Show Review & Photos: Rufus Wainwright & Martha Wainwright @ the Paramount

Rufus Wainwright played an emotional and moving show at the Paramount last night in Seattle. The singer-songwriter wrapped up his tour with his sister, Martha Wainwright, in a performance that was so revealing and sensitive. For the first half of the show, he played songs from All Days Are Nights: Songs for Lulu in a beautiful black ensemble of shiny raven feathers, sparkly top, and a dramatic scalloped train designed by Zaldy Coco. As he came out to the stage the venue was silent – he had requested the audience not to applaud during the first set – and the impact of this was startling. Artwork (which I believe were photos and video of Wainwright’s eyes) by Douglas Gordon rotated on the screen.

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Rufus Wainwright

One of the most moving moments was his performance of “The Walking Song,” written by his mother, musician Kate McGarrigle, the celebrated Canadian singer-songwriter who passed away in January. Wainwright mentioned it was written when the relationship between his parents looked rosy. Another great set of moments was when he sang in French with Martha Wainwright (who brought her adorable baby, Arcangelo onstage for one song) and “Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk,” Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah,” “Complainte De La Butte” (Wainwright commented we have this complaint in Seattle because of all these hills) and “Dinner at Eight” (No matter how strong/I’m gonna take you down/With one little stone I’m gonna break you down/And see what you’re worth/What you’re really worth to me).

There were some lighthearted moments, such as when Wainwright talked about seeing changes in Seattle over the years – the Space Needle didn’t impress him at first because of its smallness and resemblance to an airport. Now he likes it, saying it’s almost Rococo next to all the bigger buildings. Some of my other favorite pieces of the night were his music set to Shakespeare’s sonnets and “What Would I Ever Do With a Rose?”(Never does the dream come true without the nightmare).

Wainwright returns to the Northwest on September 9th. He’ll perform his opera, Prima Donna, with the Oregon Symphony as the first half of the set – the second half will be variety, including covers of Judy Garland songs. You can find more information here.

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Rufus Wainwright

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Martha Wainwright
review & all photos by Dagmar

Gallery of Rufus Wainwright @ the Paramount
Gallery of Martha Wainwright @ the Paramount
Related Link: The Kate McGarrigle Fund

Photos: Cracker & Camper Van Beethoven @ Neumos

David Lowery did two shows in a row the other night at Neumos in his bands Cracker and
Camper Van Beethoven. Plus the tour is still going – I think it’s very cool to pull this off. In case you didn’t know, Cracker, whose most recent release is last year’s Sunrise in the Land of Milk and Honey, formed after Camper Van Beethoven split. We’ve got some of Brittney Bush Bollay‘s wonderful photos for you to enjoy:

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Cracker

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Camper Van Beethoven

(Photos) American Idol Tour 2010 @ KeyArena

I have to be honest. I wasn’t a big American Idol fan, and never followed the show each season as most people do.  I never followed any of the prior seasons as I never understood what the big hype was. However, that all changed this year when my girlfriend and my former roommates got me hooked on it.

This also marked the first time shooting the last 3 songs (Lee Dewyze’s last two songs and the AI Medley featuring the top 10) as the norm of each show is to shoot the first 3 songs of each act. Overall, this was an enjoyable shoot and it was an honor to be able to shoot something this big. If you would ask me if I would shoot it next year? Absolutley!

To see more photos, check out my flickr gallery.

By Xander Deccio

P.S. Siobahn Magnus was my favorite 😉

Season 9 Winner: Lee Dewyze

Season 9 Runner-Up: Crystal Bowersox

Siobhan Magnus

Aaron Kelly

Andrew Garcia

Casey James

Michael Lynche

Tim Urban

Katie Stevens

Didi Benami

The AI Medley

Photos: Wayfinders, Hotels, Katie Kate & Steel Tigers of Death @ the Comet

Back Beat Seattle had its first show at the Comet on Friday night and I want to say thank you to the bands who played, to all the people who came to the event (we had some serious competition with Digable Planets across the street at Neumos) and to everyone at the Comet who made me very welcome, especially Michelle, who worked with me on getting the lineup together! We had four of Seattle’s best and most exciting bands: Wayfinders, Hotels, Katie Kate and Steel Tigers of Death. Hotels even dressed up as characters from Back to the Future, and Katie Kate performed with backup singers, Boomzzilla and Mad Rad‘s Terry Radjaw. Steel Tigers of Death stripped down into skimpy, shiny underpants and Wayfinders were total elegance.

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Wayfinders

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Katie Kate

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Steel Tigers of Death – all photos by Dagmar

Gallery of Wayfinders, Hotels, Katie Kate & Steel Tigers of Death @ the Comet