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Milwaukee at Last!!!

Milwaukee at Last!!!
Live album by
Rufus Wainwright
ReleasedSeptember 22, 2009 (2009-09-22)
RecordedAugust 27, 2007
VenuePabst Theater in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
LabelDecca
Producer
  • Bradley Kaplan
  • Barry Taylor
  • Paula Quijano
  • George Scott
Rufus Wainwright chronology
Rufus Does Judy at Carnegie Hall
(2007) 		Milwaukee at Last!!!
(2009) 		All Days Are Nights: Songs for Lulu
(2010)
Alternative cover
Deluxe edition

Milwaukee at Last!!! is the seventh album (and second live album) by Canadian-American singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright, released in the United States on September 22, 2009.[1] The album consists of live recordings from his August 27, 2007, performance at the Pabst Theater in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in support of his previous studio album, Release the Stars (2007). Documentary film director Albert Maysles recorded a film of the same name for DVD, also released on September 22 in the US.[2]

Development

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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.[3] 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, and Maysles said he was "ready, willing and available" to assist with the project.[4] In a September 2009 interview, Wainwright stated his reason for recording the concert in Milwaukee:

I'm in love with that theater, the Pabst Theater. It used to be the center of opera for the Midwest; it's this beautiful opera house in the middle of a cornfield. And I love midwestern audiences. They're so appreciative, and they're not so jaded, and they're real.[5]

Critical reception

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Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic73[6]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
The Buffalo News[7]
musicOMH[8]
NME7/10[9]
Pitchfork7.2/10[10]
PopMatters8/10[11]

Overall, reception of the album was positive. AllMusic'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".[1] In his review for the St. Petersburg Times, Sean Daly commended Wainwright's performance of "Release the Stars", claiming he "swoons like a besotted cabaret star on the eve of retirement".[12] Gary Flockhart of The Scotsman called the album "slightly cheesy", but "brilliantly over-the-top" and "definitely another good album from the preening prima donna".[13]

Pitchfork's Stephen Deusner claimed that the DVD was the "better way to experience Wainwright live", as visuals are crucial.[10] 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".[10]

Track listing

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All songs written by Wainwright, unless otherwise noted.

CD

  1. "Release the Stars" – 5:54
  2. "Going to a Town" – 4:13
  3. "Sanssouci" – 5:49
  4. "Rules and Regulations" – 4:10
  5. "Leaving for Paris No. 2" – 6:04
  6. "If Love Were All" (Noël Coward) – 2:26
  7. "Nobody's Off the Hook" – 4:26
  8. "Not Ready to Love" / "Slideshow" – 13:51
  9. "Macushla" (Dermot MacMurrough, Josephine V. Rowe) – 3:51
  10. "Gay Messiah" – 4:06

Amazon.com bonus track

  2. "I Don't Know What It Is" – 5:01

US iTunes bonus track

  2. "The Art Teacher" – 4:04

DVD

  1. "Release the Stars"
  2. "Going to a Town"
  3. "Sanssouci"
  4. "Rules and Regulations"
  5. "Tulsa"
  6. "The Art Teacher"
  7. "Tiergarten"
  8. "Leaving for Paris No. 2"
  9. "Between My Legs"
  10. "Do I Disappoint You?"
  11. "A Foggy Day" (George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin)
  12. "If Love Were All" (Noël Coward)
  13. "Nobody's Off the Hook"
  14. "Beautiful Child"
  15. "Not Ready to Love"
  16. "Slideshow"
  17. "Macushla" (Dermot MacMurrough, Josephine V. Rowe)
  18. "14th Street"
  19. "I Don't Know What It Is"
  20. "Pretty Things"
  21. "Complainte de la Butte" (Georges Van Parys, Jean Renoir)
  22. "Get Happy" (Harold Arlen, Ted Koehler)
  23. "Gay Messiah"

Personnel

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Release history

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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.[14]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Milwaukee at Last!!!". AllMusic. Retrieved September 14, 2009.
  2. ^ Martin, Denise (September 20, 2009). "Rufus Wainwright creates his own Oz". Los Angeles Times. Tribune Company. ISSN 0458-3035. OCLC 3638237. Retrieved September 21, 2009.
  3. ^ Tour dates and locations:
  4. ^ Huhn, Mary (October 1, 2009). "He makes Milwaukee famous". New York Post. News Corporation. ISSN 1090-3321. Retrieved October 1, 2009.
  5. ^ Murphy, Tim (September 29, 2009). "Rufus Wainwright on Albert Maysles, Porn, and His New Concert Movie". New York. New York Media, LLC. ISSN 0028-7369. Retrieved October 1, 2009.
  6. ^ "Milwaukee at Last!!! (Live) – Rufus Wainwright". Metacritic. Retrieved January 26, 2012.
  7. ^ Miers, Jeff (September 20, 2009). "Listening Post /Brief reviews of select releases". The Buffalo News. Buffalo, New York. Retrieved September 21, 2009.
  8. ^ Murphy, John (2009). "Rufus Wainwright – Milwaukee At Last!!!". musicOMH. London, United Kingdom. Retrieved November 7, 2009.
  9. ^ Elan, Priya (August 27, 2009). "Album review: Rufus Wainwright – 'Milwaukee At Last!!!' (Decca)". NME. ISSN 0028-6362. Retrieved September 29, 2009.
  10. ^ a b c Deusner, Stephen (October 1, 2009). "Album Reviews – Rufus Wainwright – Milwaukee at Last!!!". Pitchfork. Retrieved October 1, 2009.
  11. ^ Lombardi, Anthony (September 30, 2009). "Rufus Wainwright: Milwaukee at Last!!!". PopMatters. Retrieved November 7, 2009.
  12. ^ Daly, Sean (September 20, 2009). "Sean Daly's take? Singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright is something special". St. Petersburg Times. St. Petersburg, Florida: Times Publishing Company. OCLC 5920090. Archived from the original on September 25, 2009. Retrieved September 21, 2009.
  13. ^ Flockhart, Gary (September 11, 2009). "Album reviews: Juliette Lewis – Rufus Wainwright – Noah and the Whale – Jet – Beverley Knight". The Scotsman. Edinburgh, Scotland: Johnston Press. ISSN 0307-5850. OCLC 614655655. Retrieved September 21, 2009.
  14. ^ "Milwaukee At Last!!! release dates". rufuswainwright.com. September 3, 2009. Retrieved September 14, 2009.