''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-American singer, songwriter, and composer. He has recorded 10 studio albums and numerous tracks on compilations and film soundtracks. He has also written two classical operas and set ...

, 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 o ...

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

in support of his previous studio album, ''

Release the Stars ''Release the Stars'' is the fifth studio album by Canadian-American singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright, released through Geffen Records on May 15, 2007. Pet Shop Boys' Neil Tennant was the executive producer; the album was mixed by Record produ ...

'' (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 i ...

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 an American–British musician, songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist. 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 ...

, 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 music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

's Matt Collar wrote that ''Milwaukee at Last!!!'' was reminiscent of the "opera-esque aspirations" of Wainwright's previous studio album ''

'', 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'', previously named the ''St. Petersburg Times'' until 2011, is an American newspaper published in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. It has won fourteen Pulitzer Prizes since 1964, and in 2009, won two in a single ...

'', 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 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 August 2004. Its pare ...

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

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to ...

''s Stephen Deusner 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" ( Noël Coward) – 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 transliteration of the Irish ''mo chuisle'', meaning "my pulse" as used in ...

" (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 t ...

" (

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

, Ira Gershwin) #" If Love Were All" (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 "I Don't Know What It Is" is a single by Canadian-American singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright, released in a slim-line jewel case format on July 26, 2004. It is from his third studio album ''Want One'' (2003). In addition to the UK and Japanese ...

" #"Pretty Things" #"Complainte de la Butte" (Georges Van Parys, Jean Renoir) #" Get Happy" ( Harold Arlen,

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 w ...

) #"Gay Messiah"

Personnel

*C.J. Camerieri – trumpet, piccolo trumpet, flugelhorn, backing vocals *Jeff Hill –

upright bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox additions such as the octobass). Similar ...

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

Gerry Leonard Gerry Leonard is an Irish lead guitarist and solo artist, known for his harmonic and ambient guitar style and for his work with David Bowie. He has lived and worked in Dublin, Copenhagen, and Manhattan. Hinterland From Clontarf, Dublin, Clont ...

– 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 deta ...

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

, 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 (while ...

, soprano saxophone, 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 news ...

, backing vocals *Rufus Wainwright – vocals, piano, guitar, art direction *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 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 Live video albums Rufus Wainwright albums