This month, while finishing up work on his next full-length album, Rufus Wainwright booked 5 solo U.S. performances. He performed in Scottsdale, Seattle, Fort Worth, and then played the last two nights of the tour at the historic Paramount Theatre here in Austin, Texas. I have seen Rufus live several times over the years, but last night’s show (the second of his Austin gigs) was undoubtedly the most intimate.

Keeping in line with his upcoming record (revealed during the show to be All Days Are Nights: Songs For Lulu, coming in March 2010), the show was predominately just Rufus and a piano. On a handful of songs, like crowd pleaser “California”, he played on acoustic guitar. In fact, he joked that “Dad would be so proud” when he tuned the guitar on stage at one point instead of calling for his tech, saying that you have to be serious about your guitar when you are in Austin!

The set list was eclectic, mixing fan favorites with some deep album tracks and even 4 brand new songs. One of those, an ode to his sister entitled “Martha”, was played live for the first time to an enthusiastic response by the audience. My favorite of the new songs was called “What Would I Do With A Rose”. He mentioned that the new album would be all piano & voice, with more complicated piano work than his usual fare. The show, like every performance of his that I have attended, was fun and felt incredibly spontaneous (even though a quick search of the internet shows that the set lists were remarkably similar between the two evenings). If he messed up a lyric or line, he simply laughed it off and started again.

The encore had two of the evening’s greatest moments. Upon returning to the stage, Rufus sat down at the piano and said “This song is dedicated to everyone fighting for marriage equality.” He then launched into “Going To A Town”, a song that was written in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, but also touches on the frustrations that all LGBT people have against the Religious Right (”Tell me, do you really think you go to hell for having loved?”).

Rufus was then joined onstage by Joan Wasser, who had performed as the opening act under her stage name of Joan As Police Woman. They performed Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” as a duet, a choice made all the more poignant by the fact that Joan was Jeff Buckley’s girlfriend at the time of his death in 1997. It was just one of many remarkable moments in a show that was tailor made for the hardcore fans in the audience.

To get an idea of what you’re missing, buy the Milwaukee at Last! DVD online.

Rufus Wainwright
Paramount Theatre, Austin, TX
November 17, 2009

Grey Gardens
Leaving For Paris
Beauty Mark
Sanssouci
Peach Trees
Vibrate
Give Me What I Want (new)
What Would I Do With A Rose (new)
Sonnet 20 (new)
California
Rebel Prince
Want
The Art Teacher
Martha (new/1st time played live)
Cigarettes And Chocolate Milk
———
Going To A Town
Hallelujah (duet with Joan Wasser)
Zebulon
Feux d’artifice

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 18th, 2009 at 1:35 pm and is filed under Live Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.