Friday April 27, 2007 SGN.org |
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Volume 35 Issue 17 |
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Saturday, Aug 30, 2008
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Rufus Wainwright sticks to new material at The Triple Door |
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| Rufus Wainwright sticks to new material at The Triple Door | ||
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by Richard Kennedy-
SGN A&E Writer Rufus Wainwright w/ Teddy Thompson April 23 @ The Triple Door Teddy Thompson and his acoustic guitar started off the evening. He invokes a Hank Williams feel to his music, all of which is very inspired by classic country tunes. After three songs, Thompson was joined by two musicians playing an electric guitar and an upright bass. It was like being transported back to a Sun Records recording. I have to say that his song "Change of Heart" sounded a little too much like Williams's "Cold, Cold Heart" though. By the time Thompson had finished, The Triple Door was at standing room only capacity. It was a mostly straight audience, with a sprinkling of uber-hip Gay boys and Lesbians. One of the great things about this venue is that everyone dresses up, the entire audience looked even trendier than usual. Wainwright's band entered first, and right away there was a feeling this was going to be an impressive show. There was a French horn, trumpet, sax, upright bass, grand piano, and electric and acoustic guitars. Wainwright entered center stage, clad in tight pants with red stripes going in multiple directions, a black and white striped shirt covered by a navy and black striped jacket with a satin collar. Accessorized with a rhinestone necklace and multiple brooches, he opened with the title track of his newest album, Release the Stars. The horns, piano and guitars created a beautifully rich sound, classic spectacle harkening to the days of Sinatra and Garland. The openly Gay performer belted and crooned about releasing the stars "of old Hollywood" as a metaphor for love. As usual, Wainwright brilliantly bridged classic showmanship with clever lyrics and tight compositions. The ensemble created an atmosphere as though you were watching an intimate performance of time-honored standards rather than newly penned pieces. Following the full band sound of the opening number, he settled down to the piano and sang of his boredom with American social mores. After a few more songs, his musicians were changing instruments; bringing in flutes and even a piccolo to another of the theatrical pop-singer's most recent arrangements. "I will never be as cute as you according to the board of human relation, I will never fly as high as you, these are the rules and regulations of the birds and the bees." Cleverly bitter lyrics that ended ironically with the solo piccolo player. In between numbers, Wainwright charmed and joked with the crowd. "I LOVE brooches!" he exclaimed while pointing to the multiple pins all over his outfit. "Stripes and brooches!", he joked in a sarcastic, nelly voice. Without missing a beat he sat down at the piano and brought back a serious tone with "Leaving for Paris." This was probably the best of all the songs debuted that evening. It was a haunting break-up ballad leaving the listeners frozen while the bass strings quietly joined the piano, paying homage to Bertold Brecht, an obvious influence to our Gay troubadour. After an intermission, Wainwright continued with more new songs and then finally offered two of the numbers he did for his critically acclaimed Judy Garland tribute that was brought to Carnegie Hall and London. Unfortunately, the otherwise tireless singer said the show was too difficult to take on the road, but he would be performing it one more time at the Hollywood Bowl in September. I will be checking those dates online after hearing the fantastic version of "Foggy Day in London." Very few could pay respect to a Gay icon like Garland without crossing the line to camp, and naturally Wainwright does it with ease and intensity. By the end of the show, the star offered fan favorites from past albums. Want One was represented by "Beautiful Child", and Teddy Thompson came back to join. "Not Ready To Love" continued with the two male divas, treating us to a moody country ballad that quietly segued into the next song asking, "Do I love you because you treat me so badly, do I love you because you don't want me to rub your back, is it my medication, or is it yours?" The evening closed with a cover of "One Man Guy", made famous by Loudon Wainwright III (father to Rufus) that could only be followed by "Gay Messiah." Wainwright is never one to mince words about being Queer, but he never falls into a Gay cliché. "He will then be reborn, from 1970's porn, wearing tube socks with style, and such an innocent smile, better pray for your sins, cuz the Gay messiah's coming." It just doesn't get any more unapologetic than that! |
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