Photo by Emilio Herce
I recently Q-trained to the iconic Carnegie Hall to see Gillian Welch and David Rawlings in concert, the first of two sold out nights. The 22-song setlist (!) was full of selections from their latest record Woodland, as well as undeniable fan favorites like “Look at Miss Ohio” and “Wayside/Back in Time.” I saw myself in the young kids I was seated near, who were cuddled up with their parents, swaying and singing along. Gillian Welch was one of the first songwriters I ever idolized as a kid. The first song I ever learned to play and sing was “Orphan Girl,” which I’d perform at family functions. Her music has been with me throughout every phase of my life, a solid anchor I can always return to.
What became clear throughout the show at Carnegie Hall was that I was far from alone in this experience. Here you had folks of all ages clapping and singing along, feet stomping on 19th century floors. We hollered when Welch set her guitar down to dance for us during “Six White Horses,” when Rawlings ripped an unbelievably embodied solo, so much so that his whole being shook as he played. It was the most communal a show has felt for me in a long time.
Rawlings and Welch told stories that borderlined stand-up routines about the last time they played Carnegie Hall (for the release of O Brother, Where Art Thou?), how Rawlings had invited Bob Dylan who characteristically didn’t show, only for Rawlings to discover Dylan would’ve been sat dead front and center if he had attended. Welch joked about having a bad hair day and told the audience that their final “trick” would be Rawlings taking his jacket off. For a venue of such massive scale, in which the audience is usually wholly separate from the music being performed, Welch and Rawlings brought the crowd directly into the performance.
The set was over 2 1/2 hours long and I would’ve happily stayed there all night. I kept thinking that if they release a live record of this show, this is going to be one of those famous documents in 20, 50, 100 years time, and I will be able to say I was there. It might sound corny, but it was a strange, golden, future-looking feeling.
The post NYC Dispatch: Gillian Welch and David Rawlings at Carnegie Hall first appeared on Fretboard Journal.
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