Flashing Hula Hoops and Mountains of Flaming Trash

With all the honing, producing and digital splicing of songs these days, it's difficult to know just how good an artist is until you've seen them in the flesh. Having said that, regardless of how good an album is produced, nothing compares to the 'feel' of a performance even if it doesn't get nailed flawlessly. I'll spare those reading this too much pain by going through yet another Sarah Blasko gig I attended at the Stones of the Yarra Valley. Stripped back with just a mini grand piano, guitar and occasional synthesizer it was brilliant, while I managed to get a blurry photo of her with me and was able to ask her a semi intelligent question without blathering like a crazy lunatic.

Last week I visited one of my favourite venues - The Forum - to see Sufjan Stevens. With a capacity of 1500, it was one of the most polite crowds I'd seen, with no loud talkers or clunking of bottles from the bar and you'd literally be able to hear a pin drop during quiet moments within some songs. Part of the band, who looked fresh out of school, consisted of trumpet, saxophone, French horn and clarinet, accompanied by the more common arrangement of guitars, piano and drums. The big band sound was certainly a highlight of the live show - particularly the solos -, while his performance on banjo would've dispelled any unfair stereotypes of the instrument.

Talkative throughout, stories of his childhood, big American cars and family provided contextual lead-ins to songs, however by his own admission, at times these veered slightly beyond the songs' subject matter. By far the most entertaining story involved the insistence of his father to the avoid paying $16 a month for garbage collection. Burying it underground around their trailer in acres of land, it was eventually piled up and burnt.

Rather than commanding the stage with a voice akin to a tenor it's carefully delivered lyrics and tight musical arrangements that made the performance special. At one stage the decrescendo plucking of the banjo and matching singing had most of the audience leaning forward, intently listen to each note before nervously waiting until the song completed wholly before applauding.

With more words in some song titles than lyrics in entire songs, it makes it difficult to recall the setlist, however by far the standout from the night was Casimir Pulaski Day. It's a difficult song to listen to given the lyrics, however the delivery was spot on. Other highlights (from a fading memory) included The Predatory Wasp Of The Palisades Is Out To Get Us!, Come On! Feel The Illinoise!... and John Wayne Gacy, Jr.

Synchronized wardrobe changes included the famous angel wings and as we wondered if there was some direct relationship between the size of the wings and your status in the band, the show ended with a dedicated hula hooper. Not to be outdone, Sufjan upped the ante with a fancy flashing light hula hoop, completing tricks that made you shake your head in disgust. It's not enough that his a talented musician, but he can hula hoop too! Well at least I can do a fancy spin of a pen around my thumb, but I doubt I can join his tour doing that...