This Monday evening show was sold out with people driving from as far away as Charlottesville, VA to attend. There was no opening act, so Katy and myself found a nice spot on the wood floor of the Orange Peel to plop down and were soon chatting with various locals and the two guys from VA. If you have never seen a show at The Orange Peel, I highly recommend it as a concert venue. Its nice and big, with old wood flowers and cool art all over the walls. The bathrooms are nice and clean and the bar is nice and long. However, the centerpiece of the place is a humongous metal fan (which used to be much bigger they have shortened it since I was last there), that is turned on once the band begins playing).
Gillian and David wandered out on stage at about 9:30pm and were greeted with an energetic response by the eager crowd. They looked like they were dressed to attend a dinner party, Welch wearing a red dress that hung on her elegant, thin frame and Rawlings dressed in a suit jacket with a dressy button up shirt underneath. Rawlings was carrying his trade mark 1935 Epiphone Olympic arch top guitar and a box of tools (capos, picks, and such) that he set on a table set up between himself and Mrs. Welch.
Once the first note was struck, they brought the whole building back to an era before electric instruments, before feedback, before pretension, and before your image mattered more than you songs. Two mics for the guitars, two mics for the vocals, they didn't need anything else. The harmonies were great throughout, and at times it was difficult to comprehend that their were two different vocalist because they were so intertwined. Its easy to see how Rawlings justifies his own group, The David Rawlings Machine, which has played numerous gigs in between the Gillian Welch shows (Gillian plays rhythm guitar). We got a taste of that when he took a lead vocal during the second set. However, this show featured Mrs. Welch's voice, and wonderful voice it is. Authentic is the word that come to mind most often, both in reference to the vocals and the music. Though it might be anachronistic, the pair easily sounds like they could be making this music in 1942 or earlier. The themes, the sounds, the music, the pair of musicians, all authentic.
Instrumentally, Welch played guitar, banjo, and occasionally wailed on harmonica, while Rawlings stuck with his old 1935 Epiphone guitar. Rawlings was a MAD MAN on guitar. Ringing sounds of that old acoustic guitar that not only matched the records, but sent the songs over the top. Though his facial expressions were often strange, he seemed to mimic the lead lines in his movement as he heaved and jerked all the while pressing the guitar forward towards the microphone to get the best sound. It was quite a dichotomy as he swayed, swung, and spun, Welch would hunch over and stoically concentrate on her rhythm playing. Despite having only two instrumentalists, Rawlings lead playing and Welch's rhythm gave the sound an almost full band feel. At one point Welch brought out a foot pedal to add a drum sound to the mix and Rawlings wryly joked that it was "our nod to techno". They were excellent throughout and ended the first set with a fiery version of "Red Clay Halo". The second set, which include solo vocals from both musicians, they encored and finished with two of my favorite songs "Black Star" (the Radiohead cover) and "I'll Fly Away" (from the O Brother Where Art Thou Soundtrack). Another song that particularly stood out to me was Gillian's solo rendition of "One Little Song", which I had never really paid attention to before. The performance and lyrics are really powerful (I'm going to post the lyrics below). Other favorites of mine that they played include "Look Out Miss Ohio", "Make Me A Pallet On Your Floor", "Wayside/Back In Time", "Time (the Revelator)", "Orphan Girl", "My First Lover", "Rock Of Ages", "Elvis Presley Blues", and "I Want to Sing that Rock and Roll".
There's gotta be a song let to sing
Cause everybody can't of thought of everything
One little song that ain't been sung
One little rag that ain't been wrung out completely yet
Gotta a little left
One little drop of fallin rain
One little chance to try again
One little bird that makes it every now and then
One little piece of endless sky
One little taste of cherry pie
One little week in paradise and I start thinkin'
There's gotta be a song left to sing
Cause everybody can't of thought of everything
One little note that ain't been used
One little word ain't been abused a thousand times
In a thousand rhythms
One little drop of fallin rain
One little chance to try again
One little bird that makes it every now and then
One little piece of endless sky
One little taste of cherry pie
One little week in paradise and I start thinkin'
Gotta be a song left to sign
Cause everybody can't of thought of everything
One little song that ain't been sung
One little rag that ain't been wrung out completely yet
Till there's nothing left
-Gillian Welch, Soul Journey
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