Wednesday marked a momentous occasion in folk/country history, as Gillian Welch and musical partner Dave Rawlings presented their first ever concert in Adelaide. Apparently it had been a long time coming – the duo managed to completely sell out Her Majesty’s Theatre.
The crowd was large, and made up almost entirely of either people in their 50s and hipsters, sometimes both – I’ve never seen as many denim trucker jackets in one location. The concert was presented as “An Evening with Gillian Welch,” meaning there would be no support. The stars of the show obligingly walked onto the stage at bang on 8:00pm, acoustic guitars in hand.
The performance began with an electrifying rendition of “Scarlett Town”, from Welch’s most recent LP Harrow and Harvest. The rest of the first set was basically a mixture of Welch’s most well known tunes and some deep cuts, with the classic “Rock of Ages” the highlight. Actually, the highlight of the show might not have been the music at all. Most of the time when a singer decides to partake in some on-stage banter with the crowd, the results are both pretentious and cringe-worthy. Welch and Rawlings, however, had an easy camaraderie between each-other and the crowd, which resulted in a witty and intimate atmosphere. There may have been 1500 people in the theatre, but Welch and Rawlings made it seem like they were individually talking to you.
The standout of the performance apart from Welch’s songs,, was the virtuosic performance of Mr Rawlings. Playing most of the lead guitar roles, Rawlings made it sound like there were at least four guitarists on stage, such was the speed of his fingers and the genius of his musical intuition. Three songs into the gig, Rawlings’ many guitar solos were getting their own rounds of applause. Welch got the biggest applause, however, for her rendition of “Six White Horses”, for which she provided her own percussion by slapping her thighs and tap-dancing in her cowboy boots.
The duo received three standing ovations during their two encores, most notably the barnstorming second one, which began with a sing-along of “Happy Birthday” dedicated to Welch’s 90 year old father. This was followed by an apparently impromptu cover of Jefferson Airplane’s “White Rabbit” (Rawlings dryly noted, “I hope we have reverb”). The icing on the cake, however, was a gorgeous cover of “Long Black Veil”, which Welch and Rawlings sang without the microphones.
The gig was an absolute delight from start to finish, apparently for the performers as much as us – I’ve never been to a concert where the performers looked so happy to be there. Which is good, because it means their next trip down under may be sooner rather than later.
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Catch Gillian and Dave at these remaining Australian tour dates:
February 8th | Enmore Theatre, SYDNEY | SOLD OUT
February 9th | Enmore Theatre, SYDNEY | SOLD OUT
February 11th | The Tivoli, BRISBANE
February 12th | The Triffid, BRISBANE (as a member of the Dave Rawlings Machine)
February 13th | A&I Hall, BANGALOW (as a member of the Dave Rawlings Machine) | SOLD OUT
February 14th | A&I Hall, BANGALOW
February 16th | Enmore Theatre, SYDNEY (as a member of the Dave Rawlings Machine)
February 17th | The Playhouse, CANBERRA (as a member of the Dave Rawlings Machine) | SOLD OUT
February 19th | Palais Theatre, MELBOURNE (as a member of the Dave Rawlings Machine)
February 20th | Dream A Highway @ Festival Hall, MELBOURNE
Photo taken by Tony Proudfoot (Melbourne Show)
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