Rufus Wainwright at Radio City

Yesterday was the first time I've been to Radio City Music Hall. During the third song of the opening act, Sean Lennon, I realized why. While we were in orchestra seating, even less than half way back, I realized that the distance from the foot of the stage to we where sitting would be the equivalent of being across the street, halfway down another block, from the stage at any small venues where we caught our first punk shows.

But Rufus Wainwright managed to make it an intimate affair, with the help of family and friends.

Sean Lennon had a short, sweet set, broken by awkwardly endearing in between talk banter, addressing friends in the crowd. He mentioned his mother was there as well, which drew gasps around me, and I'm sure all around the theatre. He performed a song he said that was a hit in places like Thailand, as well as an instrumental. He had a drummer who usually plays jazz, but "lowered himself" to play pop :) He said his bassist played with Slayer (or maybe I mixed up the metal band) which is "far cooler than anything I've ever done." He had his "best friend" Yuka Honda on keyboards/piano and brought up his girlfriend on stage for the last song, the first song they wrote together, for a project called The Ghost Of A Saber Toothed Tiger (the linked myspace has that sweet haunting song "The World Was Made For Men.")

Insert related anecdote: True story, once I was walking down Sixth Avenue and at a corner waiting for the traffic light, I stood right behind a guy who looked like John Lennon and a short woman who looked like Yoko Ono. It took about five seconds for my brain to go "heeey waaait..." and realize I was within a few feet of Yoko and her son Sean. I left them alone of course!

The curtain falls and maybe 15, 20 minutes pass before the lights begin to dim and the crowd begins to cheer and a horn section blares out and the curtain is teasingly lifted slowly showing Rufus at the piano and the band around him. Except it's not Rufus, but like I can tell where I am sitting! What do I know?

Rufus comes out a minute later, to wild applause, in a garish neon green suit with black markings all over which looks like a rejected costume from Erasure's Cowboy tour. When he sings "Release the Stars" the disco balls hanging suddenly shine out, blinding everyone. Okay, just blinding me. The shattered light envelopes the crowd. They then launch directly into "Going To A Town" which is gorgeous. Rufus sounds fantastic tonight.

He mentions how there should be a big countdown clock until the Bush administration leaves office. This elicits a big cheer. he also notes that the giant screens on either side of the stage are not on ("you poor people!") but says that is a good thing, because when he was playing a show in Tanzania (yes, Tanzania) there were huge screens (because apparently "no one had ever seen a live performance before") and he spent the whole show staring at himself. *Makes exaggerated head turn stare* He is such a ham, it's great! :)

There are not many artists I know that have a great rapport with crowds, the sort of ease and poise that Ted Leo has, in in-between song banter, joking around so effortlessly. Rufus Wainwright is one of these. He made the audience crack up many times. Among the first of these is when he decides to explain the large backdrop, which is a black and white version of the American flag.

"Because it's never been done before," he says deadpan, waiting a good two seconds before we start laughing. He goes on to say that the black and white bars represent the bad stuff that goes on the country (he also says that he's going to use big words even though he doesn't know what they mean) and that the sparkly colored brooches on the black square part are the good things in the US. Then he says he is basically trying to sell albums to both parties. Ha!

When he counts off the next song, "Rules and Regulations" he stops the moment the first bass note is hit, saying "wait stop, stop, that's the wrong bass!" The bassist immediately switches to the stand up bass, and Rufus says "This always happens with you! Just kidding, it's the first time he's done this the whole tour. You're fired!" The song starts up again, but they only get a few seconds in when Rufus says "Stop stop! A string on my guitar just broke" and wails "Everything is going horribly wrong!!" while the guitar tech brings him a new guitar. Rufus also tells him in mock seriousness that he's fired. Bwa.

At the piano now, Rufus sighs "River Phoenix, the great River Phoenix. This song was written about him, but I guess it's about Heath Ledger now" which draws a few awwws. He launches into "Matinee Idol."

"Art Teacher" is a stand-out number, most of it just a spotlight on Rufus playing the piano. Great, great song.

After a wardrobe change into liederhosen, he mentions that we are now in the European section of the show. "But I'm always in the European section," he adds, as an aside throws in "My boyfriend's from Europe."

Before the next song, he says it will be the last one before a 10-minute intermission, so he says, don't take too long! Only 10 minutes, because we don't want to go over our time, "this fucking place charges $500 for every minute we go over. It's like phone sex. Except I'm better." (Or just as good. Anyway, hee!!!)

Colin, a member of the public, is called from the side of the stage to do the speaking part of "Between My Legs". Colin broke into a trot to get center stage, once Rufus told him to hurry, going "$500 a minute!" I didn't get a single word of what Colin's part was. My sister later explained that this is the big epic, LOTR-style spoken part of the song. OK!

