Concert Review: Rufus Wainwright at the State Theatre "All These Poses" tour

Poster for Rufus Wainwright at the State Theatre in Minneapolis on the "All These Poses" tour, with Rachel Eckroth opening, 2018.

Last month my wife and I saw Rufus Wainwright at the State Theatre in Minneapolis on his “All These Poses” tour. The tour celebrates the 20^th anniversary of his debut album. During the first half of the show, Wainwright and his band performed almost all of 1998’s Rufus Wainwright, and then after an intermission Wainwright played 2001’s Poses from start to finish. My wife and I have seen Wainwright perform several times over the years, and his recent shows in Minnesota have been fantastic, including his 2017 holiday show at Orchestra Hall, and his summer solo concert at the Minnesota Zoo. In addition to possessing an astounding voice and being a superb pianist, Wainwright is also a charismatic and funny live performer. 

For me personally, I enjoyed the second half of the concert more, simply because I’m more familiar with Poses than Rufus Wainwright. I think Wainwright’s songwriting grew and improved a lot between the two albums, and the songs from Poses are the ones that get stuck in my head. Of course, there are still good songs on Rufus Wainwright, like “Foolish Love.” At the end of the first half of the concert Rufus sang a simply beautiful version of Joni Mitchell’s “Both Sides Now” that highlighted what an amazing voice he has. Wainwright has such a beautiful voice that if all he did was play the piano and sing covers, I would still be writing about how amazing he is. But of course he’s also a fantastic songwriter as well. Rufus closed the first half with a new song titled “The Sword of Damocles.” 

The second half began with “Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk,” the first song on Poses, and it was a unique feeling to hear this song, usually a concert closer, so early in the evening. The rest of Poses followed, and I was reminded again what a great album it is. For the encore, Rufus went back to his first album for “Imaginary Love,” then followed that up with the always relevant “Going to a Town,” with its refrain of “I’m so tired of you, America.” Wainwright ended the evening singing his cover of the Beatles’ “Across the Universe,” which was beautiful and stirring. Wainwright’s band was excellent as they flawlessly switched gears among Wainwright’s many different musical styles. I was very excited when the band took the stage to see that Gerry Leonard was the lead guitar player. I know of Leonard from his work with David Bowie, and I saw him on stage earlier this year at the “Celebrating David Bowie” concert. 

Opening the show for Wainwright was keyboardist Rachel Eckroth. She had a daunting task in front of her, opening solo and playing somewhat delicate and quiet songs, but she did a great job, and held the audience’s attention for her entire set. She then was part of Wainwright’s backing band. Her new album is called When It Falls, and she’s someone to keep your eye on if you like indie music.