On 23 Jan, I went to see Rufus Wainwright in concert. Although he is known as a singer-songwriter in his own right, he has the peculiar distinction of having done a whole series of Judy Garland standards in Carnegie Hall, commemorating the concert that she did there more than 30 years ago.
His singing style is quite similar to Billy Joel or Elton John, but it's also clear he has a love of the Broadway standards and musicals from the '50s; the emphasis on singing, and clever lyrics, informs his work.
I almost didn't get to go to this concert: I had known that he would be touring as early as August, but I put off buying tickets until January, and when I went to the ticket machine to buy it -- alas! it had all sold out. (Touts I suspect buying up the last hundred tickets or so ...!)
I had almost given up hope, checking the ticket agencies each day fervently for available tickets, but none were coming. Finally two nights before the concert, I scored a ticket on an auction site, and after paying for it online I was given an confirmation number for the ticket, which had been prepaid by the auctioneer. I was able to go to the local Family Mart and issue the ticket, have it in hand for the concert. By all other means (post, delivery service) the ticket could've been lost or never sent; by being able to issue (print it out) myself I was sure to have a real (not forged!) ticket on hand before the concert.
And what a concert! As a broadcast on NPR said, he sings his heart out and the concert must've lasted at least two hours. There's a 10 minute intermission in the middle, but for a performance it's extraordinarily long and he does most of the singing. I suspect Dad might like his Judy Garland performances and I'll have to look it up on Amazon.
Here is the link to the page in Amazon for those who are curious:
http://www.amazon.com/Rufus-Does-Judy-Carnegie-Hall/dp/B000XMZJX8/
Mind you, he looks young but he has a fantastic voice ....
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