Rufus Wainwright is still making Scotsmen reconsider their sexuality

Identifying a split second of opportunity between songs to address his idol, the overzealous fan’s exclamation of newfound homosexuality was acknowledged by Wainwright with a smirk, raised eyebrow and pointed finger. 

Now three decades into an illustrious, fascinating and multi-faceted career spanning stark piano soliloquies, baroque pop symphonies, high-concept operas, Shakespearean sonnets and an audacious recreation of Judy Garland’s legendary Carnegie Hall concert, Wainwright has grown used to such fawning adoration - but perhaps not when it’s shouted in a broad Glaswegian accent that could be either angry accusation or loving proclamation.

Although Wainwright later admitted he can barely comprehend the Dear Green Place’s dialect despite numerous visits to the city, there’s no denying the interruption provided a welcome moment of levity for an evening dedicated to some of the most daring and dark compositions lurking within his back pages. 

Released within months of each other in 2003 and 2004, Want One exists as Wainwright’s wildly ambitious technicolour bid for pop supremacy with Want Two being its shadow companion, a brooding, starker work that provides a fascinating counterpoint to its predecessor’s sparkling, full-bodied luminosity. Certainly, songs such as Gay Messiah - graphically detailing the artist’s unique holy baptism technique utilising bodily fluids - unsurprisingly failed to propel him to the toppermost of the poppermost and won’t be sung by many church choirs either.

Tonight, both albums are performed on shuffle in two sets, preceded by a brief overture of familiar melody lines. It was a fitting appetiser to complement the feast to come, ably demonstrating the graceful dexterity and awesome power of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra who accompanied Wainwright for this one-off show.

Flamboyantly-coated and wildly energetic conductor Lee Mills provided a magnetic performance of his own, confidently guiding his musicians through the sophisticated harmonic movements, unexpected melodic subtleties and, it must be said, wild histrionic OTT abandon that enriches Wainwright’s more audacious arrangements.

Having flown into Glasgow at 5am that morning - in between rehearsals for his new London musical ‘Opening Night’ starring Sheridan Smith - Wainwright confessed that he was a little tired but eager to perform with such outstanding musicians. It’s notable that drummer Matt Johnson was the only other member of his regular backing band present, boasting an illustrious musical pedigree himself having also once backed the late, great Jeff Buckley. 

One-time rivals and frenimies, Wainwright and Buckley had both gigged across the New York coffee house circuit as unsigned artists in the early 90s, building their reputations and attempting to escape the formidable shadows cast by their legendary parents Tim and Loudon – with the latter’s significant presence looming large over many of Want One and Want Two’s lyrics. 

Yet much has changed in Wainwright’s life since he wrote these often bitter and biting songs, and many of them now serve as haunting odes to a person that no longer exists – historical eulogies to heartbreak, hedonism and taking the hump with his father. And although there’s no mention of the time he suffered temporary blindness through overindulgence in crystal meth, Wainwright does address the familial toxicity present on the Want albums.

Apparently all is well between father and son at the moment, with Loudon due in London soon to watch his son’s new play. ‘It’s a little annoying’ he adds, perhaps indicating that the dissipating tension has led to a lack of visceral lyrical inspiration in recent years, with Wainwright’s last album Folkocracy being a set of (admittedly superlative and sumptuous) cover versions and duets.

Yet in the live arena Wainwright remains an inspired and formidable force of nature – a fluid, inventive pianist capable of great subtlety but not shy of a showy flourish or three. And, of course, there’s that peerless, simultaneously sad and sensual soaring baritone that remains utterly unwithered by time, still capable of recreating the raw potency projected by these songs of youthful yearning and questioning.

All songs remain in their original keys and retain their countless flights of poperatic fancy and showy grandeur. It’s no secret that Wainwright possesses a true golden voice, one of the greatest of his era and tonight he smears it across the top of BBC SSO’s colossal accompaniment like the most rich and decadent icing imaginable. It’s a match made in heaven.

READ MORE:  ‘This is a funeral for youth’ CONCERT REVIEW: Rufus Wainwright, All These Poses tour, Glasgow Royal Concert Hall

Glasgow doesn’t get to hear all of the Want albums’ treasures however - so no Vicious World or The One You Love tonight. Yet what we are privy to are transcendent performances of some of the records’ more neglected gems – with Natasha, Pretty Things and The Art Teacher in particular cutting through any accusations of style over substance by retaining the emotionally potent yearning minimalism of the original recordings.

All too often, ‘pop’ artists who take the decision to validate their egos by performing with orchestras are driven not by artistic expression but rather pretension and vanity – words that were associated with unjovial Geordie dullard Sting well before his deadly dull collaboration with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. The artist formally known as Gordon Sumner was fooling himself - if not his bored audience on the subsequent tour - with a misguided belief grand orchestral accompaniments can gift slight compositions like Da Doo Doo Doo Da Dah Dah Dah with depth and gravitas. 

In stark contrast, Wainwright’s work is built for this type of lavish treatment and harmonic complexity. And even without sister Martha’s alien, transcendent backing vocals in their full wild mercury abandon, these fresh string arrangements stand in for her convincingly - and even manage to breathe new life into overly-familiar tracks such as Going To A Town, performed tonight as an encore.

Without mentioning a certain US Presidential candidate by name, the intent of this foreboding song’s inclusion is all too apparent, given its lyrics were originally written in distain for ‘ogre in the Oval Office’ George W Bush. 

Lest the night end on a somewhat sour note, Wainwright concludes by wheeling out the big guns with a triumphant, celebratory Oh What A World. ‘Straight men?’ he sings incredulously, mockingly - perhaps accusatory, perhaps, well, at straight men like me.

But was Wainwright’s presence and performance powerful enough to ‘make me gay’ like the aforementioned Glaswegian heckler? Well, if we’re going by the archaic Oxford dictionary definition of the term, then yes. I must admit the whole experience left me very happy indeed. 

Rufus' forthcoming Scottish dates: 

Thu 20 Jun 2024 - Perth, Scotland - Perth Theatre and Concert Hall

Sat 22 Jun 2024 - Inverness, Scotland -  Eden Court Theatre