Rufus Pleases Royal Oak Crowd With Moody Solo Set

At times, during Rufus Wainwright’s solo show Oct. 18 in front of an intimate crowd at the Royal Oak Music Theatre, the theatrical-voiced charmer made Tori Amos look like Mary Poppins. Stripped of musical-flourishes that stamp the crooner’s catalog, the almost two-hour double-encore show shifted attention from Wainwright’s bigger-than-earth sound to melancholy lyrics of yearning, ache, passion, and a lot of true-life situations that could’ve benefited from a Xanax. Or three.

He was often mesmeric – with an operatic voice as perfect as the Mona Lisa, how could he not be? – even sans band, family (Martha Wainwright and his mother, Kate McGarrigle, have been known to join him), and a fancy-schmantzy stage (the glittery scarf more than made up for that).

He opened on piano with “The Art Teacher,” dramatically tossing his shaggy ‘do from side to side and wholly connecting – he often shut his eyes, letting the music consume him – with his emotive, dreamy music. Between pre-eminent gems like “Beauty Mark,” “Little Sister” (which was dedicated to all the sweet Midwestern women) and “Poses,” he performed songs from his embellished latest “Release the Stars,” including originally grandiose-sounding “Going to a Town,” a protest song about American crises. It pleased on just piano, but felt like a “Wheel of Fortune” puzzle: Who else was filling in the strings and Martha’s background vocals?

He kept the chatter brief and light, talking about his time at Interlochen’s art camp where he was turned on by the uniforms (“I didn’t practice much,” he joked), and sarcastic. “I know I wrote so many great songs – and I sing so many great songs,” he quipped in response to several rude hecklers who apparently thought he was a deejay. During “Greek Song” he referenced downtown Detroit since, ya know, we’ve got Greektown – and lots of Coney Islands. And, as if this was a surprise, he’s voting for Obama and so if you’re not, “join the party,” he said.

Sending the audience into a frenzy with encore songs “Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk” and “Hallelujah,” he had me at “11:11,” a song about Sept. 11, where he made a guitar boo-boo and interjected with “Oh, shit!” Swearing in the middle of such a consuming song? Only Rufus can make that cute.