Ten minute intermission later, more songs and various quips. He thanks Sean Lennon for opening and for being a good friend. He says after 9/11 happened, Sean invited him to a concert where various artists played John Lennon songs for the city. He says without Sean he wouldn't be here today, as it was his launching point onto greater things. Then he segues into "All of us wouldn't be here for the great Judy Garland" *much cheering* "I don't know how that works.. but yeah.." HEE!! He then covers both "Foggy Day" and "If Love Were All."
Rufus makes a public service announcement: "I'm saving your cultural existence, I'm also here to save the planet!" and tells us about his new initiative called Black Out Sabbath which will take place on June 21 where he wants us to not use any electricity at all for six hours, at the end of which he wants us to write down a list of things we can do to lessen our impact on the environment, and do that every year. "I basically want to recreate the blackout, wasn't that fun?" he says. You can do so many things without electricity... I forgot some things he mentioned, but as one example he said "Kill someone, but don't taser them."

"Beautiful Child" is one of my favorite songs of his, another highlight for me!

Before he goes into "Not Ready To Love" he says that he wrote this when he was "at my rope's end", at a very low point where he was going to give up on love. "In the love department, I was in the basement." But then Jorn came along (the German boyfriend he is currently with) and he says Jorn is responsible for all this, "this gorgeousness" and another superlative I can't remember just now :) Hmm, he wonders, "Maybe we can work on the humility. At home. Later, not now." He says this song is kind of when you have to surrender yourself so that it can happen.

During "Slide Show" there are pyrotechnics which catch me by surprise. Bzuh?!!? Fireworks! Woot! Ow, my eyes.

Next Rufus says he will cover an Irish folk tune by John McCormack called "Macoushla." But he will do it with just a horn section and no microphones (vid of another performance here), as it would have been performed originally. So he says we'll see how that works. It is amazing the difference, sure he is belting it out, but it is quieter than a speaking voice and for that reason the entirety of Radio City does not make a sound. I wonder how it was heard in the upper mezzanines??

He leaves early during the last song, leaving the rest of the band playing, each leaving a few at a time. We cheer and he returns, now in a white bathrobe. He invites Sean Lennon on stage, with his mother Kate McGarrigle, his sister Martha and Yuka Honda (much applause for all of them). Rufus and Sean hug and kiss, say Happy Valentine's to each other and Sean says he wanted to ask him to be his Valentine, except that his girlfriend might think it's weird. Or maybe not, he adds. Rufus is distracted by someone in the audience and suddenly gives a high-pitched squeal (word?) and cracks up tossing his head back a few times (the manicness of this is great, we are cracking up too), then he turns back to Sean and says "we have great comic timing." They launch into "Across the Universe." :) Well done. I don't know how they manage to make it seem so intimate, being in that cavernous venue, but they do. It's very sweet.

Rufus invites his mother and sister to the front of the stage for the next song, "Meducino" a song about New York written by Kate McGarrigle, who is playing guitar. Kate and Martha whisper to each other, while Rufus is telling us his mother wrote this and when he sees them chatting he goes "What are you talking about?" in such a way that totally reminds you they are family. The whole what's this conspiracy going on behind my back?! Haha. Love! Martha says she was discussing her departure note. Rufus looks at his watch/wrist, "Your departure note leaves in...one verse." Kate cuts in to thank him for inviting her. Aw. We clap. Rufus says "No, thank you, for inviting me. To the world." Haha, bigger applause. Mom sings with her kids :)

After he sings "Poses", there is a flurry of activity behind him in the darkness, as he sits at a chair at the very front of the stage, still in his fluffy white bathrobe. He pulls out sparkly earrings and clips them to his ears. He does slow preparation... someone shouts "what are you doing?" Rufus nonhurriedly takes his shoes off and shows us high heels. WoOOOoo!! He puts these on and then takes out red lipstick which he methodically puts on. It takes him a while, but satisfied, he stands up and goes to the darkness, which now envelopes the whole stage. Dark figures run out onto the stage and the lights come up and Rufus is dressed up in Judy's signature tuxedo top with stockings and a top hat, going into "Get Happy." The other people are dressed up as nuns and go into their whole dance routine (some are out of sync, which makes it even more charming and hilarious). Here is a video of Rufus performing it at another show. Also another onslaught of pyrotechnic sparks raining down.

"Gay Messiah" is the last song, with everyone on stage, including his yoga instructor ("responsible for these gorgeous legs!" he says showing his stockinged legs), family, friends, bandmates and a woman carrying in a baby all dressed up. There are at least two nuns on banjo, and Rufus notices one of them and says "You don't play banjo, do you?" to which the nun shakes his head. While singing and playing the guitar, some of the band members cover him in Silly String to which he remarks a few seconds later "If only someone would come on me like this" and a few minutes later pretends to swallow. Oh Rufus, you scandalize us! :)

After the song ends, Rufus points out Jorn to come up, which he only does when Martha pulls him up. Then they kiss, twice, after which Rufus is waving goodbye and almost does the most amazing pratfall, complete with legs flailing, but there are people around to catch him. And isn't that what family and friends are for? :)

Psst: While my memory is good, I did use the set list on Brooklyn Vegan as a guideline. Very amusing, if those celebs were there.