Come on, feel the Illinoise!

Oh. My. Gosh.

I just had the craziest 24 hours I've had in quite a long time. And keep in mind, this is coming from a guy who said, "I think I'll go to Chicago" one weekend and ended up hanging out with Emily.

Around 11:30 am yesterday, Chris, Sarah, and I began a trek to Atlanta to see Sufjan Stevens - by far my favorite American musician. The trip went smoothly, and was filled with shady gas stations, lots of pictures, assorted indie and classic rock music, beef jerky, bottled frappucinos, and laughter. We got to Atlanta somewhere around 4:30 or 5, and drove around for a bit. We ended up eating at the infamous Varsity, thanks to the directions of Chris Gerrard. Chris and Sarah weren't impressed, but I had a good time. I mean, come on, the frosted orange is delicious. We did get hats, though, and we marvelled at the doorless stalls in the bathrooms. Sarah asked this one woman to take a picture of the three of us, and the woman said something like, "Oh, I thought you were going to ask me for a donation or something, and I was like, 'Eww!'"

So then we parked somewhere near The Fox and met up with Chris' friends from RUB. We wandered to a sub shop and hung around for a while. At some point, both Kathleen and JT stopped by to say hello. What a crazy thought - Kathleen, Chris, JT and his crew, RUB folks, Sarah, and me all together at a sub shop in Atlanta. On a Wednesday.

At some point we did more wandering around, and we met up with Emily's sister Megan. That was so much fun, and it was fitting, you know, since I had met Emily's cousins in Illinois. I mean, why would I meet Emily's family members in Florida? That's just lame. We grabbed some coffee and then headed to the show.

I can't even begin to express how amazing this concert was. My Brightest Diamond was, by far, the best opening act I've ever seen. Sufjan came out with about 14 other people - a string section, a brass section, a percussionist, guitarist, bassist, and someone playing a celeste. Sufjan himself alternated between piano, guitar, and banjo.

Despite some sound problems that got resolved eventually, I think he played the perfect set: Sister, The Lord God Bird, Detroit, Casimir Pulaski Day, John Wayne Gacy Jr., Abraham, Palisades, "Majesty, Snowbird" (a new song), Jacksonville, A Good Man is Hard to Find (hooray for Flannery O'Connor!), Seven Swans, The Transfiguration, Chicago, Romulus, That Dress Looks Nice On You.

The range of emotion at this concert was just incredible. Casimir Pulaski Day and John Wayne Gacy were poignant and sad, Palisades built up into a wall of sound that engulfed everyone, and Chicago was like a large scale celebration of one of my new favorite cities. His new song was pure genius, and about 10 minutes long. Romulus was just him on piano, and That Dress Looks Nice On You was a very low-key acoustic performance.

Amazing.

Did I mention that the band was dressed as butterflies, and Sufjan was dressed like a bird? Seriously. They had wings and masks.

We got back to Gainesville around 4:30 am. The ride home was filled with Dark Side of the Moon, Parachutes, Furthermore, Why Should the Fire Die?, and attempts to sleep and/or keep Chris awake.

What a crazy day. So much fun.

Hopefully I can get some sleep and attempt to catch up on my work. I have a paper and exam coming up. Yikes.

Peace,
Sam