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.

Concert Review: Rufus Wainwright and Lucy Wainwright Roche at the Minnesota Zoo

Rufus Wainwright, 2018.

Lucy Wainwright Roche.

Last night my wife and I saw Rufus Wainwright and his half-sister Lucy Wainwright Roche at the Minnesota Zoo. We’ve seen Rufus several times before, at Orchestra Hall in 2010 and in 2017, at the Zoo in 2012, and at the Fitzgerald Theater in 2013. I haven’t seen Lucy Wainwright Roche before, and I enjoyed her songs, which highlighted her intelligent lyrics. Lucy is also quite funny, with a very dry sense of humor. After just a song or two, she asked the audience if anyone had any questions for her. She was serious, and eventually some people shouted out some questions. One of them was the inevitable “How are you related?” She responded, “I assume you mean how am I related to Rufus?” Lucy didn’t tell us the names of very many of her songs, so I can’t tell you what she played. However, she did close her set with a lovely acoustic version of Tom Petty’s “I Won’t Back Down.” Lucy also sang backing vocals on a couple of Rufus’ songs. 

Rufus put on an awesome show, as usual. This was a solo show, and he has the musical chops to pull it off. He played piano and some acoustic guitar. He’s an exuberant guitar player, pounding the strings with panache. Rufus joked about wanting his new album to do well enough so he could afford a guitar tech. Whenever I write about Rufus Wainwright it’s always a challenge for me to describe his music if you haven’t heard it before. He’s a difficult performer to try to categorize, as his music mixes pop, classical, Broadway, and opera in a style that is distinctively his own. His beautiful, soaring voice adds greatly to the flavor of his music—there is simply no one else that sounds like him.

Wainwright played a mixture of songs from his back catalogue, and he also played some new songs from his upcoming pop album, which he said will be out “in about a year.” He played several of my favorite songs of his, including “The Art Teacher,” which I simply love. It tells the story of a girl who falls in love with her art teacher, but she never acts on her feelings. “He asked us what our favorite work of art was/ But never could I tell him it was him.” I also love his song “Out of the Game,” the title track from his 2012 album. It’s a catchy and smart piece of pop writing. In a perfect world, it would have been a huge hit single. Another one of my favorites that Rufus sang last night is “Montauk,” which has catchy lyrics that often get stuck in my head. 

The new songs that Wainwright played, “Peaceful Afternoon,” “Early Morning Madness,” and “Only the People That Love” were all interesting, and whetted my appetite for his next pop album. Rufus also sang a satiric hip-hop song about Trump that he wrote in collaboration with someone whose name I can’t remember. It was quite funny. A highlight of the show was his lovely version of Leonard Cohen’s “So Long, Marianne.” Hearing Wainwright’s big voice on that song was wonderful. Another vocal highlight of the show was the acapella version of “Candles,” a very moving song about his mother’s death. 

For the encore, Wainwright sang “Going to a Town,” with its refrain of “I’m so tired of you America.” He cheekily dedicated the song to the trumpet player from the Minnesota Orchestra, who walked out as a political protest during the song last December. I was wondering if Rufus would mention that controversy during last night’s concert. He closed the show with the inevitable “Hallelujah” and “Poses.” Once again, it was an evening full of excellent music from Rufus Wainwright. 

Set list:

Beauty Mark

Memphis Skyline

Out of the Game

Jericho

Peaceful Afternoon

The Art Teacher

Early Morning Madness

Gay Messiah

Only the People That Love

Trump Song

So Long, Marianne

Montauk

Alone Time

Candles

Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk

Going to a Town

Hallelujah

Poses

Concert Review: Rufus Wainwright with the Minnesota Orchestra at Orchestra Hall

Promotional card for Rufus Wainwright with the Minnesota Orchestra. (Photo by Mark C. Taylor)

Last Saturday night my wife and I went to see Rufus Wainwright with the Minnesota Orchestra. We’ve seen him several times before, at Orchestra Hall in 2010, at the Minnesota Zoo in 2012, and at the Fitzgerald Theater in 2013. Wainwright always puts on a good show, and last week’s concert was no exception, as he performed some of his best songs in front of a deeply appreciative audience. 

Wainwright is a difficult performer to try to categorize, as his music mixes pop, classical, Broadway, and opera in a style that is distinctively his own. His beautiful, soaring voice adds greatly to the flavor of his music-there is simply no one else that sounds like him. Wainwright’s songs sounded great with the Minnesota Orchestra, under the baton of Sarah Hicks, behind him. 

The program was made up of many Wainwright’s most well-known songs, including “The Art Teacher,” “Vibrate,” “Who Are You, New York?” “Poses,” “Grey Gardens,” “Going to a Town,” “Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk,” and “Oh What a World.” Wainwright actually restarted “The Art Teacher” after a verse or two, saying that something felt off, and since they were recording, he wanted to get it right. 

One of the highlights of the night was Wainwright’s version of “O Holy Night,” sung in the original French. Rufus was a little unsure, but of course he hit the high notes with style. I also really enjoyed the song “Montauk,” which came after a song from Rufus’ opera Prima Donna. Rufus called those two songs “the Philip Glass section of the evening.”

Rufus received a rapturous standing ovation after “Going to a Town.” Before he started playing the song, he talked briefly about politics, saying how disappointed he was in the Republican-led tax bill that had passed the night before. During this speech, principal trumpeter player Manny Laureano got up from his seat and walked off the stage as a protest. I noticed this, and I thought to myself for a second, “Did he leave because of what Rufus just said?” And then I didn’t think any more about it until there was a piece in the Star Tribune about the incident, making it clear that Laureano’s action was a reaction to what Rufus was saying. 

Another highlight of the night was the encore, comprised of “Oh What a World,” which sounded beautiful accompanied by the orchestra, who could do justice to the quotes from Maurice Ravel’s Bolero. Rufus also sang “Over the Rainbow” and the Leonard Cohen song “Hallelujah” to end the night, which hit me right in the feels. 

If you have the opportunity to see Rufus Wainwright in concert, do it. He’s an excellent live performer who will keep you entertained and amazed at his songs and voice.