Martha Wainwright

Having overcome the burden of being compared to her older brother Rufus with her second album 'I Know You're Married But I've Got Feelings Too', Martha Wainwright has reached further critical acclaim as of late, recording a collection of Edith Piaf songs.

However, tonight's intimate performance is an opportunity for Wainwright to reacquaint herself with her own material, following the premature birth of her first son, Arcangelo. With her baby boy having been released from hospital earlier in the day, she appears visibly tired, but very comfortable in the intimate surroundings.

Wainwright begins her set with a number of songs from 'I Know You're Married', including a beautiful rendition of 'Bleeding All Over You', which works so much better in a stripped down environment such as this, compared to the polished recorded version.

Despite Wainwright apologising for being under-prepared as a result of her current personal situation, the ramshackle nature of tonight's performance actually proves to be most endearing, making tonight a far more personal affair than the usual gig.

Things begin to get truly interesting when Wainwright invites her friend Zoe Rahman to accompany her on piano for a number of Edith Piaf covers. Whilst it will never appeal to a mainstream audience, the decision to cover Piaf is an inspired one. The delivery of these songs is quite impeccable, with Wainwright matching Piaf's sense of abandon, particularly during the relentless 'L'Accordeoniste', which proves to be a highlight of the set.

As Rahman leaves the stage, Martha then tries an untitled new song, written for a competition run by the CBC, the Canadian equivalent of the BBC. It's a folk song drenched in dark humour, which hints at a return to the more melancholic sound of her eponymous debut.

Seemingly surprised by the positive reaction towards the new song, she then plays a few songs from her debut album, which are all greeted with cheers. Whilst there are a few mistakes and missed lines along the way, her voice soars during 'Far Away' and 'G.P.T'.

Arguably the highlight of the set comes towards the end, in the form of the emotional 'So Many Friends', a mournful song which is obviously deeply personal to Wainwright - as she pours so much emotion into the performance you can see the pain etched across her face.

Although she refuses to play 'the really mean one' about her father, which bought her to prominence, Wainwright returns to the stage for an encore including 'Factory', which sends the appreciative crowd home happy, but still thirsty for more.

In a larger setting, perhaps this performance would have comes across as sloppy, but the intimate surroundings perfectly compliment Wainwright's affable nature and charm.

Although her immediate future obviously lies with her new family, she has proved tonight that she is at home on smaller stages such as this.

FUTURE GIGS