We've not been to as many gigs as usual this year but having these two (this and Larkin Poe) in the space of a week has been extremely joyful. We'd made the trek to Manchester because this was the first tour they have done in the UK since we last saw them fourteen years ago.
From start to finish the gig was exquisite, Dave Rawlings is an extraordinary guitar player and Gillian Welch writes amazing songs and sings and plays guitar and it is a recipe for a great gig. They also had a double bass player on the majority of songs.
The first set included 'Empty Trainload of Sky', a beuatiful version of 'North Country', a Ryan Adams cover (To be young (is to be sad, is to be high)), a version of 'Ruby' with supreme guitar playing
The second set started off with 'Lawman' from the recent album and that was one of those cases where a song has real impact live and you realise how much you like it for the first time. Actually a couple of tracks later and the trick was more or less repeated with 'Hard Times' It's perhaps mostly that they deliver a live version, paced and subtle that is somehow an improvement on the recording.
The penultimate song of the second set was 'I hear them all' segueing into 'This Land is Your Land' which they also did in 2011.
The encores were special - the first comprised 'Elvis Presley Blues' and a great version of 'Look at Miss Ohio'. The second started with 'Revelator' which I realised I very much wanted to hear as soon as they started and they threw in a final 'extra', I think based on audience enthusiasm of 'White Rabbit'.
Great gig - very glad we made the effort.
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