Rufus Wainwright

Around 400 people assembled to see Rufus Wainwright perform at the Wrest Point Entertainment Centre - it did not let anyone down. To those whom are not in the know, Rufus is a talent par excellence, an anomaly operatic piano singing sensation of the highest order. For those who are fans and were there, were able to bare testimony to this astonishingly skilled individual. The self-proclaimed brightest star in the dynasty, Wainwright’s dizzy amalgams of composition are commonly referred to as Popera (Pop Opera) and Baroque Pop. On this night, his voice was utterly thrilling. A tenor whom exudes a raw and larger than life charisma, and not just because he reminded the audience he was gay 5 times during the show.

With 14 songs and one encore, songs included: “Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk”, “California”, “Do I Disappoint you”, “Vibrate”, “The Maker Makes”, A song in French Canadian (I believe to be) “Quand vous mourez de nos amours". One notable absence of song was the hit “Release the Stars”.

However, to the eyes and ears of this reviewer, the standout songs were most certainly “Going to a town” & “Rules and Regulations”. “Going to a Town” found Rufus Wainwright giving a lengthy introduction on his thoughts when he wrote the song, with mixed feelings of loathing and fascination for the nation in which he lived. Whilst acknowledging the influence of the Americanisation of various countries, he insists there is much that he still loved about America – despite the lyrics of the song. Rufus mentioned there were four such songs in his catalogue of which shared this theme.

Rufus piano playing was utterly exquisite, with real technique and passages, it was a holistic approach of physical function, musical purpose and audience banter. Beautiful passages abounded with scales, glissandos and repetitive sequences. The piano playing which abounded with exquisite beauty was a temporal marriage of avante garde innovation and classicist purity. Listening to the piano playing of Wainwright would put your jaw on the floor, your heart in your mouth and your mind spinning with the inspiration and the invigoration of having perceived one of the most thrilling singers of our post-2000 musical epoch – a very real delight.

When Rufus turned to playing guitar, it was fascinating to watch how he underplayed his instrument, quite deliberately, for the listening of the audience as well as his own amusement to hear his voice, and oh his voice! reverberating so tremendously and utterly camp, off the back wall of the Wrest Point entertainment centre auditorium, a terrifying thought to consider some of the grand halls that Rufus would have played since that time.

The songs were filled with operatic choruses, ragtime rhythms and his own distinctively warm vocal timbre, a deep and binding tenor which flooded emotion and exuberance and warmth. His voice, whilst he did not hit full drag queen mode (and a reference for not having a full band behind him) There were humorous moments when he stopped midway through his second last song due to an upset tummy, the result of bad seafood chowder he had consumed in Salamanca that afternoon. The last song of the first encore completed, and Rufus left the stage to a standing ovation.

From Hobart, one of the very last shows on Rufus’ world tour, was finished with a show in the Radio City Music Hall in New York, undoubtably what would have been a grand finale of the ‘Release the Stars’ tour. Critically acclaimed, Rufus Wainwright’s influences are massive, the artists that Wainwright has met and collobarated with is vast and all-expansive, listing Neil Tennant of the Pet Shop Boys as a producer, with mutual friends and and co-partners including the late Jeff Buckley, Elton John, the Scissor Sisters and Leonard Cohen to name but a few.

His mother, sisters and father coming to Hobart in the next month, ironically enough, (with the exception of Martha) in which Rufus Wainwright reminded us a few times during the show, and very much being a must-see for enthusiasts of this remarkable family- Rufus Wainwright being very much the self described child prodigy! One of those performers whom seemingly fit 12 shows into one – this performer is just so recommendable for composers and songwriters whom strive for aesthetic licence and excellence in song.

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