about last night
saw rufus wainwright last night at ravinia. i'd never been there before.
had to park in their off-site parking. it was at the botanical gardens. the night was rife with memories from days past.
it was a summer evening to behold. not too hot, not too cold. just right. goldilocks would have been pleased. we arrived and got something fancy to eat -- some mongolian beef asian wrap deal (it was highland park, ravinia and all) -- while the opener, ben lee, sang his fare.
then off to our seats. when you looked behind all around you, out from the pavilion, there were trees encircling the whole thing. it was like you were sort of seeing a show from inside a small wooded area. it was nice.
terri hemmert from xrt emceed the night, and you could tell she was thrilled to introduce rufus. she said, "when they asked who wanted to emcee this show, i immediately raised my hand!"
and here we go --
set list with rufus' comments:
1. new song.. "one more..." ?? that's what i'm calling that.
Rufus: "You're well dressed, you match the venue."
2. The Art Teacher
3. Marigold
Rufus: (talking about the choker around his neck) "This is a bootstrap I found. Not a ribbon, not an S&M thing. A bootstrap. I made a choker out of a bootstrap. There's some midwestern ingenuity."
4. The One You Love
Rufus: "I feel like we're in Star Wars and the Evil Empire's been defeated and there'll be medals and wookies (some laughter)...and I'm the princess! (big laughter)"
5. My Phone's On Vibrate For You
Rufus: "I'm gonna retake country from country."
6. new song.. Katonah (sung with half-sister Lucy Roche)
7. Poses.
Rufus: "Now I'm going out of the country realm and back into 'city music.' This song is called 'Between My Legs.' It's about saving someone because they're gorgeous. It's a bad song."
8. new song.. Between My Legs
Rufus: "This song is about the great Jeff Buckley -- who I hated when I was young, and now I love. That's the story of my life."
9. Memphis Skyline
10. Hallelujah (Leonard Cohen cover, I'm told)
Rufus: "This is a happy apocalyptic song. It'll be a beautiful day when we're all dead. Together, that is."
11. Beautiful Child
Rufus: "I like to end my set with this. It's basically a protest song now and FOR GOOD REASON (clapping). I think.. well, I think in the U.S. we're in big trouble. If you're a woman, black, poor, gay -- you're basically fucked. This is saying that everyone's bad deeds will be...(unintelligible)."
12. Gay Messiah
He was in fine voice. Truly beautiful. I wish Ben Folds had gone first. Ben does an amazing job on piano... he broke two piano strings. I love that stuff. But, there was a part of me that maybe thought I just should have left after Rufus. I thought it would have looked strange though. "Hey, let's cruise." I wish they had been reversed. I know they are switching off this tour. Co-headlining. I know the majority of the folks were there to see Ben. But I was there to see Rufus Wainwright.
It was a really good show. Almost perfect.
had to park in their off-site parking. it was at the botanical gardens. the night was rife with memories from days past.
it was a summer evening to behold. not too hot, not too cold. just right. goldilocks would have been pleased. we arrived and got something fancy to eat -- some mongolian beef asian wrap deal (it was highland park, ravinia and all) -- while the opener, ben lee, sang his fare.
then off to our seats. when you looked behind all around you, out from the pavilion, there were trees encircling the whole thing. it was like you were sort of seeing a show from inside a small wooded area. it was nice.
terri hemmert from xrt emceed the night, and you could tell she was thrilled to introduce rufus. she said, "when they asked who wanted to emcee this show, i immediately raised my hand!"
and here we go --
set list with rufus' comments:
1. new song.. "one more..." ?? that's what i'm calling that.
Rufus: "You're well dressed, you match the venue."
2. The Art Teacher
3. Marigold
Rufus: (talking about the choker around his neck) "This is a bootstrap I found. Not a ribbon, not an S&M thing. A bootstrap. I made a choker out of a bootstrap. There's some midwestern ingenuity."
4. The One You Love
Rufus: "I feel like we're in Star Wars and the Evil Empire's been defeated and there'll be medals and wookies (some laughter)...and I'm the princess! (big laughter)"
5. My Phone's On Vibrate For You
Rufus: "I'm gonna retake country from country."
6. new song.. Katonah (sung with half-sister Lucy Roche)
7. Poses.
Rufus: "Now I'm going out of the country realm and back into 'city music.' This song is called 'Between My Legs.' It's about saving someone because they're gorgeous. It's a bad song."
8. new song.. Between My Legs
Rufus: "This song is about the great Jeff Buckley -- who I hated when I was young, and now I love. That's the story of my life."
9. Memphis Skyline
10. Hallelujah (Leonard Cohen cover, I'm told)
Rufus: "This is a happy apocalyptic song. It'll be a beautiful day when we're all dead. Together, that is."
11. Beautiful Child
Rufus: "I like to end my set with this. It's basically a protest song now and FOR GOOD REASON (clapping). I think.. well, I think in the U.S. we're in big trouble. If you're a woman, black, poor, gay -- you're basically fucked. This is saying that everyone's bad deeds will be...(unintelligible)."
12. Gay Messiah
He was in fine voice. Truly beautiful. I wish Ben Folds had gone first. Ben does an amazing job on piano... he broke two piano strings. I love that stuff. But, there was a part of me that maybe thought I just should have left after Rufus. I thought it would have looked strange though. "Hey, let's cruise." I wish they had been reversed. I know they are switching off this tour. Co-headlining. I know the majority of the folks were there to see Ben. But I was there to see Rufus Wainwright.
It was a really good show. Almost perfect.
