crossposted at b.org

[holli]

So, I saw Rufus Wainwright and Ben Folds at Wolf Trap last night. Also Guster, but they weren't that good.

Rufus is adorable-- like if Danny Strong were gay, Canadian and a singer. So, not very much like Danny Strong at all, then, but still very cute in that way that makes you want to put him in your pocket and take him home with you. He did a lovely cover of "Hallelujah," and a bunch of his own stuff, which I'm not too familiar with. And then he brought his mom out to play the piano, while he sang "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and I died of cute.

Guster was, as I said, meh. It was fun to watch the crowd for all six of the really big Guster fans, though-- there were two girls a few rows ahead of us who'd made matching, glitter-painted Guster T-shirts. And they only sang along with their two most popular songs.

Ben Folds was amazing, as usual, though it was a shorter set than we'd expected. He didn't play "Best Imitation of Myself," or even "Brick" or "Rockin' the Suburbs," and he didn't really tell stories in between songs, but *damn* can he play. He did a bunch of new material, plus "Army," "Evaporated" (which I love) and a few of others. Then he brought Rufus out for a duet, and I died, yet again, of cute. He closed with "Not the Same," which I also love, though not as much as "Still Fighting It," dammit.

In conclusion: soulful boys with pianos: hot. Vaguely fratty guys with emo hair? Not so much. Shut up, Guster, and let Ben have the longer set.