YOU would be hard-pressed to find a more eclectic audience than that which turned out for singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright at the New Theatre on Monday.

The Quebecois ivory-tickler delighted the audience with a glacial rendition of his latest album All Days are Nights... performed as a song-cycle.

Notices placed around the venue politely requested the audience refrain from applause during the first half of the show, and the audience sat rapt as our “Ruf” worked his way through the entire album, with not a murmur from the packed house – until Rufus, resplendent in a dark ball gown, had wafted off the stage.

But any suggestion of prima donna pretensions evaporated when Rufus re-emerged, this time in jeans for a livelier second half.

Cracking a joke about the venerable venue (the New Theatre, “which will always be ‘New’ no matter how it may try otherwise”) he went on to thank the crowd for their indulgence by not clapping, adding, as an afterthought that we were probably used to it. “There are places in this town where you can’t even breathe” he wisecracked.

Fans paid the performer back by helping him out when he stumbled to recall his own lyrics – including three attempts at Little Sister, dedicated to his sibling Martha.

There was no such crowd interaction at the recent gig by another denizen of Rufus’s adopted New York, Lou Reed.

The former Velvet Underground frontman delighted fans when he revealed he would be playing in Oxford – one of just three UK gigs.

But glee turned to despair in some quarters when it emerged that Lou would be treating gig-goers to a feast of pure unsullied feedback. A delegation from The Guide duly trooped down to the O2 Academy to see the great man. And, it has to be said, it was a great night of boundary-crunching avant-rock, though judging by the steady trickle of people leaving, the blend of drone rock, screaming guitar chords and and blasts of free jazz sax were not appreciated by all.

And when the show came to its reverb-laden finale, the cries of “more” from the fans at the front were greeted by louder shouts of “no more” from the back.

One wag was even heard to remark that if Lou played Glastonbury, they would have to double the height of the fence to stop people leaving. Harsh.

l For more music news – including an exclusive interview with Ash, and news of the Oxford May Music Festival and a show by virtuoso pianist Graham Fitkin, go to our website: oxfordmail.co.uk/theguide