ADRIENNE'S RUFUS WAINWRIGHT FAN PAGE
Our Matinee Idol
~~~
I just got back from the Edmonton Folk fest where Rufus was playing-
and it was so awsome. I actually met Rufus!!!!!! I still can't believe it.
Well, anyway I'm going to give you guys the total review so listen up. I
guess I should start out telling you a bit about Folkfest. I heard that Rufus
was going to be there when he mentioned it at the concert I went to in April.
~~~
Folkfest is a pretty big thing so tickets were sold out like an hour
after they went on sale. It's a five day event, but you can buy tickets for
any seperate day if you want. You can't imagine the hell I went through
trying to get tickets for Sat. I won't get into it.
~~~
But anyway I did finally get the tickets for my best friend Janeen and I and we
were on our way to see Ruffie! We missed the bus a few times so we were a
little late and when we got to the Folkfest all we saw was a sea of blue
tarps,in front of the mainstage, luckily this old hippie guy found us a patch
of grass to sit on where we could see the stage pretty good. (there's 7 stages in all).
So then we had about 4hrs to kill before the Rufus' family- The Magaricles and
family were playing on the mainstage.
~~~
We just left all of our bags and stuff right there in the grass- that's the cool thing about
Folkfest, there's about 14 000 people there but you can still leave your stuff
unattended. It's got this friendly peace and love overtone about it. So the
Magaricles came on at about 2:00 and Rufus was on stage doin' a sound check. He
had on this plain black, fitted t-shirt and the funkiest pair of floral pants,
that looked like they'd been made from recycled curtains or something, as
well as these totally Diva, green shades. The whole family did songs. For the
first few songs Rufus only played the tamborine and the whole family kinda
joked about it. Rufus' voice was the most powerful of all of them when he did
sing but they were all pretty talented.
~~~
It was pretty clear to me where Rufus got the his strong diaphram - his father Loudon.
They sounded very similar but Loudon's voice was way raspier and his style more cynical.
Rufus played a solo on the piano which got a lot of aplause, especially when he forgot
the lyrics and screamed "F**K!" at the top of his lungs - ending the song.
The whole family including Rufus and Martha sang some old sixties songs
called "Green Rocky Road" and "Sunflower". "Sunflower" was one of the best
songs I've ever heard. Martha sang a french 40's sounding song called "Allez
Vous En Monsier" (go away Monsier)at least that's what I think it was
called.While everyone was getting organized Rufus started some friendly
small talk with the audience and after one family banter he felt it
neccasary to tell everyone that a mosquito had bitten him during the
song. That was funny because the misquitos had been eating everyone else
alive during the song. He's such a primadonna- I love him for it. Then the
whole family sang an old song called "What'll I do".
~~~
After that awsome performance Janeen and I hauled ass across Gallager park
to see Rufus and Martha's performance on stage 6. First Martha came on. I
was looking forward to that because I'd never heard her but I was most excited
about Rufus coming up next. I was so suprised when I didn't want Martha to
leave though. She was soooo good. Kind of like Jewel only way gutsier and
more intelligent.
~~~
So I was thouroughly impressed with Martha. She's so beautiful and talented,
you guys should really check her out. We were sitting really close to the
stage, the croud was small and the atmosphere was intimate. Really intimate
actually, Martha was wearing a short skirt and the audience got a full
view of her intimates if ya' know what I mean.
~~~
Then Ruffie came out in his great curtain pants and charmed the pants off
of the audience. "I haven't done a concert in like 4 mnths, so bear with me"
was his opening line. He swore a bunch because his guitar was out of tune and
then said "Where's my road manager?" in that Diva attitude that only Rufus
can pull off so well. He started out with "little sister" and went on to
play mostly new songs.
~~~
In true Rufus style, he told the story behind every song. After teasing
the audience for a while he finally blurted out that he was currently
living in this posh hotel in New York, "but don't tell anyone" which I forgot the
name of.Then he sang this really awsome song about a Russian hooker he met
there. I think the chorus went "I'm just a floosie, old fashioned Hussie....."
but I'm not sure. My friend and I decided that you don't have to be much
for Rufus to write a song about you. Next he played a song about one of his
countless infatuations, of course, he wouldn't be Rufus if he didn't.
He told the story of how a French Reporter followed him around Paris
- Where he said he's going to live after the second album-(by the way, I know this
is long guys but keep reading, it gets better)and who asked him for a kiss
so of course he fell in love and sang to the reporter the entire concert
he played that night, but afterwards when Rufus tryed to find the guy, he had gone.
~~~
After hearing this the whole audience went "Awwwwwwwwwwwh" and
Martha just groaned and said something like "Oh, not the Paris story again" So
he played the song after first trying to compare himself to Led Zepplin
which just made everyone laugh. Then he played my absolute favorite
"California"!and a sort of disapointing version of "April Fools" before
saying good-bye. The singing wasn't the best I,ve heard him- but what
could I expect? He was out of practice and it was hotter than hell. I
couldn't have asked for a better concert though.
~~~
Afterwards when we were leaving, Janeen saw Rufus signing some autographs
and so I went up and got his autograph. He was so sweet and friendly to
everyone- he'such as nice guy. I was so excited that I totally forgot I
had my camera and had to go up just when he was leaving to ask if we could
get a picture with him. He said sure - and we got a picture of Rufus with
his arm around us. He was kind of sweaty and stinky- but we were worse so
I'm not complaining. And his stubble scratched my face but I should feel
honored to be scratched by Ruffie's stubble right?. I wanted to tell him
how good the show was but all I could manage was alot of thank-you's.
So that was my Rufus encounter. I can die a happy women now. It was such a
good day, everything that could have went right did. We spent 14hrs outdoors
in the hot sun(we even got a little sunstroke)but it was so worth it. The only
problem was I was using super cheap film in my camera so the pics might not
turn out. Oh well I still have the memories.*sigh* Well I hope you guys
read this all, because it was a lot of fun for me and one of the best times
of my life so far- it was perfect.
~~~
Luv Rachel
P.S. Be sure to check out Martha if you can - she's awesome.
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