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.
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