Pitchfork

Front page photo by Akmal Naim

With three months of tour dates ahead of him, Rufus Wainwright will have plenty of time this year to showcase the theatrics he displays on Rufus Does Judy Live at Carnegie Hall. But one of his upcoming shows is a little more than entertainment.

On March 19, Wainwright will play an intimate, unamplified, candle-lit NYC benefit for Blackoutsabbath, an energy conservation initiative he is organizing. Simply put, he's proposing an intentional blackout for 12 hours from 12 noon to 12 midnight on June 21. Inspired by the 2003 blackout, it's intended to give people time to think of ways they can help the environment.

Part of the Blackoutsabbath plan is for people to make lists of their environmental solutions, which they would then post to their refrigerators and re-evaluate every year. Thus, to promote the initiative, Wainwright is asking fans to donate refrigerator magnets by either approaching him with the magnets at one of his upcoming shows or mailing them to him at the following address:

Rufus Wainwright
c/o MCT Management
520 8th Avenue, Suite 2001
New York, NY 10018

Rufus:

03-04 Solana Beach, CA - Belly Up Tavern
03-05 Los Angeles, CA - Bovard Auditorium at USC
03-06 Santa Barbara, CA - Marjorie Luke Theatre
03-08 Monterey, CA - Golden State Theatre
03-09 Napa, CA - Napa Valley Opera House
03-10 Palm Desert, CA - McCallum Theatre
03-13 Seattle, WA - Paramount Theatre
03-14 Portland, OR - Newmark Theatre
03-15 Park City, UT - Eccles Center for the Performing Arts
03-19 New York, NY - Angel Orensanz Foundation (Blackoutsabbath benefit)
04-01 Helsinki, Finland - House of Culture
04-02 Bergen, Norway - Grieghallen
04-03 Oslo, Norway - Sentrum Scene
04-05 Stockholm, Sweden - Royal Dramatic Theatre
04-06 Stockholm, Sweden - Royal Dramatic Theatre
04-08 Ystad, Sweden - Opera House
04-09 Copenhagen, Denmark - Wallmans Cirkusbygningen
04-11 Warsaw, Poland - Palladium
04-13 Reykjavik, Iceland - Haskolabio
05-02 Murcia, Spain - Auditoio y Centro de Congresos de Murcia
05-29-31 Barcelona, Spain - Primavera Sound Festival
06-01 Coruña, Spain - Auditorio de Galicia Santiago de Compostela
06-13 Hultsfred, Sweden - Hultsfred Festival