Runny noses and Poses

I know, I know. This blog is withering and dying. And I really don’t mean for every post to be about the Wainwrights, but last night Katie P. and I went to see Rufus & Martha at the Paramount, and I think the show deserves a little write-up on here.

Let me just begin by saying that, as a fan of the whole family, last night was extremely satisfying. It was the last show of their tour together, so it got pretty emotional!

Martha opened the show, and boy, she’s just the most unassuming person ever. She introduced herself as “Rufus’ sister,” and proceeded to play some great songs and make a bunch of self depreciating jokes. To close the set, Martha said that she and her mom had sung a version of La Vie En Rose without amplification for her Edith Piaf album and that Rufus had dared her to sing it herself without a microphone before the end of the tour. Then she walked out to the edge of the stage, tested the acoustics, and belted out the song with that beautiful voice of hers! It was pretty spectacular. That lady is awesome.

We were told about 20 times before the show NOT to clap during Rufus’ first set, which was a song cycle from his newest album. He came out in a very theatrical feather-y black cape and tore through the ten or so songs. It showcased his talent really well…his piano work and voice were more than enough to fill the theater with some pretty intense music.

The second set, for which he wore a pink and orange suit, was much less formal, and was filled with charming jokes and commentary about how much he enjoys Seattle (don’t we all?). Even though the first set was intense, the second set was where Rufus got really emotional. Martha came back out and they played three or four songs together, and after the last one (Hallelujah), Martha went over to the piano and gave Rufus a really nice, long hug. Rufus quickly wiped his face and began to play Little Sister, but then he lost it completely. He tried blowing his nose and starting over, but the rest of the song was littered with crying, laughing, and a running commentary about how awful he sounded (“people say my voice is nasal-y, but this is ridiculous!”). It was pretty precious. The rest of the set was filled with more family songs, which seemed equally hard to get through. He swore that he didn’t get this emotional every night and kept apologizing for the quality of his voice, but the audience was loving it.

For the encore, Rufus, Martha, and Martha’s baby, Arcangelo came out and sang Poses (well, the baby didn’t sing, but he did sit there nice and quietly). It was very sweet. Before the last song, Rufus sobbed a little bit and talked about his mom and told us the reason he got so emotional when he and Martha were singing is because their mom’s favorite thing in the world was to hear the two of them singing together . His last song was a cover of his mom’s song, Walking Song, which was lovely, even though he could hardly get through it.

It was a very, very emotional, and great show. I sure do love that crazy talented family. Here’s a video of one of the songs from the first half of the show, performed in a slightly less spectacular outfit.

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