Gillian Welch & David Rawlings, Glasgow review: 'low-key but magnificent'
Gillian Welch and David Rawlings’ live shows may be simple, no-frills affairs, but the music they make together is mesmerizing, writes Fiona Shepherd
Gillian Welch & David Rawlings, Glasgow Royal Concert Hall ★★★★
Gillian Welch & David Rawlings gigs don’t come around that often so are distinctly special occasions. There was a warm buzz in the air as they filled the Concert Hall with the spartan yet somehow also luxurious sound of their timeless roots music. While they sing of deep stuff, there was almost a party atmosphere onstage and across the enraptured capacity crowd as Welch joked about their stagecraft. Watch out, she’s going for the banjo! Did she really just strap on a harmonica? And the piece de resistance - Rawlings takes off his jacket.
Having intertwined their voices across both of their “solo” catalogues, these respected Americana singer/songwriters have now made their partnership explicit, releasing the bewitching Woodland album formally as a duo. For this tour, there were three people in their musical marriage, with the ever so subtle addition of Paul Kowert’s double bass, as understated and intuitive as the remarkable blend of Welch’s rich alto and Rawlings’ reedy tenor. If you’re steady of hand, you might just be able to fit a wafer between those harmonies.
Rawlings’ guitar, meanwhile, contains multitudes - Hawaiian twang on North Country, romantic swoons on Ruby. This man can also solo like Hendrix, with the expert licks just pouring out of his acoustic guitar and picked up by the carefully placed microphones. This is old time stuff spun a new way but when it is executed to such mesmerizing effect, who needs more?
Across two sets, Welch and Rawlings were low-key but magnificent. Hard Times was a gem of fortitude. Look at Miss Ohio, one of Welch’s signature vignettes, was intoxicating, The Revelator sheer intriguing poetry. Occasionally they whipped up a hoedown, with Welch embellishing Six White Horses with body percussion and step dancing. They also have an uncanny way of breathing new life into old standards, ending this ravishing show with idiosyncratic renditions of I’ll Fly Away and Jefferson Airplane’s White Rabbit.
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