''Milwaukee at Last!!!'' is the seventh album (and second live album) by Canadian-American singer-songwriter

Rufus Wainwright Rufus McGarrigle Wainwright (born July 22, 1973) is a Canadian and American singer, songwriter, and composer. He has recorded eleven studio albums and numerous tracks on compilations and film soundtracks. He has also written two classical opera ...

, released in the United States on September 22, 2009. The album consists of live recordings from his August 27, 2007, performance at the

Pabst Theater The Pabst Theater is an indoor performance and concert venue and landmark of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. Colloquially known as "the Pabst", the theater hosts about 100 events per year. Built in 1895, it is the fourth-oldest continuously ...

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

in support of his previous studio album, '' Release the Stars'' (2007). Documentary film director

Albert Maysles Albert Maysles (November 26, 1926 – March 5, 2015) and his brother David Maysles (January 10, 1931 – January 3, 1987; ) were an American documentary filmmaking team known for their work in the Direct Cinema style. Their best-known films in ...

recorded a film of the same name for DVD, also released on September 22 in the US.

Development

Following ''Release the Stars'', Wainwright embarked on a world tour that lasted from May 2007 to February 2008 and covered North America, Europe, Japan and Australia/New Zealand. Believing he found the right backing band and that his voice was on a "solid plateau", Wainwright had the August 27, 2007, concert at the Pabst Theater recorded. Wainwright met documentarian Albert Maysles through their mutual friend

Sean Lennon is a British-American musician, songwriter, and producer. He is the son of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, and half-brother to Julian Lennon. Over the course of his career, he has been a member of the bands Cibo Matto, the Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tige ...

, and Maysles said he was "ready, willing and available" to assist with the project. In a September 2009 interview, Wainwright stated his reason for recording the concert in Milwaukee:

Critical reception

Overall, reception of the album was positive.

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

's Matt Collar wrote that ''Milwaukee at Last!!!'' was reminiscent of the "opera-esque aspirations" of Wainwright's previous studio album '' Release the Stars'', with the best material from that album being delivered in a "timely, dramatic fashion that makes for a well-paced listen". Collar complimented the album, stating it showcased Wainwright as a showman and a "deeply creative songwriter with a superb knack for live performance". In his review for the ''

St. Petersburg Times The ''Tampa Bay Times'', called the ''St. Petersburg Times'' until 2011, is an American newspaper published in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. It is published by the Times Publishing Company, which is owned by The Poynter Institute f ...

'', Sean Daly commended Wainwright's performance of "Release the Stars", claiming he "swoons like a besotted cabaret star on the eve of retirement". Gary Flockhart of ''

The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact (newspaper), compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until ...

'' called the album "slightly cheesy", but "brilliantly over-the-top" and "definitely another good album from the preening prima donna". ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

''s

Stephen Deusner Stephen M. Deusner is an American music critic and part-time record store clerk who lives in Bloomington, Indiana. A native of Tennessee, he has contributed to Pitchfork Media (including ''the Pitchfork 500''), ''Salon'', '' CMT'', ''American Songwr ...

claimed that the DVD was the "better way to experience Wainwright live", as visuals are crucial. Deusner calls the setlist featured in the film "more well-rounded and revealing", with less ponderous tracks like "Between My Legs", "Do I Disappoint You" and "The Art Teacher".

Track listing

All songs written by Wainwright, unless otherwise noted. CD #"Release the Stars" – 5:54 #" Going to a Town" – 4:13 #"

Sanssouci Sanssouci () is a historical building in Potsdam, near Berlin. Built by Prussian King Frederick the Great as his summer palace, it is often counted among the German rivals of Versailles. While Sanssouci is in the more intimate Rococo style and ...

" – 5:49 #" Rules and Regulations" – 4:10 #"Leaving for Paris No. 2" – 6:04 #"

If Love Were All "If Love Were All" is a song by Noël Coward, published in 1929 and written for the operetta '' Bitter Sweet''. The song is considered autobiographical, and has been described as "self-deprecating" as well as "one of the loneliest pop songs ever ...

" (

Noël Coward Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 189926 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor, and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what ''Time (magazine), Time'' called "a sense of personal style, a combination of c ...

) – 2:26 #"Nobody's Off the Hook" – 4:26 #"Not Ready to Love" / "Slideshow" – 13:51 #"

Macushla "Macushla" is the title of an Irish song that was copyrighted in 1910, with music by Dermot Macmurrough ( Harold R. White) and lyrics by Josephine V. Rowe. The title is a anglicization of ''mo chuisle'', an Irish term of endearment meaning "my ...

" (Dermot MacMurrough, Josephine V. Rowe) – 3:51 #"Gay Messiah" – 4:06 Amazon.com bonus track #

"I Don't Know What It Is" – 5:01 US iTunes bonus track #

"The Art Teacher" – 4:04 DVD #"Release the Stars" #"Going to a Town" #"Sanssouci" #"Rules and Regulations" #"Tulsa" #"The Art Teacher" #" Tiergarten" #"Leaving for Paris No. 2" #"Between My Legs" #"Do I Disappoint You?" #"

A Foggy Day "A Foggy Day" is a popular song composed by George Gershwin, with lyrics by Ira Gershwin. The song was introduced by Fred Astaire in the 1937 film '' A Damsel in Distress''. It was originally titled "A Foggy Day (In London Town)" in reference to ...

