Rufus and Martha Wainwright's Christmas 101 at Royce Hall: A Holiday Tribute
by Gregg Chadwick If this was the way the world ended on 12 21 12, those of us gathered at UCLA's Royce Hall for the second night of Rufus and Martha Wainwright's Christmas 101 were being ushered into eternity with heavenly voices. Rufus and Martha Wainwright, the son and daughter of Loudon Wainwright III and Kate McGarrigle - who passed away in 2010 from a rare sarcoma cancer, both possess extraordinary voices and mesmerizing stage presence. Their combined talents bolstered by musical kin and comrades, including Emmylou Harris, folk singer Maria Muldaur's daughter Jenni Muldaur, the legendary Van Dyke Parks, former Eels drummer Butch Norton, Sloan Wainwright, Lucy Wainwright Roche, Carrie Fisher, Rufus' husband Jorn Weisbrodt, and more , brought holiday cheer and at times poignant retrospection to last night's concert. Christmas 101 continues a concert tradition begun in 2005 by Kate McGarrigle and her sister Anna. As well as be...