Rufus Wainwright @ Usher Hall, 16 Apr

A first half where the more extreme examples of Mr Wainwright's pretensions were explored –request for complete audience silence, an overwrought entrance/exit and an uninspiring accompanying visual created by Scottish artist Douglas Gordon, surely subtitled Rufus' Mascara Mania – could have left the impression of a man commodifying his grief (owing to the recent death of his mother, Kate McGarrigle).

However, Wainwright, playing latest album All Days Are Nights: Songs for Lulu creates an atmosphere in which the plangent tones of songs such as opener Who Are You New York and the elegant Zebulon achieve a moving sense of stark resonance. A much-livened second half is punctuated by Wainwright's wit and remarkable showmanship – deliciously skewering an unfavourable Telegraph review – with faithfully powerful versions of older songs like Grey Gardens, Poses and The Art teacher culminating in a touching version of McGarrigle's 1977 ballad The Walking Song. [Paul Mitchell]