Whilst it’s not uncommon to find oneself packed next to sweaty, smelly bodies in order to get a good view at a gig, it’s with some bemusement that I find myself hemmed into the Metal section at a leading retail outlet. Still, the wait today gives me time to brush up on my Judas Priest and Iron Maiden album covers. It is with several hundred fans, music lovers and bemused shoppers that I await the arrival of RUFUS WAINWRIGHT to the HMV emblazoned stage.
When the wait is over, the opening number is ‘Beauty Mark’, taken for Wainwright’s eponymous debut album. The song ebbs along with all the eccentricity of an early Tori Amos number. Whilst the vocal levels are clearly too loud for the venue, it is difficult to fail to notice Wainwright’s undeniable skills behind the electric piano. “I feel like I’m in Evita”, he jokes, referring to the bombast of photographers before him, snapping away like a pack of Chihuahuas (with cameras). This is not to be Rufus’s last reference to Madonna during his set. In fact, he accredits his appearance to be inspired by the Material Girl’s show here last year.
In his affably camp New York drawl, Wainwright introduces ‘Pretty things’, his first number from his most recent release, 2003’s ‘Want One’. Again, this song reflects the pianist’s talent and the classical overtones are strongly apparent. Apologising for his jet lag, he charms the audience with a little anecdote about how he’d promoted today’s gig on radio as coming live from HIV on Oxford Street. It’s an easy mistake to make.
‘Vibrate’ reflects the singer’s attempts at coming to terms with passing the thirty year age mark; mobile phones, Electro-clash, Britney Spears and new types of recreational drugs are all reference points for Wainwright in a particularly reflective train of thought. Dressed in black and brown leathers with a Hawaiian shirt, as only he can, Wainwright intersperses his songs with little campisms and knowing looks at his captive audience.
|
‘The Art Teacher’ is fresh from his follow up to Want One, the inspirationally titled ‘Want Two’, which is available of America’s I-tunes and part of the ‘Waiting for a want’ CD which he is in the UK to promote. Inspired by a schoolboy crush, it tells the story from the point of view of a student at an all-girls school. Wainwright’s quirky lyricisms are on full display (‘He asked us what our favourite work of art was/ I couldn’t say it was him’).
The short set is brought to an end with ‘Dinner at Eight’, Want One’s finale and a fitting song to display Wainwright’s grandiose vocal range. Perhaps one of the singer’s most lyrically confrontational pieces, it reflects an argument between son and father: “No matter how strong/ I'm gonna take you down/ with one little stone/ I'm gonna break you down”. If this is an insight into his youth, then it is a bold admission for someone to make before several hundred strangers.
Still, this is the power of Wainwright’s music; it could be completely rooted in fiction, but such is the compelling nature of the artist that you are still left with the need to know and hear more. As today’s short, yet dazzling performance draws to an end, I’d be surprised if I was alone in thinking this way.
|
