Reviewed on Tuesday February 16
Look, let me start by saying this was one of the best gigs I’ve seen since… well, ever.
After missing Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings’ ‘solo’ show the previous week, I was feeling pretty sorry for myself. Their musicianship is the stuff of folk and bluegrass legend, and the unabashed praise being heaped on those concerts did nothing to assuage the suspicion that I’d lost a memorable moment there. Suddenly, catching the Dave Rawlings Machine seemed vital, and across two sets and two encores the quintet sure didn’t disappoint.
From the energetic opener, ‘The Weekend’, to the traditional ‘Didn’t Leave Nobody But The Baby’ sung a capella around a single mic, there was something reminiscent of Garrison Keillor’s A Prairie Home Companion to the evening, something wonderfully homespun and thoroughly entrancing. No flashy set or affectations; just fiddle (Brittany Haas), double bass (Paul Kowert), guitar (Willie Watson – though he also covered banjo, fiddle, and some darned fine vocals) and the inimitable Welch and Rawlings weaving worlds from sound. That they do so with such ease is a testament to their craft, and just watching Rawlings work his Epiphone guitar is an education in itself. But that they appear to have such fun with each other’s playing is where the magic lives. The long-term duo have lost none of their passion for performing, and recalling the intensity of ‘Method Acting / Cortez The Killer’ gives me goosebumps even now.
Not every choice was as stirring. Two songs in saw the somewhat rambling appearance of ‘Bodysnatchers’, which is a fine number but could arguably benefit from a bit of a trim live. Yet that is the sole small caveat for a concert I have no doubt will remain with me for years to come. Between DRM’s original material were a selection of remarkable covers, from the aforementioned Neil Young to a jaw-dropping ‘Queen Jane Approximately’ (Bob Dylan), ‘This Land Is Your Land’ (Woody Guthrie), Rawling’s Ryan Adams co-write ‘To Be Young (Is To Be Sad, Is To Be High)’ and that fine old chestnut, ‘The Weight’ (The Band).
In all, it was an evening of highlights. The wordplay of ‘Sweet Tooth’ was nicely balanced by the call-and-response ‘Stewball’, while the storytelling of ‘The Trip’ won my heart until Welch’s own ‘Look At Miss Ohio’ stole it away again.
These songs, these musicians, are truly one of a kind, and if you missed them… try to forget everything you hear.
