Underground Opportunities
So I have recently made the decision to move to NYC area... It's not that the suburbs aren't exciting. All my friends, family, and my favorite record store are here. I have to say there has always been the lure of the downtown for me. The life of the city seems to be overflowing. People walking around, eating in cafe's, sitting in the park watching performers, etc. seem to define the community better than the suburbs. I was reminded of this sense of life and community when I went to Europe this past summer. There was such an attention in the cities there to make them places where you mingle with the community. Great plazas, small alleys with quaint little shops, streets that have crowds of people shopping seem to facilitate the community. I think that in America we have become too indivualistic and need more community. Our cities offer convenient separation while in cars on highways, etc. I hope to become more part of a larger community with my move. Anyway, I also think that with my move closer to the city, I will have much more opportunities to see some great underground music. Thus, the name of the post.... So hopefully I will have more great music and experiences in the city to talk about after I move in a month or so.

Sufjan Stevens in Concert
I had the chance of seeing Sufjan Stevens in concert recently. I was first of all suprised that there were so many people at the concert. Apparently, Sufjan is bigger than I had thought. It was quite a visual show as well. All 15 of the people (playing trumpets, violin, cello, drums, piano, base guitar, lead guitar, and keyboards) on stage were wearing the same costume. They were in jogging pants, t-shirt, and had butterfly wings taped to their backs. In addition, the show started off with them wearing feathered masquerade masks as they walked on the stage. I had a friend point out that it felt like they were a cult... I thought it was kinda cool and exactly in the Sufjan style. Along with their "groovy" outfits was a nice background video's that added to the whole cult experience! I was impressed with the bands energy.. I was expecting it to be mostly Sufjan playing guitar, but the full band played a lot too and had a full sound that gave the live band experience to an otherwise folk rock experience. I was impressed with the amount of instruments Sufjan plays too. He played at least a banjo, the piano, guitars, and the bells. I know he plays other instruments too. It seems that he can only get bigger from here. But to where? And what state will be next in his montage of albums? Who knows? I just pray he never becomes too popular because I don't know if I could handle that! Check out his website if you haven't already:
http://www.asthmatickitty.com/musicians.php?artistID=5