The Wang Theatre in Boston, Massachusetts, opened as simply The Met in 1925. Celebrating 100 years of entertainment and now home to the Folk Americana Roots Hall of Fame, it was only fitting that Gillian Welch and David Rawlings should play here during this auspicious year. Welch herself commented that it felt like they had only just been there as part of the Woodland Studios 2024 tour, but the crowd was pleased they were back.
Taking in the splendour of the venue was a treat for everyone. The Wang Theatre is a beautiful venue, from the entrance to the auditorium. On level 2 is a small museum that pays homage to acts that have played the theatre over the years. It is strongly linked to the folk Americana theme, with display cases of instruments and memorabilia from Joan Baez, Woody Guthrie, and Pete Seeger.
With no support act, Welch and Rawlings played two exceptional sets, giving the throng time to refuel in between. The evening started with an incredible standing ovation as Welch and Rawlings entered from stage left. Launching straight into ‘Caleb Meyer’ from the “Hell Among the Yearlings” record, you could tell both performers were up for this. The couple were joined on stage on upright bass by Paul Kowert, who did an astonishing job all night. He even had to show his sprinting skills across the stage, as he almost missed one of the tunes in the second half, much to everyone’s amusement.
Welch and Rawlings played six of the ten cuts from the latest critically acclaimed album “Woodland Studios”. The first was a stunning version of the opening track, ‘Empty Trainload of Sky’. With Welch’s beautiful voice and Rawlings’ unique way of playing an acoustic guitar, this was an early highlight of the show. Rawlings has a way of making the guitar talk, and the crowd appreciated every single solo with loud applause and cheers. Rawlings added a couple of surprise songs to the evening to keep the feeling fresh and exciting. Both surprised Welch, who commented that at least the capo she uses is lightning-fast, so she wasn’t out of key. The first was the Jesse Fuller classic, ‘Monkey and the Engineer,’ which Rawlings released on his “A Friend of a Friend” collection. It was an incredible version that pleased the crowd. ‘Cumberland Gap’ followed. A Rawlings tune from “Poor David’s Almanack”, the only one from the album included in the set. Again, with Rawlings cutting loose on the guitar and excellent harmonies with Welch, this was met with much appreciation from the fans.
Two more songs from the latest album followed: the final track, ‘Howdy Howdy‘, and ‘North Country’. The former had the crowd spellbound. It is an incredible song on “Woodland Studios”, live, it was taken to the next level. You will notice that the harmonies are often mentioned within this review, but there are no apologies, as they worked so well and were gorgeous all evening. ‘Bells of Harlem’ was followed by ‘Wayside/Back in Time’, a song which heard live is even better than the “Soul Journey” version, and it wouldn’t have been surprising if the hair on the backs of most of the Wang Theatre visitors was standing up. An exquisite version of the Rawlings song ‘Ruby’ followed, with Welch carrying the song through with harmony vocals. “Let down your golden hair for me to climb / Let down your hair for me tonight.” Undoubtedly, some hair was being let down as the thunderous applause and cheers followed. The show’s first half ended with the upbeat “The Way It Goes” from the Welch record “The Harrow & The Harvest,” giving Rawlings another opportunity to put his guitar through its paces.
Returning after the break with stunning versions of ‘Lawman’ and ‘What We Had’ from the current “Woodland Studios” set, the good times were continuing. With T-shirts for sale in the lobby simply saying “Hard Times Ain’t Gonna Rule my Mind”, it was a given that ‘Hard Times’ from “The Harrow & The Harvest” would be in the set somewhere. Heartfelt, sad and an anthem for many in these trying times. Moving on from the difficult times, Rawlings threw a second curveball at Welch, which she knocked straight out of the park. Launching into the Ryan Adams song ‘To Be Young (Is to Be Sad, Is to Be High)’, she needed all her capo skills to get in the correct key for this one. Of course, Rawlings and Welch played on Adams’ “Heartbreaker” album and covered this song on his own “A Friend of a Friend” outing back in 2009. The version in Boston was raucous and wonderful.
Slowing things down, Welch went into her 2001 tune ‘Revelator’. This came across well as the crowd reverently listened as Welch poured out the words. Only when Rawlings took over with the most impressive guitar playing of the night, rocking backwards and forwards, losing himself in the moment, the Boston crowd were off their seats cheering again. The last of the “Woodland Studios” songs to be included this night was‘ Hashtag’, and then Welch launched into ‘Wrecking Ball’ from “Soul Journey”. Incidentally, Katie Crutchfield of Waxahatchee covered the song on the charity collection “Cardinals At The Window” in aid of flood relief for Western North Carolina. A live version of ‘Hashtag’ also appeared in the 136-song outing.
The final tune was ‘Red City Halo’, followed by almost all of the packed auditorium standing to applaud and shout for more. The duo reappeared from the wings only seconds later to play the first of two encores. The cry from one fan in the crowd was for ‘Look At Miss Ohio’, and that is precisely what they got, followed by the Albert E Brumley-penned tune ‘I’ll Fly Away’ from the film and associated soundtrack “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” The second encore was a nod to the venue and the American nation’s testing times. The Rawlings song ‘I Hear Them All’ merging into the Woody Guthrie anthem and arguably America’s most famous folk song, ‘This Land Is Your Land.’ The crowd sang along, with one enthusiastic member conducting from the front. There may have been a British voice or two joining in.
‘Everything Is Free’ from “Time (The Revelator)” completed the evening, which was bookended by a rapturous standing ovation. Welch and Rawlings were spellbinding, getting the choice of songs just about right and keeping the evening flowing beautifully. The harmonies have been mentioned above, but particularly when singing the slower songs, they come into their own. It was an incredible night in Boston. From entering this wonderful auditorium to the final note of ‘Everything Is Free’. For the over 3000 paying customers who attended this one, it will stay in their memory for a very long time.
