Hackney church, London
The singer-songwriter’s impressive showcase of her new album is bookended by solo guitar numbers that underline what a class act she is

The first night of Laura Marling’s five-show residency at Hackney church on Tuesday seems, perhaps, the wrong gig to be reviewing. The atmosphere is rapt, the lighting low; the acoustics are so reverential that the speakers hanging from the ceiling are painted a saintly white. The most exciting visuals come when the lacquer on Marling’s guitar suddenly catches the light.

The apt set to have witnessed might have been the Saturday matinee, where babies and toddlers were welcome. It would have been a simpatico habitat for Marling’s fresh-out-the-oven album Patterns in Repeat, released the previous week.