Concert Review: Rufus Wainwright, February 21, at the Uptown

Progeny of the smart, comic songwriter Loudon Wainwright III and Princess Fiona, Rufus Wainwright, mid 30s, strode on stage at the Uptown dressed in clashing casuals, an Obama bandanna upon his head as though he’d just escaped captivity at the hands of campus feminists and was greeted by light but warm applause, which was not due to the crowd’s lacking enthusiasm but rather to its size. I don’t know the exact number, but probably around 500 people turned out for the solo-at-piano-or-guitar performance of the young gay master of winking, swooning, winking, tirelessly baroque popular songcraft with the distinctive reedy, nasal pipes, and, as if to complement to the informal-recital nature of the gig, played it short and sweet, smiling much of the way through but not bothering much with banter.