Trip Report: Sufjan Stevens's Laser-Fueled Tour Through The Solar System
Sufjan Stevens, Bryce Dessner, and Nico Muhly's "Planetarium" This show was taken at the earlier Australian performance, at the Sydney Opera House. via Workhorse NYStevens, The National's Bryce Dessner, and composer Nico Muhly--plus a massive suspended orb--perform a solar-system-inspired sequence at BAM. I could only see about half of the massive orb, somewhere near 30 feet in diameter, that hung over the musicians. My view was blocked by one of the protruding boxes in the enormous, opulent Beaux Arts-style Howard Gilman Opera House at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Blue, green, purple, and red lasers stuttered and waved over the audience's heads. Giant disco balls hurled spots of light onto the Italianate ceiling high above. Seven, count them, seven trombonists bellowed out the low end. "Jupiter...is the loneliest planet" sang Sufjan Stevens, his mournful, breathy voice sharpened by a vocoder. Around the edge of the box, I could see Jupiter's famous...