Rufus 'Poses' for Diva-dom

Some musicians give shows with great attention to detail, making sure that all the elements come together into a perfectly smooth performance. Then there are musicians whose very performance makes the show.

Rufus Wainwright belongs in the second category. Dim lights and booming opera music let last Friday’s packed crowd know that Rufus was about to appear on stage. I momentarily had the impression that I was about to be welcoming a large woman in Viking horns, but I quickly remembered I was here to see a diva of another sort. Dressed in an embroidered vest stolen from his mother’s closet, a tight black shirt and a pair of faded jeans, Rufus came onto the stage and sat down at the grand piano awaiting him. And then he sang.

Looking at Rufus Wainwright is pleasing, eye candy even, but listening to him sing is something else entirely. For the uninitiated I will stumble through a description of what that man can do when he sings, but for those of you who have heard him—you know what I mean. The songs that we react to, the songs that we really love, do two things: aesthetically, they sound good to us, but they also reach us on some emotional level. Rufus Wainwright has the sort of voice that is clearly amazing. It doesn’t matter if you don’t like what he sings or what he sings about—his voice is remarkable. It isn’t just that he has great range and that he holds single notes with ease; there’s some quality to it that makes Rufus’ voice thick and dusty and intimate all at once. He manages to sound as though he is whispering in your ear and singing to you over great distances at the same time.

The song “In My Arms” from Rufus’ first album, Rufus Wainwright, displays the haunting quality of his voice perfectly. A sort of ballad, “In My Arms” begins with Rufus singing alone with only the accompaniment of a few chords on an acoustic guitar. “You gave me all your loving one day, you gave it all and almost faded away,” sings Rufus. The song builds from there, blossoming into a rich harmony with background vocals, electric guitar, strings and drums. Rufus repeats: “Wish you were here to chain you up without shame in my arms tonight.” The song captures the paradoxical beauty of difficult love with its poignant sound and melody.

It isn’t just the music that makes Rufus’ performance. Rufus performs as much between pieces he does during them. He talks to the crowd—no, he flirts with the crowd as openly as if everyone there knew him personally. This total ease and sense of showmanship is Rufus’ personality coming through, but it has something to do with growing up around music and performance as well.

Rufus comes from a family of many talented musicians and singers (his father is Loudon Wainwright III and his mother is Kate of Kate and Anna McGarrigle) who have clearly influenced and supported his work. His sister Martha Wainwright sang with him during most of the show, and they performed a duet on “One Man Guy” written by their father. I spoke with Rufus before the show, and when I asked him if he preferred playing with family Rufus answered that it is a bonus, but that each member of the family has their own career. “We can’t be like the Family Von Trapp all the time,” he concluded.

The Boston show was the first of a new tour; as Rufus said after the opening song, “sort of a rehearsal.” Rufus is now traveling throughout America playing songs from his second and newest album Poses, as well as soundtrack contributions and some favorites from his first album. Speaking before the show, Rufus mentioned that he is also working hard on a new album, adding that he wants to get it out as soon as possible since he is worried about “Getting something done before I’m forty” all of a sudden.

Talking to Rufus I was struck by how much his speaking voice is like his singing voice. I realize that I’m not the first to note this, but it seems to me that the close relationship between Rufus’ way of speaking and singing says something about his music and his way of performing. The songs that Rufus writes are to a large degree very specifically related to experiences he has had or thoughts that arise from them. His songs seem integrated into his life in general; just as there is very little distance between the way Rufus sounds when he speaks and sings so too is there a narrow divide between the life he lives and songs he writes. “Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk” off Poses is an upbeat tune about the pleasures of modern “vices” such as cigarettes, jellybeans and “those other things.” The directness of the lyrics in combination with the gentle swaying effect of the harmony makes the listener feel they’re hearing Rufus speak about his most recent thoughts on life: “Everything it seems I like’s a little bit stronger / A little bit thicker, a little bit harmful for me.” Listening to the songs of Rufus Wainwright the listener overhears what’s going on inside his head. Rufus’ musical style is a blend of his own as well. Some inspiration has been taken from the operatic tradition as well as elements of torchl singing and popular artists of the 1920’s like Cole Porter. But the whole is more than its parts. Rufus blends together the influences he has in different genres of singing with a definite ability to capture the modern in both his lyrics and instrumentation. In addition, the musicians Rufus works with are of such a high caliber that the pieces come together seamlessly. But there’s no doubt who the star of the show is. Last Friday Rufus left audience in complete awestruck admiration. With all the sexual appeal of Mick Jagger in a longer, lankier body, the ingenuousness of a flirtatious nymphette, we were charmed. As he returned for a second encore Rufus declared, “I love the road.” If the Boston show was the rehearsal for the rest of Rufus’ tour then there are a lot of people in for a wonderful treat.