Philly Upcoming - Rufus & Neko do free lunch
August 11th, 2007 - by Dave
Rufus Wainwright and Neko Case will play a free lunchtime concert at WXPN’s World Cafe Live in Philly on Friday 8/17.
The show is hosted as part of XPN’s Free at Noon weekly series. Reservations for free spots to this one ran out pretty quickly on the web site. There’s no telling how the throngs of Ruf-ies will react to the the first-come, first-served entrance setup for the show. If enough fans are mowed down in the melee perhaps you could sneak in without a reservation. But I doubt it.
Rufus and Neko are playing an outdoor show together at the Mann Center in Philly later on the same day. The steep ticket cost completely killed my interest. But it’s sure to be a decent summer evening show if you like either act.
I’m not a fan of Rufus, or any of the Wainwrights really. But they seem to draw out Neko Case and that’s what counts to me. Neko stopped at the Trocadero in Philly in April 2006 with Martha Wainwright, Rufus’s sister, opening in support of the then-new Fox Confessor Brings the Flood album. Martha was a total yawner, while Neko got the crowd excited and played an energetic set. I’m expecting much the same next Friday.


August 14th, 2007 at 9:07 am
The thing about Rufus, (even if you aren’t a huge fan or a fan at all - such as myself) is that he still puts on a totally engaging live show. I saw him with Ben Folds and still wish I could see their George Michael cover of “Careless Whisper” on a daily basis…but I mean, who doesn’t want to hear that song all the time anyway? So this show gets a big “should attend” from me, even with the lack of Rufus fandom.
August 16th, 2007 at 9:42 pm
does any one know what the deal is w/Neko & the Wainwright family? last year, when Neko was in philly she had martha wainwright open for her… i really wanted to like martha, but i just couldn’t. i’ve never seen rufus before, so i hope this ends up a little better