Rufus Wainright Serenades the National Arts Centre

Rufus Wainright, whom Elton John called “the greatest songwriter on the planet right now” in a Globe and Mail interview, ended his 16-country tour commemorating 20 years since the release of his self-titled LP in Ottawa on Thursday night.

Opening the evening was Wainwright’s touring keyboardist, Rachel Eckroth who soothed the audience with slow jazzy songs from her third solo release When it Falls. Eckroth grew up in Phoenix and just happens to be married to David Bowie’s bassist with whom she collaborates regularly. Her dreamy vocals and synth groove, reminiscent of a certain Twin Peaks sound, a very fitting introduction to what was next to come.

Entering from stage left Rufus Wainright, who has been known to wear fabulously outlandish costumes on stage, sauntered in donning a classic and subdued Victorian top hat and pinstriped suit. He walked up to the mic and proclaimed “We did it!,” in reference to the last show of the tour and perhaps the opportunity to perform on such a venerated Canadian stage. Going way back to 1998, an acoustic version of April Fools was his first offering to the appreciative crowd. He has said before that this song came to him in the bath. He stood up, naked, and sang it. Songs come to him at odd times it seems. His powerful vocals filled the auditorium and during the pauses in the song you could have heard a pin drop. Simply mesmerizing.

The night continued with several of his classics including Barcelona, and The Sword of Damocles, my personal favorite. Wainwright made the U.S election fueled song available for purchase after a premiere performance on The Late Late Show with James Corden and donated a portion of the proceeds to the voter registrations cause. Definitely not a Trump fan.

Scattered throughout the performance, he took obvious pleasure in telling the stories of how the songs came to be and sharing personal anecdotes. He offered a story about singing for Joni Mitchell at her seventy-fifth birthday party, hoping to serenade her with a song that Seal stole from him before launching in to a chilling rendition of Mitchell’s Both Sides Now. In other charming story he spoke of his mother, the late great Canadian folk queen Kate McGarrigle and how she absolutely loved the first song he ever wrote, but told him that the next bunch were “crap” and that he should go back to the drawing board. What followed was Beauty Mark, a song that he wrote for her, as he often did.

After a short intermission, and returning to the stage wearing an enormous bedazzled jacket, Wainwright powered through some upbeat numbers such as Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk and California which had the crowd on their feet. Imaginary Love and the crowd-pleasing Going to a Town, from his 2007 LP Release the Stars, preceded the end of the nearly two-and-a-half hour show with his cover of the Beatles’ Across the Universe. He then promised that he would be back with new songs, leaving the audience in anticipation of what the next 20 years have in store.