On Sunday night, Melbourne's Hamer Hall was packed to capacity with gig lovers of all ages for the fifth and final show of Gillian Welch and David Rawlings' 2025 tour of Australia.
There was much excited chatter and an undeniable vibe. People were greeting each other with "what?! You again? Do you live here now?" and discussing highlights of this week's earlier shows, comparing notes and looking around with smiles of recognition at others they had seen earlier in the week.The crowd was bedecked in leather fringe, embroidered shirts, cowboy boots and prairie dresses on an oppressively hot Melbourne summer night (2 February). They were ready for some serious folk music inside the luxe confines of Hamer Hall where the sound was impeccable and the temperature was perfect.
We had all gathered like the faithful to an old-school revival tent to time travel along with Gillian and David – arguably folk music's best loved duo – down dusty roads, by train, by mule and in old cars to small towns and into the lives, hearts and stories of the ordinary people that populate the delicate and sometimes brutal tales they weave.
Their particular brand of alchemy is in their ability to write songs that sound as if they were written in the dawn of the folk era, yet still manage to sound completely of this time. It's a specific talent and it doesn't take much imagination to hear these tunes being played by The Carter Family or Woody Guthrie.
The stage was sparse and intimate and is to the benefit of the songs and the performances. It was augmented only by a table, a rug, three musicians, two gorgeous vintage guitars, one banjo, a harmonica and a double bass. The sound was pure.
There was a respectful tribute to our First Nations People. No glitzy performer introduction. No smoke machines. No props. No lasers. There was nothing fancy about it and the simplicity of the setting served to amplify and focus attention on the vocals and instrumentals. It was precisely suited to the magical blend of the voices of Welch and Rawlings and their intertwining instruments and delicate harmonies.
Greeted by enthusiastic and sustained applause, they took to the stage and picked up their instruments, introducing double bassist Paul Kowert, who accompanied them on many songs throughout the night.
They then launched straight into 'Elvis Presley Blues', which made for a spinetingling opening. As grand a thing as that song is, it was but an appetiser and set the table for a remarkable and abundant feast of songs and almost supernatural performances.
The first set was a warm and intimate ten songs that included 'Midnight Train', 'Cumberland Gap', 'Turf The Gambler' and a stunning version of 'Ruby' that provided a real showcase of Rawlings' own considerable talents as a singer. It ended with that tragic and beautiful heartbreaker of a song, 'The Way It Goes'.
Between songs the banter was lighthearted – Gillian complained of a bad hair day, although she looked great in her long dress with her hair falling down her back – as she said: "The show is really not about hair anyway."
One of the finest acoustic guitarists on this planet, David plays a 1935 Epiphone Olympic guitar, which seemed almost like an extension of his own body as he coaxed, cajoled and cranked incredible energy and sound out it, moving and dancing in his own space with his instrument.
Ms Welch favours a 1956 Gibson flat top, which she uses to great effect as she sets the tone for the songs throughout the show. She also played a bit of banjo (as did Rawlings) and harmonica.
After a brief intermission the second set kicked off with 'Lawman' and also included a swoonful version of 'What We Had', 'Hashtag', 'The Day The Mississippi Died' and a slow burn, hypnotic reading of 'Hard Times'. One of the best moments of the show was 'Six White Horses', featuring Gillian's percussive body slaps (known as hamboning, she said) and clog dancing.
The 18-song performance was clearly not enough for the audience as David said: "We really don't have anything else to do anyway." So Gillian, David and Paul returned to the stage for three encores of ten more songs – 'Look At Miss Ohio' and 'Revelator' each got a run, as did ecstatic covers of Rev J.M. Gates’ 'I'll Fly Away', 'The Weight' and 'Jackson'.
In a musical landscape that sometimes feels like much of the music we hear is prefabricated, gimmicky or heavily inflated with artificial tools and over produced, it's a thrill to hear the real deal.
- written by Karen Conrad
