Last year, Elton John declared that Rufus Wainwright was the greatest songwriter on the planet.,
Quite a profound statement from the king of pop himself. This was presumably
based on hearing 2004’s Want One, followed earlier this year by the
groundbreaking opus, Want Two.
The latter is one of the greatest albums this side of Led Zeppelin’s Four
Symbols and Pink Floyd’s Dark Side Of The Moon. Right now he’s
blasting away his contemporaries with a unique brand of classically orientated pop.
He has no competition when it comes to boundless natural talent.
In addition he is an outstanding live performer and showman. His recent
appearance at the Lowry consolidated his much vaunted credentials. Stunning
only serves to demean what I experienced this night. Lifting most of the
setlist from the above albums, Wainwright, son of folk legend Loudon Wainwright
III, nephew of Anna McGarrigle and brother of equally talented Martha, he
brilliantly showcased the masterpiece in just under two hours.
Backed by his fabulous six-piece band, the ‘gay icon’ held court in outrageously
camp manner, which at times proved to very disarming. For one who’s known for
his overt flamboyance, he initially seemed quite subdued, but by the end he
would turn up the heat.
With his boyish good looks, Wainwright is a marketing man’s dream and by the
reception he received, you swear he was #1 in the singles charts. But that’s
not his bag: this guy is one hell of a serious musician with a great sense
of humour, as we would later discover. His music is inspirational, innovative
and avante garde to and extreme and never bends to fashion.
Lyrically he’s revealing,profound, honest and risqué: and he knows how to get
it over. There is never a throwaway song on the albums, and it’s not wasted
in his live shows either. The songs make the hairs on your neck standup.
When the music kicks in it unsettles you to the extent you break out into a
cold sweat, and many times I was emotionally moved to tears, such is the
overwhelming effect.
Switching from acoustic guitar to piano,he delicately handled both like a
treasured pet, gently stroking the strings and carefully tinkling the ivories.
His rendition of Halleluiah was simply breathtaking, as were Memphis
Skyline and Waiting For A Dream. During the encore the self-proclaimed
‘Great International Superstar’ stripped off to his undies, cast a ‘Miss
Manchester’ sash, donned a fairy’s wings as he belted out Old Whore’s Diet
in pure exhibitionism.
An epic night, and a high watermark of a musician on top of his game, who has
single headedly changed the possibilities of popular music.
In context, Want One and Want Two are as groundbreaking as
Pet Sounds (Beach Boys), Sgt.Peppers (Beatles), Odelay
(Beck) and Forever Changes (Love). For those who’ve never heard of him,
it’s time to make contact with the next 21st Century superstar.
Rufus in another flamboyant shot, the concert pass and set-list...
As of April 2009, Blu-rays and DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TH-37PX80B
37" Plasma TV with a Sony BDP-1500 Blu-ray player and played through a Yamaha DSP-AX820 amplifier.
PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
Since Jan 2011: Intel Quad Core Dell XPS 8100, i7 CPU 860 @ 2.80Ghz, 8Gb RAM, nVidia GeForce GTS 240, Windows 7
Since Nov 2005: Intel Pentium D 830 3.0Ghz, 1Gb RAM, 128Mb nVidia GeForce 6700XL, Windows XP
Since Aug 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.66Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb GeForce4 MX440 graphics, Windows XP
Since May 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.6Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb ATI Radeon 9600TX graphics, Windows XP
Since Jun 2002: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, 64Mb ATI Radeon 8500LE
Since May 2000: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, Voodoo 3 3000 AGP
Last year, Elton John declared that Rufus Wainwright was the greatest songwriter on the planet.,
In addition he is an outstanding live performer and showman. His recent
appearance at the Lowry consolidated his much vaunted credentials. Stunning
only serves to demean what I experienced this night. Lifting most of the
setlist from the above albums, Wainwright, son of folk legend Loudon Wainwright
III, nephew of Anna McGarrigle and brother of equally talented Martha, he
brilliantly showcased the masterpiece in just under two hours.
With his boyish good looks, Wainwright is a marketing man’s dream and by the
reception he received, you swear he was #1 in the singles charts. But that’s
not his bag: this guy is one hell of a serious musician with a great sense
of humour, as we would later discover. His music is inspirational, innovative
and avante garde to and extreme and never bends to fashion.
Switching from acoustic guitar to piano,he delicately handled both like a
treasured pet, gently stroking the strings and carefully tinkling the ivories.
An epic night, and a high watermark of a musician on top of his game, who has
single headedly changed the possibilities of popular music.
Review & concert pics copyright © Elly Roberts, 2004-2010.
