Thursday, November 03, 2005

Rufus at the Beacon (11/2/05)

Last night was Rufus Wainwright at the Beacon Theatre* --

Excellent show. Rufus sounded amazing, and the Beacon is a great venue for him. I've seen him there twice, but last night, he had a brass section, which is something I've been waiting for since Want One was released. "Beautiful Child" sounded so great. He opened with "Oh What a World," which was awesome. A few new songs that I'll be excited to get once they come out (one -- "Between My Legs" -- apparently for someone that was in the audience last night but he didn't want to talk about). "Poses," which is always welcome. "I Don't Know What It Is," "Want," "Go or Go Ahead," "The Art Teacher." Some other songs from Want Two that I've heard but not enough to remember. A Leonard Cohen song, "Chelsea Hotel," that I've never heard before, but really liked. A McGarrigle Christmas song from his mother's new CD. Et cetera.

Bill wasn't so happy about "Gay Messiah," and I'll have to admit, it was a little over the top. (This coming from somebody who is only offended by people who get offended.) Everyone on stage came out in white sheets, basically, to the end of "Old Whore's Diet." Then two guys, in those Roman-looking outfits with the brush-type helmets, came out with a big white cross, and put a wreath on Rufus's head and these diamond bracelet things on his wrists. Then Rufus stood there and sang "Gay Messiah" with his arms lifted on the cross. It was so wrong. I told Bill I think we should go to church on Sunday now.

Even crazier -- after the whole "Gay Messiah" thing, they left and came back for an encore. He played a new song, and then "Hallelujah," from the Shrek soundtrack. It was just two totally different sides of the spectrum. I mean, not that "Hallelujah" from Shrek is anything like the religious song, but it's uplifting! At least I think so. And this is my blog, dammit.

(This is why I don't professionally write reviews.)

But, all in all, it was much better than the last time I saw him (in Philly at one of those two outdoor venues, it was raining, everybody was there to see Guster or Ben Folds, not good). I wasn't disappointed. Although I would have liked to hear "Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk." And "California."


*This account of the concert is mostly for Angela, because she wanted to know everything that happened. (Ang -- there was this great t-shirt with Rufus on it. I wanted to get it for you, but I also wanted it for myself and I couldn't decide, and I didn't have any money, so I didn't buy it at all. It's a shame.)

1 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

"Hallelujah" is also a Leonard Cohen song, though it was really made famous by Jeff Buckley in the '90s, for whom Rufus wrote "Under the Memphis Skyline" (always a concert highlight).

Yes, it's lame to reply to people's lame blogs, but I need to set the record straight.

9:55 PM  

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