Rufus and Neko: Two views

Above, local gal Nina Murphy, winner of an on-line video contest, indulges in her prize: a chance to perform on stage with Rufus Wainwright on Thursday at the VooDoo Lounge.

Thursday's show at the VooDoo Lounge was a study in stagecraft. Two brilliant artists performed, yet only one of them made a lasting impression. Rufus Wainwright thoroughly charmed the audience of approximately 700 with pithy banter and soul-baring drama. Neko Case's psychedelic country is captivating, but her awkward demeanor prevented her from fully connecting with her fans.

Wainwright didn't have to resort to costume changes and Vegas camp to deliver two hours of exquisite entertainment. But he did.

The delightfully ridiculous choreography during "Get Happy"-- part of an extended Judy Garland tribute -- garnered the biggest response of his impeccably paced show. But vamping in drag is just a minor element of Wainwright's talent.

It was the heartbreaking ballads, most notably "Not Ready To Love" and "Nobody's Off the Hook," that confirmed that Wainwright is one of today's most gifted songwriters and vocalists. Only his unconventional approach limits his popularity.

"That song was dedicated to Toby Keith," he deadpanned after singing "Going To a Town," with its refrain of "I'm so tired of America."

The Wagnerian pop of "Did I Disappoint You" and the rococo rock of "Beautiful Child" allowed Wainwright's sharp seven-piece band to shine. Other fine musical moments included a deft use of French horn on "Art Teacher," the European cabaret of "Sanssouci" and the impressive off-microphone reading of "Macushlah."

"Gorgeous Nina," as Wainwright called the Kansas City winner of the tour's online spoken word contest, contributed to the festivities with her animated antics on "Between My Legs."

it was just one of the many ways Wainwright personalized his show. "You have a beautiful town here," Wainwright said. "I love the big fiery penis."

It's too bad Neko Case couldn't stick around to pick up pointers from Wainwright. Case said that she intended to drive to Dallas immediately after her show. While Wainwright gave the impression that he wanted to play all night, Case seemed eager to get out of the spotlight and hit the road.

With a voice as evocative as Dolly Parton's and songs as complex and layered as Willie Nelson's most creative material, Case's sound is imbued with a sense of mystery and faded grandeur. The tangled roots rock of "The Tigers Have Spoken" and the soaring honky tonk of "Maybe Sparrow" were masterfully enhanced by Case's five piece band. Jon Rauhouse's banjo and pedal steel work were particularly outstanding.

A Fine Frenzy, a vehicle for strong-voiced redhead Alison Sudol, opened the show more than four hours before Wainwright's last song and 30 minutes before the billed starting time. Sudol added a refreshingly effective summer-of-love sensibility to the sound popularized by bands like Coldplay.

| Bill Brownlee, Special to The Star

Neko Case’s music naturally acquires a lot of hyphenated prefixes whenever it gets reviewed: somewhere, you’ll see it called alt-country, new-country, indie-country. The reality is that Case sounds like what a country singer would fairly logically sound like having been born in the ‘70s and come of musical age along with Fugazi, Hüsker Dü and the Replacements.

Little more need be written about her genuinely beautiful voice, a sort of sinewy wail with just the right amount of Virginia twang; what goes less appreciated is how unaffected she and her music are. It’s not always easy to take chicken-pickin’ licks and steel guitar twang seriously in the age of Carrie Underwood and Toby Keith, but Case employs them because they’re what her music needs, not because they lend some sort of Red State "credibility" to what’s otherwise trumped-up boredom. Her take on Dylan’s "Buckets of Rain" ("Blood on the Tracks"/"Desire"-era Bob is a clear influence) was possessed of a hard-luck, good-times gait, "I Wish I Was the Moon" from her 2002 album "Blacklisted" was downright gorgeous, and her entire set was warm, enfolding, and deeply felt.

Rufus Wainwright, on the other hand, seemed to betray a certain showbiz ennui in his two sets. He’s the kind of sublimely talented singer who can sleepwalk through an evening and still please most of his fans, and while it wasn’t quite that egregious, there were nonetheless some worrisome Branson moments. Like Elton John, Wainwright has to balance his sensibilities carefully, as it’s easy for him to fall into gooey sentimentality at one end of the spectrum and campy clichés at the other.

When he’s good, he’s great: the character sketches "Tulsa" and "The Art Teacher" are full of musical and lyrical detail that would do the Paul McCartney of "For No One" and "Eleanor Rigby" proud. The rollicking "Beautiful Child" was a wonderful combination of rolling British folk and Spaghetti Western trumpet, and the utterly lost and despairing "Pretty Things" was a moment of starry, sad-eyed reverie.

