By Todd Lavoie
All aboard the Technicolor carousel!
Patrick Wolf emerges from his blink-and-you-miss-it retirement – he’d announced only last month that he’d be taking an extended break from music – with a Left Coast tour. Our beloved British Boy Wonder will eventually head back overseas on another European orbit to support his recent glitter-fabulous release, The Magic Position (Fontana Universal). Wolf’s threats of self-imposed exile? A hasty decree delivered from a temporary funk, apparently, according to his press releases. So, I guess it’s true, folks: April showers do bring May flowers, after all.
Please, kind sir, may I offer you a ride on my showily art-directed carousel?
And what sorts of floral bouquets are we talking about here, you ask? Heavens above! How about garlands so glitzy, so glammy, so shamelessly rococo that they border on the surreal? Theatricality is one thing, but the breathlessly-ambitious Wolf – all of 23 years old – pivots and whirls into near-pageantry territory, as sweeping string arrangements and dense canopies of sound provide the sort of surging drama needed for such a commanding vocal presence. Restrained this ain’t, and the otherwise dull-as-dishwater world of pure pop has been made all the better for it. Sure, I could trot out a Rufus Wainwright comparison for the quick answer, but consider this: if Rufus aches to be Judy Garland, Wolf fancies himself the heir apparent to Hunky Dory-era David Bowie, and he’s got the vision to back it up. And much like bright-eyed Bowie believers Marc Almond and the late, great Billy Mackenzie of the Associates, the guy knows how to work the camp angle and still wreck the sweet bejesus out of your poor unsuspecting heart.
Patrick Wolf plays Monday and Tuesday, May 21 and 22, at Café du Nord, 2170 Market, SF. No Bra and DJ Baron Von Luxxury open, starting at 9 p.m. Tickets are $14.