I wasn't too familiar with Gillian Welch's work before walking into Liberty Hall in Lawrence on Sunday evening. I'd had plenty of time before the show, though, to ruminate and think about how she'd sound and perform. After all, the line to enter the venue wrapped around Massachusetts to New Hampshire (a couple of healthy-sized city blocks). I listened to fans excitedly discuss how great Welch was live. As I ascended the stairs to the tip-top of the venue's balcony and found a seat, I started to wonder how Welch, a seemingly low-key, very down-to-earth performer, could get this many people so riled up and pumped for a down-tempo, roots show. Now I know.
I came, I saw and now I get it. Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings (holy crap — Dave Rawlings) put on an electric but strictly acoustic show.
Welch and Rawlings quietly sauntered onto the venue's almost bare stage and started their two-hour performance at 8:30 p.m. Welch appeared a bit nervous. You couldn't tell by the way she performed, though. Her stature appeared a bit rigid at first. I leaned over to my dad, my honorable plus-one, and I asked him if Welch was shy.
"Oh, yeah. Kind of like you. At least that's what I think I heard on NPR."
Noted.
Right after I asked my all-knowing concert partner that question, Welch confirmed my shy suspicion. She kindly asked everyone with cameras in the front row to stop snapping photos.
"We aren't going to look any different throughout the show."
Right on, Welch. Right on.
As Welch and Rawlings launched into their next song, she subtly danced. Welch's body jolted toward her mic stand, and she lightly kicked and rubbed the toe of her brown boot on the dark blue rug atop the stage. Rawlings had a similar groove style. He jumped, bobbed and weaved back and forth like a coin-operated cowboy at a country general store.
It almost goes without saying that most of Welch's songs are roots-based, but she infuses her music with various related influences, like bluegrass (she plays banjo), country, rock and gospel, that brighten her songs.
Both Welch and Rawlings play the guitar, sing and harmonize effortlessly. Everything the couple (the duo is a couple in real life and in music) did looked simple, seamless and timeless. And holy hell. Every time Rawlings launched into a guitar solo, the theater went nuts. The reaction was warranted. Rawlings' fingers move a mile a minute. Every note he played was perfection.
As the night went on, Welch and Rawlings started to open up and engage the crowd, and each other, in friendly banter. For example, Welch told us that she calls Liberty Hall "the popcorn place" because "every second song" she'd smell popcorn. She also said no one could ever get lonely at 4 a.m. in Lawrence because of the freight trains that roll through town. Rawlings never addressed the crowd directly, but he shyly nodded toward the crowd when a woman yelled, "You're cute!"
The duo ended the evening with two fantastic encores, mesmerizing and chilling. After Welch and Rawlings played a "White Rabbit" cover, the crowd slowly stood and reluctantly headed toward the doors. A satisfying and intriguing night of music, indeed.
Set list:
Orphan Girl
Scarlet Town
Throw Me a Rope
The Way It Goes
Rock of Ages
Wayside/Back in Time
I Dream a Highway
One More Dollar
Dark Turn of Mind
Dusty Boxcar Wall
— Break —
Hard Times
Wrecking Ball
Down Along the Dixie Line
Elvis Presley Blues
Six White Horses
Look at Miss Ohio
I Hear Them All/This Land Is Your Land
Tennessee
Caleb Meyer
Encore 1
Revelator
Encore 2
The Way the Whole Thing Ends
White Rabbit
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