When Loudon Wainwright III played the Dome in 1973, he told us Elton John was in the audience.

"Yeah, he used to be a fan," he recalled with trademark irony.

"Now he's a fan of my son's!"

According to the cult folk singer songwriter, now better known to many as the father of operatic pop prince Rufus, Elton had travelled to the gig by helicopter bearing a crate of Don Perignon champagne.

Unfortunately the young Loudon promptly drunk a whole bottle before going on stage, resulting in a below-par performance and "some embarrassing scenes in the dressing room".

With Rufus once more banging on about his battles with drugs and dad in the weekend papers, Wainwright senior promised he'd be selling the family secrets in the foyer along with his CDs.

But of course, they're all in his songs, which on Saturday included White Winos, one of the best songs about drinking and one of the best modern meditations on the Oedipus complex.

At times joined by daughter Lucy Roche, he also tested a number of songs from the soundtrack to forthcoming comedy Knocked Up, in which he guests, much to his palpable delight, as a gynaecologist.

It's worth buying solely for the classic cover of Peter Blegvad's Daughter, a breathtakingly and beautifully honest take on the father/daughter relationship.

This was the first night of a three-week tour and the 60-year-old was taking it easy - we were out before ten, his vast back-catalogue hardly skimmed.

"I'll be playing all those in Bristol tomorrow," he joked in response to the last batch of requests. "Hey, you should all come!"

Luckily Wainwright writes the sort of songs which, in three minutes, say it all.