Friday night I backed my boys, The Polyester Starfish, at Battle of the Bands at Birdy’s. Great show but the cult followings of the other band barred them from victory. Photos

Saturday night was Sufjan Stevens with My Brightest Diamond at the Murat Egyptian Room. I wasn’t a fan of the venue, but the show was a fantastic spectacle of awesomeness. MBD has a gorgeous voice, but I wish her songs had a bit more variety. I must say beyond Disappear, her Bill Withers “Use Me” cover was the highlight of her set.

Now Sufjan’s show began with the entrance of tons of people wearing boy scout-esque uniforms with butterfly wings and then out came Sufjan with bird wings and a feathered mask. (Amy is to provide me with photos). I don’t believe he’s quite as strange as Andrew Bird, but the guy was definitely strange (and adorable, as Ashley pointed out numerous times). He told background stories for many of the songs, but honestly, I’m not sure if he was just making stuff up. He was impossible to read. They had a rooster on stage that they claimed to have stolen from Perkin’s Restaurant.

The show was nothing less than a date with a mad orchestra. Home video and abstract visualizations were broadcast on the massive screen behind them. Visual highlights were during the Jacksonville track off the Illinoise CD. It had footage of the band posing as Jacksonville natives. It was hilarious.

Favorite songs of the night were “The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades is Out to Get Us” and “Seven Swans”. Seven Swans ended in a huge lightning storm. It was the one song I’d desperately hoped he would play. I honestly had a spiritual moment of euphoria.

If I could have changed one thing about the show, I would have put mats all over the floor and had the visuals projected on to the ceiling.