Rufus Wainwright in Poughkeepsie - Feb. 12th (more by Eric Townsend)

Blackoutsabbath is a concept created by Canadian-American singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright, as promoted by the organization Blackout Sabbath. In an attempt to become more environmentally conscious, participants are asked to live "off the grid" as much as possible on a designated date by unplugging appliances, walking or cycling for transportation, turning out lights and decreasing energy usage in any other ways possible.

Rufus will performing with sister Martha Wainwright at the third annual Blackoutsabbath concert (an afternoon show) on Sunday, March 14th at Park Avenue Armory. Tickets are on sale now.

The program, much like the fantastic Stanford White architecture of the space, will be decidedly European. Martha will sing Piaf and I (drum roll please).............will sing the entire Berlioz song cycle, "Les Nuits d'Ete." Now, this later announcement comes with a warning - let me explain.

I don't consider this first run through of Hector's massive work as the official premiere of yet another daunting move I'm making in the world of classical music. If anything, it's a bench mark set to aid the rise of this gnarled bud that one day will see the light of day and blossom into a full blown lugubrious flower......in other words, I'm going to make a lot of mistakes. [Rufus Wainwright]

He'll be in the UK and Europe for shows this April and May (his new opera, Prima Donna, premieres in London April 12th). Rufus's new record, All Days Are Nights: Songs For Lulu, comes out April 20th in the US.

All tour dates are below...

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