I've been boycotting many American products these past months in response to the hostile actions of the Trump administration towards Canada. But I bought the tickets for this concert when Kamala still had hope, and I sure as hell wasn't going to let the orange ogre stop me from finally seeing Gillian Welch and David Rawlings. Their music has been important to me for at least two decades, and besides, as Gillian sings, "hard times ain't gonna rule my mind".
So Martine and I drove to New York in our not-a-Tesla electric car, taking in this concert on the Wednesday, and a visit to the Metropolitan Opera on the Tuesday (where we saw Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducting Salomé - that'll have to be another post!).
Welch and Rawlings were spectacular. Acoustically, Carnegie Hall was perfect for the subtleties of their music. The hall was packed, the audience wildly enthusiastic between songs and hushed during them, and there were two brilliant encores. The whole evening was just one sustained highlight for me that will live long in the memory so it's hard to pick out any one song, but the cover of The Grateful Dead's "China Doll" was unexpected and Rawlings' playing on it was exquisite. The aforementioned "Hard Times", "Revelator", "The Way It Goes", and more, were all hold-your-breath stunning. And the final song of the evening was a raucous cover of "White Rabbit" that had everyone on their feet.
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| Screen capture from a YouTuber's recording of their performance of Revelator. Carnegie Hall, May 7th 2025 |
I had an exchange with Gillian Welch on Instagram last year where she confirmed that the Woodland tour will eventually come to Canada - so I hope to see them again soon.