" (

George Gershwin George Gershwin (; born Jacob Gershwine; September 26, 1898 – July 11, 1937) was an American composer and pianist whose compositions spanned jazz, popular music, popular and classical music. Among his best-known works are the songs "Swan ...

Ira Gershwin Ira Gershwin (born Israel Gershovitz; December 6, 1896 – August 17, 1983) was an American lyricist who collaborated with his younger brother, composer George Gershwin, to create some of the most memorable songs in the English language of the ...

) #"

" (Noël Coward) #"Nobody's Off the Hook" #"Beautiful Child" #"Not Ready to Love" #"Slideshow" #"Macushla" (Dermot MacMurrough, Josephine V. Rowe) #"14th Street" #" I Don't Know What It Is" #"Pretty Things" #"Complainte de la Butte" (Georges Van Parys,

Jean Renoir Jean Renoir (; 15 September 1894 – 12 February 1979) was a French film director, screenwriter, actor, producer and author. His '' La Grande Illusion'' (1937) and '' The Rules of the Game'' (1939) are often cited by critics as among the greate ...

) #" Get Happy" (

Harold Arlen Harold Arlen (born Hyman Arluck; February 15, 1905 – April 23, 1986) was an American composer of popular music, who composed over 500 songs, a number of which have become known worldwide. In addition to composing the songs for the 1939 film ' ...

Ted Koehler Ted L. Koehler (July 14, 1894 – January 17, 1973) was an American lyricist. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1972. Life and career Koehler was born in 1894 in Washington, D.C. He started out as a photo-engraver, but ...

) #"Gay Messiah"

Personnel

*C.J. Camerieri – trumpet,

piccolo trumpet The piccolo trumpet is the smallest member of the trumpet family, pitched one octave higher than the standard B trumpet. Most piccolo trumpets are built to play in either B or A, using a separate leadpipe for each key. The tubing in the B picco ...

flugelhorn The flugelhorn (), also spelled fluegelhorn, flugel horn, or flügelhorn, is a brass instrument that resembles the trumpet and cornet, but has a wider, more conical bore. Like trumpets and cornets, most flugelhorns are pitched in B♭, though ...

, backing vocals *Jeff Hill –

upright bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...

, electrical bass, backing vocals *Matt Johnson – drums, bass, backing vocals *Mycle Konopka – engineer *Alex Lake – photography *

Gerry Leonard Gerry Leonard (born 26 February 1962) is an Irish guitarist known for his harmonic and ambient guitar style and for his work with David Bowie, Suzanne Vega, Rufus Wainwright, Laurie Anderson, Duncan Sheik and many others. He has a solo projec ...

– guitar, backing vocals, music director *

Ali McMordie Alistair Jardine "Ali" McMordie (born 31 March 1959 in Belfast, Northern Ireland) is a bass guitarist, best known as a founding member of Stiff Little Fingers, playing with the band from 1977 until they broke up in 1983, and joined them on the ...

–

tour manager A tour manager (or concert tour manager) is the person who helps to organize the administration for a schedule of appearances of a musical group (band) or artist at a sequence of venues (a concert tour). In general, road managers handle tour det ...

*Laura Mueller – staff *Julian Peploe – art direction *Jack Petruzzelli – guitar, piano,

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and in modern forms is usually made of plastic, where early membranes were made of animal skin. ...

, bass, backing vocals *Dave Phee – backline technician *Tom Schick – mixing *Louis Schwadron –

French horn The French horn (since the 1930s known simply as the horn in professional music circles) is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. The double horn in F/B (technically a variety of German horn) is the horn most o ...

, backing vocals *Ian Shea – assistant *Ryan J-W Smith – mastering *Will Vinson –

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (whi ...

soprano saxophone The soprano saxophone is a small, high-pitched member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments invented in the 1840s by Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax. Built in B♭ an octave above the tenor saxophone (or rarely, slightly small ...

, flute, piano,

recorder Recorder or The Recorder may refer to: Newspapers * ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper * ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US * ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a newsp ...

, backing vocals *Rufus Wainwright – vocals, piano, guitar,

art direction Art director is a title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, live-action and animated film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to super ...

*Michael Ways – engineer

Release history

''Milwaukee at Last!!!'' was released in a CD format on September 7 in Canada, Denmark, France, Sweden, and the United Kingdom, on September 8 in Singapore and Spain, on September 11 in Germany, and on September 22 in Italy, Japan, and the United States. In the United States, the album was released digitally on September 8, with the DVD and deluxe CD/DVD combo also being released on September 22. In the United Kingdom, a deluxe

box set A boxed set or (its US name) box set is a set of items (for example, a compilation of books, musical recordings, films or television programs) traditionally packaged in a box, hence 'boxed', and offered for sale as a single unit. Music Artists ...

was released as a "luxury fan edition" with the CD, DVD and four postcards.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Milwaukee At Last!!! 2009 live albums 2009 video albums Decca Records live albums Decca Records video albums 2000s live video albums Rufus Wainwright albums