At the risk of sounding like a sycophantic Sufjan Stevens devotee, describing Sufjan Stevens' Friday night performance at Town Hall has proved to be unbelievably difficult. With soaring strings, tender banjo, and an ultimately flawless performance, Stevens' band, which he appropriately labeled "Majesty Songbird and the Magical Butterfly Parade," treated the capacity crowd to an epic performance. The band's costume selection, which included bird masks and sometimes unwieldy wings, was particularly fitting for the concert's overall mood: a mix of lighthearted whimsy and melancholic beauty. The Songbird and his Butterfly Parade may have worn wings, but it was the music that soared.

It has been difficult for Stevens to find a backing band that can do justice his simultaneously epic and frail compositions, but the Butterfly Parade proved more than adequate. Particular standouts included "Chicago," the overture on his most recent work, Come On! Feel the Illinoise!, "The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades," and "Majesty Snowbird," a new composition that would make any fan salivate at the thought of what is to come.

At most large-venue concerts, dramatically slow tempos tend to make the set drag and even wane. On Friday evening, however, the crowd hung on every airy falsetto, struck by the intimacy and beauty. Following the completion of "John Wayne Gacy, Jr.," a ballad of the infamous pedophile and serial killer, the crowd was mesmerized: there were ten seconds of beguiled awestruck silence before any applause ensued.

During the performance of two of his most somber songs, Stevens lightened up the mood by throwing inflatable Supermen and Santa Clauses into the crowd during "The Man of Metropolis Steals Our Hearts" and "That Was the Worst Christmas Ever!," respectively. The odd mixture of glee and utterly depressing lyrics fit well with the dichotomies found on Stevens' recordings and was magnified when performed live.

Toward the conclusion of "They Are Night Zombies! They Are Neighbors! They Have Come Back from the Dead! Ahhh!" one of the many talented trumpeters in the Butterfly Parade ascended through the rest of the orchestra and began an unexpected trumpet solo. After a few moments of blaring musical raucousness, the chaos quickly subsided leaving only Stevens' gentle voice accompanied by sparse piano. Floating effortlessly through the many corners of his repertoire, Stevens proved his gift for musicianship, pop and otherwise.