Понедельник 13 Авг 2007, 18:47

Sat 11 Aug – Rufus Wainwright, Neko Case, A Fine Frenzy

I'm sitting here attempting to write a good commentary on saturday night's gig, I am still recovering from the Texas heat, which took a toll on me and my already present cold (as in stuffed nose and sneezing, I know: who gets a cold in august?!). It was a 8 hour drive there (granted I wasn't the one driving…!). I know Stubb's is a "classic" for Austin shows, and it is the second time I've been there for a show in the summer… but this time around I'm afraid I wasn't quite prepared!

Still, I enjoyed it very much, my friends and I got there pretty early so we had a good spot right in the center in what you may refer to as "fourth row" (though as the night advanced we were either pushed forward or back), first up was A Fine Frenzy, this girl has a beautiful voice and wonderful piano-driven melodies, she only did five songs, which as I can remember included: Come On, Come Out, Rangers and Almost Lover, which she introduced saying how difficult it was for her to do a sad song when she was feeling so happy by the audiences "warm welcome" (warm alright!). She kept smiling back at the crowd and giggling her way through the set.

Next was Neko Case, she is amazing and also, it seems to me, very humble. She was setting up the stage along with her musicians, making sure the guitars were tuned and everything else before starting (I have to confess I didn't recognize her at first, while she was in "roadie mode"), her set included songs from her latest album, such as Hold On, Hold On, That Teenage Feeling and Maybe Sparrow, I really enjoyed I Wish I Was The Moon from Blacklisted, she also did a cover of Bob Dylan's Buckets of Rain (from her Live From Austin TX album nonetheless!), she ended her set with John Saw That Number, it got the crowd going, people infront of me were dancing and we forgot about the heat for a while…

Then came Rufus Wainwright… his musicians walked in first, with cowboy-ish attire, all properly "blinged", of course he had his own fabulous outfit as well:
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1273/1107761126_2dd701f214_m.jpg
…including a cowboy hat which he stated had been found by his guitar player, who went into the crowd looking for one (because he just HAD to wear one!) and found it on a guy named Bud "He went 'Hey bud!' and the guy's name… was Bud!", he started with Release The Stars, and as I had expected (from reading other reviews) he performed all 12 songs from his new album, throwing in 5 songs from Want One and 2 from Want Two, he also performed three Judy Garland songs (without a doubt to be included in is forthcoming release), the setlist as I remember went like this:

Release The Stars
Going To A Town
Sanssouci
Rules and Regulations
Tulsa
The Art Teacher
Tiergarten
Leaving For Paris No. 2
Between My Legs

10 minute break "please get some water, please"

Harvester of Hearts
Do I Disappoint You
"I'm going to do a couple of Judy Garland songs now, let's imagine we're all in a wonderful club in Hollywood… with AC"
A Foggy Day In London Town
If Love Were All
Nobody's Off The Hook
Beautiful Child
Not Ready To Love
Slideshow
Macushla (traditional folk song)
14th Street
Complainte De La Butte (from the Moulin Rouge soundtrack)
I Don't Know What It Is
Pretty Things

and to close, in full Judy attire:
Get Happy
and Gay Messiah

He said goodbye stating "See you soon Austin, hopefully in December", hopefully, and maybe then I'll get to watch the whole show (I had to leave a couple of songs after the intermission, looking for some fresh air, I watched the last couple of songs from a considerable distance). I feel pretty bad about not staying, as close as I was, but I know even he understood: "An outdoor show… in August… in Texas… you're all very brave", and so is he, because even while obviously affected by the heat… he put on a hell of a good show (pun intended).