The Wainrights have a lot of friends
So we haven't had much of a winter, and it's not begining to look a lot like Christmas, but Rufus and Martha Wainwright brought some holiday cheer to their Carnegie Hall concert last Wednesday. They also brought a ton of their super talented family and friends, including Joseph Gordon Levitt, Laurie Anderson, Jimmy Fallon, Antony and Lou Reed.
Highlights after the jump.
Levitt, in his holiday sweater and little-boy haircut, looked like a 15-year-old straight out of 1954. He played an adorably ernest self-penned protest song, accompanying himself on the ukulele.
Jimmy Fallon sang "Baby It's Cold Outside" with Martha (who is much more bearable live than on record, although she tends to writhe and wriggle like she's possessed by some musical demon who is hurting her from the inside), and proved that he is just physically unable to perform anything without cracking himself up. But, unlike his breaks in character on "Saturday Night Live," his laughing during the song fit the casual, fun mood of the evening.
Wainwright mother and Canadian folk star Kate McGarrigle (who was originally scheduled to perform but had to back out for medical reasons) made a surprise appearance at the end of the night, garnering a standing O from the audience, but the real highlight of the night was Lou Reed, who sang the coolest versions of "White Christmas" and "Silent Night" ever.
Rufus was a charming master of ceremonies, and kept the night moving along nicely. He even sang his song from that Gap commercial, "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?"
