There isn’t too much to say about Rufus Wainwright’s performance Saturday in Fort Worth and that’s actually a good thing. He performed a simple show playing only with a guitar or his piano. He scaled back mostly to preview and even rehearse material for his a new album. In that simplicity, he was crazy good.
His voice was really the star of the night. His vocal runs resonated throughout Bass beautifully. Enough to keep people quiet and mesmerized. He almost commands accidentally. When he started to sing each song, it was a collective notion to pay attention.
It’s funny to think how Wainwright is hardly a big star yet the crowd filled up the majority of the hall. What’s more, after ten years, he hasn’t become a product either. His song selection didn’t contain the popular “I Don’t Know What It Is” or any of the obvious Judy Garland numbers that might have been expected yet he still played his signature songs while throwing in new numbers and an aria from his opera, Prima Donna. He’s still obscure enough to call his own shots without being railed for it.
But the short of it is, he performed beautifully. Saturday night showed he’s an artist who is sick with talent rather than a celebrity who happens to give good music. Opening act Joan as Police Woman was, well…um…she had a nice guitar.
Pardon the blurred video. It’s more about how he sounded than how the show looked.
TOOLBOX: I don’t have pics of the tools from this show but they say directly across from me on rows P and Q in the aisle seats. Two guys felt the need to have text conversations on their ultra-bright screened iPhones throughout the entire show. Either that or they felt the need to tweet their experience the whole night long. One of the guys even decided to get on the phone. They distracted the whole night long with their mini-spotlights turning on every few seconds for them to text away. The good thing is, they probably remind other people not to engage in such douchebaggery.
Joan as Policewoman has yet to move me. She opened for Rufus in Houston when the Want One Cd came out, and man oh man, it was torturous! But Rufus himself was feeling the blues, too, and at the end of the show I felt like I’d paid $34 bucks to be his therapy.
I loved his voice and the sound in that place was awesome. I saw Rufus 2 years ago at Nokia with a full band and it was phenomenal. I really wish the band had come along…however, he is such a talent, it was still an awesome show. Policewoman sucked! I am sorry, she seemed very nice but she did one melancholy dronish song after the other. I couldn’t wait for her to stop. I was so disappointed that Fine Frenzy didn’t open for him like they did at Nokia. If I hadn’t seen him prior, I guess I wouldn’t know what I was missing. We paid a lot of money to sit front row right, and I could see his every move…quite a good looking man. We (and about 100 other people) waited after the concert for him to greet his fans (like over an hour) and he snuck out another door. That was very disappointing because I have met several artists at Bass Hall after the concert. But, there were stalkers out there (gay men) waiting to jump his bones. Maybe he was scared. I still love Rufus, even though he didn’t want to meet and greet!
He’s such a brilliant musician and a totally engaging performer. The show sounds delightful.
I just got home from his second night in Austin. He was awsome. This was the best show I have ever seen. His emotion behind his music is very moving..
joan did a wonderful job and in many respects her arrangements were much more involved and well done than rufus’. his guitar work was amateurish at best; good voice though.. yes i was there and it was overall a great show and evening