I hope everyone had a fun Halloween. Just to look back: Last year we spent Halloween day on the grim task of moving all my stuff out of my former apartment and into Thom’s condo, marking the official start of our living together (though really I’d already been pretty much living there de facto).
The other night we went to see Rufus Wainwright at the 9:30 club, which was kind of nostalgic, as it was there that I saw Rufus back in 2002 along with a whole bunch of message board folks, including Susan and Kesha. I think this brings to 15 the total number of times I’ve seen Rufus in concert. OK Go was the opening act, a great complement to Rufus’ persona and music; they’re such dapper dandies. They closed their set with their signature bit: lip-synching to one of their songs and dancing out some great cheesy choreography. This time it was “A Million Ways.” (Previously: OK Go in D.C. with This American Life.)
Rufus and the band were in fine form, and his set lasted about two hours. (The 9:30 is standing room only, so the only downside to a nice long concert is that we were standing and tip-toeing to see over heads the whole time. My legs and feet were aching. Am I getting too old for this?) The unexpected highlight of the concert was the band doing some choreography a la OK Go, which then segued into “Gay Messiah,” staged like something out of Jesus Christ Superstar, with Rufus dressed in robes and placed against a cross by Roman soldiers and everything. Wow. (Here are some photos that were posted to the message board.)
The set list was as follows:
“Oh What a World”
“The One You Love”
“Natasha”
“14th Street”
“This Love Affair”
“Little Sister”
“Go or Go Ahead”
“Peach Trees”
“Between My Legs”
“Poses”
“Vibrate”
“Spotlight on Christmas”
“Want”
“Chelsea Hotel No. 2” (Leonard Cohen)
“The Art Teacher”
“Memphis Skyline”
“Waiting for a Dream”
“I Don’t Know What It Is”
“Old Whores Diet”
“Gay Messiah”
“Low-grade Happiness”
“Hallelujah” (L.C.)
“Beautiful Child”
By the way, hello to Tripp, who came up to me before the concert and introduced himself, having recognized me from the message board. I felt like a celebrity!
4 replies on “Halloween with Rufus”
Sounds like a great concert. Rufus was without his band when he was in Ann Arbor a few weeks ago, so it somewhat limited what he could do, but it was still a great concert. He debuted a new song here, but for the life of me I can’t remember the name of it, dang it.
Eeee – I love that you went. I was so sad to have to miss Rufus’ return to the 9:30. Were the fans as rabid as we were? Such memories!!
do you also post on the rufus wainwright message board??? i’m Shy by the way.started to post a month back.i saw your blog aND IMMEDIATELY WAS GOING TO ASK YOU if you were a rufus fan???
its always great to find a rufian in an unexpected place.like finding candy or extra cash in your pocket.
i’m jealous. it seems that he’s never in my area. hopefully i might be able to see him soon.