RUFUS Wainwright will follow the summer release of his new album Unfollow The Rules with an autumn tour booked into York Barbican for October 27.
The American-Canadian baroque, operatic and indie pop singer-songwriter was the first guest for the Royal Albert Hall’s free special isolation sessions, #RoyalAlbertHome, last night.
Out on BMG on July 10, the typically fearless, mischievous and honest Unfollow The Rules will be Wainwright’s ninth studio album and his first set of new compositions since Out Of The Game in 2012.
“I consider Unfollow The Rules my first fully mature album,” says Rufus, 46-year-old son of Loudon Wainwright III and Kate McGarrigle. “It is like a bookend to the beginning of my career.”
Wainwright will be joined on the road by a new band, featuring Los Angeles guitarist and producer Brian Green, who has worked previously with John Legend, and Phoenix singer-songwriter and keyboardist Rachel Eckroth, erstwhile collaborator with KT Tunstall.
Looking forward to performing a setlist of Wainwright old and new post-Lockdown, Rufus says: “For me, thinking about this tour is like a light at the end of this dark tunnel that we are all in together. It gives me hope and confidence that we will rise above this collectively.
“And while it might seem that we are not moving forward swiftly in this dark long tunnel, I know that we will reach the light again and be able to be together. I cannot wait to be part of that moment for my fans and share this music live with them.”
Tickets for Rufus Wainwright: Unfollow The Rules at York Barbican go on sale on April 17 at 10am at yorkbarbican.co.uk.
MEANWHILE, York Barbican has announced that Joker: Live In Concert on May 17 is off.
“It is with great disappointment that we can confirm our Joker: Live in Concert performance will no longer go ahead due to the COVID-19 outbreak,” the Barbican statement said. “All tickets will be refunded, and please contact your point of purchase if you have any questions.”
The show would have have featured Todd Phillips’s award-laden film being accompanied by an orchestra performing Hildur Guðnadóttir’s score live to build a “vivid, visceral and entirely new Joker viewing experience”.