MARTHA WAINWRIGHT (London Queen Elizabeth Hall, 27/11/14)

For many years Martha Wainwright has been pretty much the only artist I can watch perform with just an acoustic guitar who doesn't make me want to shoot myself. She's got a great voice, great songs and a casual self-depreciating charm that's incredibly endearing. Unfortunately, she also has a Wayne Coyne-ish tendency to self-indulgence, which particularly came to the fore tonight. Whilst the musical portion of the set was superb, at least a third of the running time seemed to involve her chatting about whatever came to mind, trying to co-ordinate arrangements with varied family members or looking after her son Arcangelo (whose cameo at last year's Union Chapel show was admittedly incredibly cute, but didn't last for 45 minutes like on this occasion.) It was all too much, even for a fan of her eccentric ways, and it's a shame it distracted from what was otherwise an excellent performance.