Sufjan Stevens, Sovereign of Sorrow

I made the mistake of offering a Sufjan Stevens ticket to a friend who, I soon learned, thinks Sufjan Stevens is a hack. This is the common knock against Stevens and most other singer-songwriters preoccupied with grief and depression: Isn't it all a little much? Stevens is certainly aware of his reputation for being a bummer. On Tuesday after playing 12 songs—one Michigan instrumental, 10 tracks from his mournful new album Carrie & Lowell, and the hushed 2010 ballad “The Owl and the