In the middle of his crystal meth addiction of the early part of this decade, not to mention his sexual domination of the New York gay scene, Rufus can’t have imagined he’d be playing a concert like this.

I, hopefully along with he, wondered exactly how he fits in on a bill for Hampton Court Festival with Michael Ball and Jools Holland. With tickets going for upwards of £70, it’s pretty clear what his motivation is for such a civilised show in such a serene setting.

He did, unfortunately, attract a crowd distinctly different from the adoring yet knowledgeable thousands who attended his Hammersmith Apollo shows last year. Here, we had much tweed, many caps and country casuals. A man with a shotgun and grouse hanging from his arm seemed destined to take his seat any moment.

This led to a slightly uncomfortable atmosphere, with every fey comment and camp mannerism greeted with the hysterical laughter of those who regard him and his sort as decidedly ‘other’. It was almost as if he were one of the androgynous court jesters here to entertain the gentry and their fat wives, something not allayed by the fact he appeared on stage dressed in black and white tights.
The man remains a genius though, and in this solo performance opted to bring out songs he has performed sparsely in recent times, like ‘Dinner At Eight’, ‘Want’, ‘Love Affair’ and in particular, ‘Rebel Prince’. All were typically beautiful, but most exciting were two new songs. ‘Who Are You New York’ bears the influence of the whole Judy Garland thing on his own songwriting, while ‘Zebulon’ is more reminiscent of his first two albums’ wistful personalism rather than the clunky politicking of Release The Stars.

At times he appeared to be going through the motions, which may explain the many mistakes he made and rambling banter. Only, mustn’t be too risqué in this company, and indeed he didn’t swear once. Never shy about four-letter words usually (and certainly no ‘Gay Messiah’ tonight), maybe he wasn’t quite being himself. But here was proof that the Rufus factor now appeals across ages, classes, sexes and cultural divides, something he will only cement in the future.

Barnaby Smith