The Audacity of Silence

The concert was terrific. I thoroughly enjoyed myself and am so happy I went ahead and bought my ticket. I am very curious about how many of the audience members were Rufus fans and how many were brought along or otherwise had very little previous knowledge of his music. My thought is that the majority knew what they were getting into.

Martha Wainwright openend for her brother promptly at 8pm. Her set was just wonderful, her vocals were stunning and she was genuinely funny between songs. At one point, while tuning her guitar, she quipped "folk singers are supposed to talk when they tune their guitars so the audience thinks they've got it together". Her husband cam out an accompanied her on the piano for a song from her new album of "lesser known" Edith Piaf songs. The album cannot be bought in stores in the U.S. because she isn't signed with an American label. She had copies for sale in the lobby and they sold out before intermission. Her last song she did on a dare from Rufus. It was "La Vie en Rose" a cappella and without amplification. Gorgeous.

You may remember that I previously wrote about a strange request from Rufus about the first part of his act. It was true. When I bought my ticket there was a note that he asked his audience to refrain from clapping between songs until he had left the stage. Before he began, a man came out on the stage and asked everyone to remain quiet for the entire "song cycle". This caused quite a bit of murmuring in the crowd (I guess they didn't read the notice when they bought their tickets).

Rufus walked slowly onto the darkened stage. He was lit only from behind and was wearing a robe of some sort with a plumed collar Johnny Weir would envy. The train of his cape trailed 17 feet behind him (I know this because he told us during the second half of the show). He then proceeded to play through his latest album All Days are Nights in its entirety. After the first song some poor schmuck forgot the rules and began to whistle and clap. He was promptly shushed by a couple of other audience members (one of whom was sitting not far from me in the first balcony and thought that flailing his arms over the railing would somehow help to quiet they clapper sitting in the orchestra seats. This shusher was vigilant, frequently glaring in the direction of anyone who made the least noise. I came to know him as "Rufus' bouncer".) Two more songs were sung without incident before the capper forgot himself again.

I will admit that I was a bit leery of the no applause thing. I couldn't really see the point of it. I'm still not sure I really get it, but it did impact my concert experience. On the one hand it raised the tension in the audience. It takes some self control to not applaud when all your life you have done so. On the other hand, I felt it harkened back to a time before MP3 players when people would actually sit and listen to an album from beginning to end without interruption. Does anyone do that any more? I came out of the experience feeling like I had just held my breath the entire time but with a new appreciation for the songs themselves.

The second half of Rufus' show was much more typical for him. It was still just him and a piano (when I saw him in Pittsburgh he was accompanied by a band and backup singers) with Martha coming out for a couple of songs. But gone was the black robe which was replaced by an exuberant shirt/jacket/pants outfit all in a wild orange print. After thanking the audience for doing a good job of keeping quiet for the first half, he sang some of my favorite songs including my ABSOLUTE favorite "Dinner at Eight" and ended the show by singing one of his late mother's, Kate McGarrigle, songs.

I struggle to think of one other American artist (he was born in NYC but did grow up in Canada) who has the ability to entertain with such profound simplicity. He not only writes, composes and sings virtually all his songs, but he does it in two languages! Between Martha and Rufus, a good 5 songs were sung in French. I'm willing to bet 90% of the audience didn't understand more than a word or two, but the music and vocals were so amazing that it didn't matter.

I wasn't the only one to fee this way. On the way out I hear someone say the concert was the best birthday present he had ever bought for himself.