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Bowery Ballroom, New York May 22, 2001 By C. Bottomley Don't expect to see the Cowsills on Pop-Up Video any time soon, but family acts are making a comeback. Evan & Jaron's shared chromosomes are storming the charts, and the brotherly Black Crowes are currently on a fraternal tour with Oasis and Spacehog. New York's Bowery Ballroom was the site of a collaboration celebrating relative values, too, as singing twins Tegan & Sara opened for songwriting scion Rufus Wainwright. Siblings and bands have some things in common - you may not be able to stand each other, but you're forced to share things for a while. Tegan & Sara at least put a modern spin on splitting octaves. Once you've cut through the fussy production of their debut, The Business of Art, you hear what sounds like a singer/songwriter's take on Destiny's Child. This being modern folk, however, their singing can often be more strident than that of Beyonce Knowles, or even the Roches. With only their two guitars to back them up onstage, a more playful side emerges from T&S's songs, which subject-wise range from wrestling relationships ("All You Got") to the music industry ("Hype"). The game is guessing how they will deliver each new line. Dark-haired Tegan and blond Sara alternately scream, whimper, growl, moan, tease, sob, and execute more vocal acrobatics than Yma Sumac and a tank of helium. Only genetics or a double-tracked Ani DiFranco can do this, but the crowd was thoroughly charmed. Tegan & Sara filed out of the venue with mother and sisters in tow, but Rufus Wainwright has kept a more ambiguous relationship with his famous parents - songwriters Loudon Wainwright III and Kate McGarrigle. He's respectful of their achievements yet keen on forging his own identity as a baroque pop songwriter, swooning over strings, grand pianos, and not incidentally, men. His new album, Poses, has an apropos cover of his dad's "One Man Guy," but adds a carnal dimension to the tale of a self-absorbed performer whose "three cubic feet/ Of bone and blood and meat/ Are what I love and know." From the moment Rufus flounced on stage in a brown checked suit and tie and shaggy shoulder-length mane - all the better for dramatic head-tossing - the emphasis was on poses of all sorts. He opened with "Coffee & Cigarettes," tinkling complicated piano patterns as his broad voice lamented his attraction to danger. Then he took center stage behind a guitar to show off his latest ditty, the record's first single, "California." It's surely the disc's most immediate tune, chiming like a lost Mama Cass track, while boasting an ebullience undercut by the narrator's decision to stay in bed rather than absorb West Coast pleasures. Flashing broad grins at the squeals of male and female admirers, Wainwright also mined melancholy, sitting back at the grand piano to croon the brooding "Tower of Learning" and Poses' title track, which he dedicated to "beautiful, f*cked-up people." The only prop missing was a mirror. With sister Martha Wainwright on backing vocals and fellow folk descendent Teddy Thompson (son of Richard) on guitar, the gig furthered the family vibe. Martha's vocals can be eerily reminiscent of her mom, and her brassy femininity complicated Rufus' more hedonistic material, like "Greek Song" and "Rebel Prince." For the encore, Wainwright pulled out his 1998 hit "April Fools," still his most fully realized attempt at chamber pop, and then had us meet the parents. Loudon's beige jacket cast him as the participant of a members-only country club reception, while Kate still carried the impervious bohemian aura that's stared out from album covers for 25 years. Wainwright, Wainwright, Wainwright, and McGarrigle essayed the Irving Berlin chestnut "What'll I Do," which as sung by two divorced parents and their show-biz kids, was glowingly harmonious and full of exasperation. Families and history are tricky things. On the basis of this outing, Rufus Wainwright is willing to duet with both. |
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