First, I apologize for not being very active in this forum lately, but it's partly due to me adopting 4 cats, which I still try to name (see - Brokeback Mountain Open Forum 'Naming that kitten', where I'm waiting for some inspiration from you guys..
).
Aaaaaaaaanyway!
This Saturday, Rufus Wainwright sang at the yearly 3-day 'Cactusfestival' (no idea, why it's called that way..) in Brugge, a pretty little town in Northern Belgium. There were several artists, all singing for about 1 hour or so. He was on at 7:40pm and he was punctual. There was already a small little crowd in front of the podium, so I had not the very best view, but it was okay. When I tried taking pictures at the beginning and couldn't see properly ('cause too small) a guy next to me (Tim) helped out. Really nice. Then with the crowd moving, I took pictures easily too. I could even tape two of the songs ('The Maker Makes' and a French song!) with my brand new digital camera. The quality isn't perfect of course (also, holding up a camera for 3 minutes isn't an easy thing to do!
). If I work out how to download it here on BetterMost I will!
So, Rufus! Quite a funny guy and a real charmer! But for those who know him well, it's nothing new I guess. I only 'found out' about him through BBM, but love his music and his voice! Anyway, Rufus really entertained the crowd! At some point during a song one of his guitar string tore and there was a bling blong ding dong sound - quite funny - and Rufus just kept playing and laughing at the same time.. He sang two songs with his sister Lucy too. Just before singing 'The Maker Makes' he mentioned Brokeback Mountain of course and the crowd cheered! A few girls behind me knew all the lyrics! At some point during one of his songs he suddenly left out the lyrics and sang lalilallablala or something, saying that the text was too depressing for a beautiful and sunny day in Brugge. All along he had these funny little comments and was laughing with the crowd. It was really a 'happy' performance.
At the end I talked to Tim a bit and it turned out that he is a huge fan of Rufus and has ALL his CDs! He tells me that hearing him on stage, with just his guitar or piano is quite new to him and he enjoyed it a lot. I asked him for his e-mail address so that I could send him a few pictures. When the crowd left I went to see if I could get an autograph. Two people standing at the security fence where yelling 'Rufus I love you!', but he didn't show..
Then it was me and 3 other people left, waiting. I came to the festival with a friend who was waiting for me some place else, so at some point I gave up, but not without asking one of the persons next to me if I could give her my e-mail address so that she could tell me whether he showed or not. She did, he didn't. Apparently they gave a picture to one of the security guards to have it signed, but he came back saying that Rufus Wainwright had already left.. Too bad!
Anyway, here are few pictures (I have more, but I took them with my 'old fashioned' camera and still need to get them developed. I hope they are better than these).. He does sing with his eyes closed a lot!..
~ j U d E