I dont think Virgin anticipated the numbers that would come to this free Rufus Wainwright gig/signing as by the time he came on stage the place was cramed to the rafters and desperate latecomers were fluttering eyelashes at the security (and that was just the men).
First time i’d seen Mr Wainwright and as i’d heard some poor reviews of his live shows – I was told he was wack live, which i think is bad – I wasnt sure what to expect.
He played a short but raptourously received set, and I have to say I was impressed, although he is one of the campest musicians i’ve ever seen (perhaps beaten only by Rammstien).
Thanks to abstractboy for the pic uptop.
Set list:
The One You Love.
This Love Affair
The Art Teacher (next single??)
Crumb By Crumb.
The next song Gay Messiah was introduced as being about a ‘Gay armageddon… armaGAYdon’ He was well amused by that..and uped his campness to the max with his delight. He also said it felt like he was playing in a pub on a Saturday afternoon – said it felt ‘very Commitments’.
Cigarettes & Chocolate Milk closed the set.

I then queued up to get my brothers CD inlay signed with explicit instructions to sign the inside not the cover. As I was ushered through by security I grabbed a copy of the album to sign but found myself as the next person to meet Rufus…and then in front of Rufus as I wrestled with the security tag and wrapping on my new cd. I handed him my brothers inlay and mumbled about the inside, as I continued a fruitless fight to free my cd..eventually leading to a very red faced me as Rufus waited patiently while I eventually managed to get the damn cover off. Never mind, a tad embarrassing but at least I know that I could never thieve cd’s for a living.

I’ll leave the last comment to Damascus from the Rufus Wainwright forum:

“I thought his outfit looked deliciuos! Honestly, the chocolate browns, and the shiny striped trousers made me think of yummy things, like caramel and chocolate mousse. mmmmmm. Rufus, dahling, you make me drool!”

Well I thought the er..music was very good.

All I Want: A Portrait of Rufus Wainwright will air on Channel 4 (UK) on March 12, 2005 at 11:30 PM.

On the way back to the tube I nipped into HMV, and what do you know but Kaiser Chiefs were doing a sound check for a free gig later in the evening. Sounded ok from the couple of songs I heard, and according to NME they went down a storm.
http://www.nme.com/news/111639.htm

Two free gig’s in one evening – reminds me why I love living in London sometimes.

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