It has been twenty years since Martha Wainwright released her debut solo album and, in celebration, this run of shows sees her performing the album in its entirety, with a few extras thrown in for good measure. For those unfamiliar with Martha Wainwright, she is the younger sister of Rufus Wainwright and daughter of Loudon Wainwright III and Kate McGarrigle. In short, she is one of a musical dynasty, but luckily, she lives up to that star-billing.
Wainwright’s voice isn’t to everyone’s taste, it is distinctly nasally, yet passionate and straight from the heart whilst her lyrics are highly confessional, at times perhaps too confessional. As a performer she brings a sense of chaos and uncertainty to her shows, which perhaps adds a sense of charm and affection from the audience. Although performing the whole album it isn’t necessarily in the same order each night, or as the album sounds, which adds to the charm of the evening.
This is my first time at Edinburgh’s Queen Hall and the superb acoustics are immediately apparent from the opening ‘Factory’ and ‘Far Away’. At times the band is almost jazz-like, with Wainwright’s cousin joining on backing-vocals and the merchandise stand guy joining on intermittent sax. But the core of the band is built around Wainwright and her acoustic guitar, with subtle bass, drums and keyboards underpinning her rich sound.
Tracks like ‘G.P.T.’ and ‘These Flowers’ are warmly welcomed by the audience as are the between-song tales regarding the origins of some of the tracks. Mid-way through the set the band leave Wainwright alone with her acoustic guitar for a few numbers and to regale the audience with tales of living in a musical dynasty and the pressures of combining a musical career with motherhood. The subsequent new song, the only one of the night, explores this theme and the resulting conflict and anguish with she experienced (still experiences?). A short extract from her autobiography, Stories I Might Regret Telling You leads to a mesmerizingly subtle take on Rufus’ ‘Dinner at Eight’ and whilst she humours the audience with tales of her own constant lateness, her love of the song is clear to hear.
The show closes with the sound of the autobiographical song she wrote about her father and which helped cement her reputation as a no-holds-barred singer-songwriter. ‘Bloody Mother Fucking Asshole’ is an amusing insight into what was (is?) clearly a turbulent relationship but you have to wonder what it feels like for the 49 year old Wainright to be singing such a powerful song that she wrote in her early twenties. But for the audience, they love it, there is a snigger and a cheer for the use of obscenities as part of art. I’m sure that many would be hugely offended if they heard this outside the venue but in the safe confines of Queens Hall it is warmly welcomed – how fickle we can all be. The final song is a gorgeous, stripped-back, take on Kate McGarrigle’s ‘Prosperina’, which also featured on an earlier Martha Wainright album, before Wainwright leaves the stage to a standing ovation. It’s great to see Wainright performing with such passion and love for these songs but it seems a shame not to hear anything from her other, also fantastic, albums. Let’s hope she’s back to the UK sometime soon to delight us with those albums or new material. The world needs passionate, humourful performers and Wainwright delivers just that. The artist may have aged and grown but the songs still resonate and are as powerful as when first released. What a stunning evening!
