Gillian Welch and David Rawlings

Wow, just wow. We had the privilege of seeing Gillian Welch and David Rawlings very early on their new tour to support their new album “The Harrow & the Harvest” last Tuesday night.  They sounded incredible together, the crowd was wonderful and into the music, the venue sounded good, it all added up to an amazing night.  The two of them were laughing and having fun on stage as they worked the kinks out of their set.  They played a lot off the new record which is a perfect example of what the two of them sound like live (sparse but beautiful).  If you have not picked up the new album, do yourself a favor and get it now.  All in all, it was a great musical experience that I am glad to have been part of.

 

 

I have to say that the last two concerts I have seen have ranked up into my top five concerts of all time.  The show we just saw with Lyle Lovett and John Hiatt followed by seeing Gillian Welch and David Rawlings were absolutely stunning.  I know my musical tastes have changed and expanded but my “Top Five” list was unchanged for many years.  It is interesting to me that two acoustic singer song writer shows have now firmly placed themselves on that list. The Police is still the best show I ever saw but until recently that list contained a diverse but unchanged group of bands including The Psychedelic Furs, Oingo Boingo, Black Flag & The Black Crowes.  The Crowes and Oingo Boingo have now been pushed down a rank or two in my mind. Given the fact that I saw Oingo Boingo many times it is statement I never thought I’d make.  Ironically I saw them at the exact same venue but back in the 80′s it was called the Starry Night but not much else has changed besides the name.

 

A bootleg video of Elvis Presley Blues:

 

They came on a few minutes after 8pm and played a 45 minute set consisting of:

Scarlet Town
SIlver Dagger
Elvis Presley Blues
Rock Of Ages
The Way It Goes
The Way It Will Be
I Want To Sing That Rock And Roll
Black Star
Acony Bell
Look At Miss Ohio

Right after they finished “I want to Sing That Rock and Roll”, Gillian said something about the next song being appropriate, they then proceeded to do Black Star – A cover of a Radio Head song that they put their own unique sound on.

After a 20-30 minute break (where we wish we had chairs) they came back on for the main set that consisted of of a wide variety of songs and two encores:

 

Set Two:
Dark Turn of Mind
My First Lover
Six White Horses
Everything Is Free
Wayside / Back In Time
Sweet Tooth
Tennessee
Caleb Meyer

Encore One:
Hard Times
Revelator

Encore Two:
Down Along the Dixie Line
I’ll Fly Away

Although I wished they would have played “Red Clay Halo” it was a set with very few songs I missed.  It is not often you hear a man and a woman harmonize so perfectly together, Exene Cervenka and John Doe are another pair that sound like two unique halves joined as one to me. One of the highlights of the second set was Gillian explaining that when they recorded “Six White Horses” on the new album it had an unusual arrangement of her clapping and slapping her legs. They had not considered how to play it live.  It was a joy to see Gillian spontaneously break into a dance as she worked out the slap timing of the song. It is great to see two people experience the magic of creating music together and be willing to share it with others.

(A copy of the setlist straight from their Facebook page)