Rufus Wainwright once again played the Brighton Dome on June 25th following a glorious Glastonbury performance. Given that he was playing such a small venue, tickets had been like gold dust and we were promised a restricted view ‘due to the sound desk’ and allowed 2 of the few remaining tickets. Restricted by nothing more than the tall bald chap sitting in front, who thankfully didn’t put his bicycle helmet which he had with him on his head, we had a perfect view. Sound desk was to the left, and caused no beef with anyone.

The audience was certainly an elite one, within seconds of arriving at the bar we bore witness to a certain Mr Bob Mortimer racing around the place, doubtless trying to avoid detection by the gay community who were also out in force (Bob being an obvious gay icon). Latest Brighton resident Alistair McGowan was also in attendance, slipping in at the last minute and hiding behind a stylish flat cap. He too seemed anxious to avoid attention, going so far as to leave the venue completely during the interval.

Ah yes, the interval. Rufus went all out and supported himself, playing an hour, and then a further hour and a half. Sparks recently did the same, but then they have 20 varied albums behind them, not 5 rather similar (albeit very good) ones. I must admit I was a little concerned I would get bored. No such problems arose. With a 12 piece band supporting him, Rufus creates a huge sound, akin to listening to a classical jazz crossover concert with a singer. That alone would have been fine, but we were also treated to some solo numbers, and a wonderful classic Irish song where no microphones were used, and the dome was used to provide the amplification (something it was surely built for).

Rufus was very chatty and witty throughout the evening, comparing himself to The Killers at one point, observing that they had both been on TV that weekend for the festival. ‘You were better’ shouted someone, ‘well I know’ agreed Rufus, ’shame no one else does - ssh its a secret’. Well, not much of a secret Rufus, since anyone with ears and a vague sense of quality should be able to see this! Sadly, given the headline status The Killers were given at Glastonbury, and the disgraceful amount of time the BBC gave to their set, people with ears that even work properly seem very thin on the ground these days.

After 2 costume changes, one in each set, for the encore Rufus returned wearing a dressing gown…could this be his last costume? Of course not, he applied lipstick, slipped into some heels and whipped it off to reveal a Judy Garland style suit with mini skirt and performed a cover of her song ‘Get Happy’. This no doubt came from his recent full length performance of a classic Judy Garland concert, available to buy on DVD soon so he informed us.

Rufus Wainwright encore

Rufus albums

Rufus DVD

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 27th, 2007 at 10:11 pm and is filed under Gig Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.