However, a large portion of his lengthy performance felt middling, kind of half-baked and slightly bored, and he stumbles when he attempts to be self-consciously "offensive" (as with "The Gay Messiah"). His natural abilities mean that he doesn’t need to do his songs justice to make it with crowds. When he does, we’re all better for it.

| Michael Judge, Special to The Star

The delightfully ridiculous choreography during "Get Happy"-- part of an extended Judy Garland tribute -- garnered the biggest response of his impeccably paced show. But vamping in drag is just a minor element of Wainwright's talent.

It was the heartbreaking ballads, most notably "Not Ready To Love" and "Nobody's Off the Hook," that confirmed that Wainwright is one of today's most gifted songwriters and vocalists. Only his unconventional approach limits his popularity.

"That song was dedicated to Toby Keith," he deadpanned after singing "Going To a Town," with its refrain of "I'm so tired of America."

The Wagnerian pop of "Did I Disappoint You" and the rococo rock of "Beautiful Child" allowed Wainwright's sharp seven-piece band to shine. Other fine musical moments included a deft use of French horn on "Art Teacher," the European cabaret of "Sanssouci" and the impressive off-microphone reading of "Macushlah."

"Gorgeous Nina," as Wainwright called the Kansas City winner of the tour's online spoken word contest, contributed to the festivities with her animated antics on "Between My Legs."

it was just one of the many ways Wainwright personalized his show. "You have a beautiful town here," Wainwright said. "I love the big fiery penis."

It's too bad Neko Case couldn't stick around to pick up pointers from Wainwright. Case said that she intended to drive to Dallas immediately after her show. While Wainwright gave the impression that he wanted to play all night, Case seemed eager to get out of the spotlight and hit the road.

With a voice as evocative as Dolly Parton's and songs as complex and layered as Willie Nelson's most creative material, Case's sound is imbued with a sense of mystery and faded grandeur. The tangled roots rock of "The Tigers Have Spoken" and the soaring honky tonk of "Maybe Sparrow" were masterfully enhanced by Case's five piece band. Jon Rauhouse's banjo and pedal steel work were particularly outstanding.

A Fine Frenzy, a vehicle for strong-voiced redhead Alison Sudol, opened the show more than four hours before Wainwright's last song and 30 minutes before the billed starting time. Sudol added a refreshingly effective summer-of-love sensibility to the sound popularized by bands like Coldplay.

| Bill Brownlee, Special to The Star

Neko Case’s music naturally acquires a lot of hyphenated prefixes whenever it gets reviewed: somewhere, you’ll see it called alt-country, new-country, indie-country. The reality is that Case sounds like what a country singer would fairly logically sound like having been born in the ‘70s and come of musical age along with Fugazi, Hüsker Dü and the Replacements.

Little more need be written about her genuinely beautiful voice, a sort of sinewy wail with just the right amount of Virginia twang; what goes less appreciated is how unaffected she and her music are. It’s not always easy to take chicken-pickin’ licks and steel guitar twang seriously in the age of Carrie Underwood and Toby Keith, but Case employs them because they’re what her music needs, not because they lend some sort of Red State "credibility" to what’s otherwise trumped-up boredom. Her take on Dylan’s "Buckets of Rain" ("Blood on the Tracks"/"Desire"-era Bob is a clear influence) was possessed of a hard-luck, good-times gait, "I Wish I Was the Moon" from her 2002 album "Blacklisted" was downright gorgeous, and her entire set was warm, enfolding, and deeply felt.

Rufus Wainwright, on the other hand, seemed to betray a certain showbiz ennui in his two sets. He’s the kind of sublimely talented singer who can sleepwalk through an evening and still please most of his fans, and while it wasn’t quite that egregious, there were nonetheless some worrisome Branson moments. Like Elton John, Wainwright has to balance his sensibilities carefully, as it’s easy for him to fall into gooey sentimentality at one end of the spectrum and campy clichés at the other.

When he’s good, he’s great: the character sketches "Tulsa" and "The Art Teacher" are full of musical and lyrical detail that would do the Paul McCartney of "For No One" and "Eleanor Rigby" proud. The rollicking "Beautiful Child" was a wonderful combination of rolling British folk and Spaghetti Western trumpet, and the utterly lost and despairing "Pretty Things" was a moment of starry, sad-eyed reverie.

However, a large portion of his lengthy performance felt middling, kind of half-baked and slightly bored, and he stumbles when he attempts to be self-consciously "offensive" (as with "The Gay Messiah"). His natural abilities mean that he doesn’t need to do his songs justice to make it with crowds. When he does, we’re all better for it.

| Michael Judge, Special to The Star

Comments

[Randall]

My own assessment is much more in line with Judge's than Brownlee's. Neko charmed without working hard at it, while we gave up on Rufus after 35 minutes or so. I liked his first few songs, but after the awful, self-indulgent "Tulsa" and a few more lackluster tunes, I concluded that he wasn't for me.