Rufus Wainwright

My friend Christel invited me to go see Rufus Wainwright in concert at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco last Wednesday. I had not heard him before she asked me to come along, but then I am notoriously bad in remembering the names of artists and actors. At least one of his songs sounded familiar. Thanks to my subscription to Yahoo Music--highly recommended, though they jacked the fee recently--I caught up with his music prior to the concert. At the event though, much of what he and his band played was from a yet-t0-be-released album.

We had exclusive seats through sheer luck. Christel lost her original tickets and we called TicketMaster . New tickets would be waiting for us at the box office. We entered the auditorium and found out we were seated front row, center. The best seats in the house. The Wainwright fan next to us asked, after the show, how much we paid for the seats since they were being auctioned on eBay for $500!

The next day my friend Denis suggested I look up Rufus' history on Wikipedia. Like many artists, Rufus' is a pretty sad story that involves sexual and substance abuse. Wikipedia isn't always right, I know that from experience. But if it is even partially correct, then Rufus has had a rough life so far and he is still waiting for his big break.

I liked the concert, but it didn't make me an instant fan. The San Francisco Chronicle was also there and liked the performance more than I did. "Wainwright takes command, with talent overflowing," the review headline reads. It is hard to describe the music, a blend between pop and folk.

The outfits were impressive. In the words of the Chronicle: "Wainwright wore cream-colored striped pants, a gray vest and an ill-matching gold striped shirt, adorned with multiple brooches and bling. The seven members of his backup band also were attired in stripes with paste accents. They almost looked like a dance band from one of Jay Gatsby's little dos. All they needed were boaters."