Singer/songwriter Rufus Wainwright will be performing all his albums in chronological order during a new Rufus-Retro-Wainwright-Spective! virtual tour. The shows will be live streamed through Veeps starting on October 9 with the first side of his debut album, Rufus Wainwright (1998).
Wainwright has released nine studio albums, with his latest being Unfollow the Rules, an album that came out this July. It was his first pop album in eight years, although he had released his second classical crossover album in 2016, Take All My Loves: 9 Shakespeare Sonnets. The albums he released in the 2000s remain his most popular, Poses, Want One, Want Two and Release the Stars, all of which are in the chamber pop genre style.
While the albums will only be played one half at a time, the sets will still be 45 minutes long and the remaining time will be spent performing cover songs. The covers played will be determined by fan voting, chosen out of 100 pre-selected songs, many of which he’s never covered before. Guitarist Brian Green and keyboardist Jacob Mann will join him as the backing band.
Tickets for individual shows are $20 in advance and $25 on the day of each show, but he’s also offering 4 show bundles including Q&A sessions. Tickets and more information can be found here.
Wainwright has been completely on board live streaming performances since quarantine began. He played one song a day for a while through his IGTV Quaratunes Robe Recital series, while in his bathrobe in his home. He also already played Unfollow the Rules in full upon its release from the historic Holloywood Paramour mansion. Additionally, he’s made appearances live streaming performances in support of the LGBTQ+ community as well as democratic candidate Joe Biden.
“Special times need special artistic ideas.” Wainwright said about his decision to tour his past albums, “They also need leadership and unity but we are far from that here in the US. So we as musicians can give the world our voice, to offer reflection and vision at the same time. I cannot tour my new album Unfollow the Rules which is why I have had ample time to reflect. I consider Unfollow the Rules a bookend to my first album, both were recorded and produced in Los Angeles, in a lot of the same studios and with a lot of the same session musicians. I consider Unfollow the Rules my first album of maturity as a songwriter, following in the footsteps of the greats a lot of them have left us already or will very soon. So, it’s time to look back to look forward. I’m excited for fans to join me on my trip into the past and on this virtual world tour of my entire studio album catalogue.“
Tour Dates:
10/9 – Rufus Wainwright from “Foolish Love” to “Baby”
10/16 – Rufus Wainwright from “Beauty Mark” to “Imaginary Love”
10/23 – Poses from “Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk” to “Tower of Learning”
10/30 – Poses from “Grey Gardens” to “In a Graveyard”
11/6 – Want One from “Oh What a World” to “Vibrate”
11/13 – Want One from “14th Street” to “Dinner at Eight”
11/20 – Want Two from “Agnus Dei” to “Hometown Waltz”
11/27 – Want Two from “This Love Affair” to “Old Whore’s Diet”
The dates for the shows covering Wainwright’s later albums are yet to be announced.
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