one's convictions strikes me as more important than the objective truth of them. Unless, of course, you're blowing people up as result.

I've just heard from a source that his Olympia gig is just going to be a mass.. none of the hits, just the gospel and that.. So anyone who decided to opt out, hit me an email, yeah? I'll even pay face value!

Oh... I didn't mean this to turn into a fatwa against poor Sufjan! As I mentioned in my post earlier, his "full band" gig was extraordinarily entertaining. Trust me... you will be mesmerised. He describes some of the childhood memories that influenced Illinoise. I felt uncomfortable with the audience reaction to his religious music (he played songs that verged on hymnal) in the more intimate gig. He is a special talent for sure.

anyone know who's supporting Sufjan tonight?

st. vincent i believe... know nothing about them

St. Vincent is the band of singer-multi-instrumentalist-composer, Annie Clark. Hailed by the Boston Globe as an, 'adorably spunky guitar prodigy,' 23 year-old Annie has been seen opening for such acclaimed and diverse acts as Television, Jose Gonzalez, and will spend the next few weeks supporting Sufjan Stevens all across Europe. An inventive and versatile guitarist, Annie has played with avant-garde composer, Glenn Branca, and is a member of symphonic pop spectacle, The Polyphonic Spree.

Annie Clark/St. Vincent is brilliant.. definitely see her. She's also playing guitar in Sufjan's band. myspace.com/stvincent