Long Road Home: Gillian Welch/David Rawlings in Santa Barbara

GILLIAN WELCH/DAVID RAWLINGS

LOBERO THEATRE

SANTA BARBARA, CA

01 OCTOBER, 2015

It's hard to believe that four years have passed since we crossed paths with Gillian Welch and David Rawlings. It was June of 2011, on the heels of The Harrow And The Harvest, that they held court at the Henry Miller Library in Big Sur, then later in the month, appeared at the Santa Barbara Bowl as support for Buffalo Springfield.
As a warmup for the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, they could have hardly found a more perfect venue than the Lobero Theatre, down the coast in Santa Barbara. The night served as an encapsulation of their catalogue before a hushed, but appreciative audience, Rawlings' spotlight turn during "Revelator" being a fine example. Saving the very best for last, the duo stepped to the edge of the stage and delivered a stunning take on "Long Black Veil", sans amplification.

All-Seeing 'Eye': Robyn Hitchcock live

McCabe's Guitar Shop in Santa Monica is billed as California's largest purveyor of stringed things, and legendary for the shows hosted in it's intimate back room.  Robyn Hitchcock was a recent guest, on a short tour commemorating the release of 'Eye', one of the more odd tangents in a career given to eccentricities.  The show sold out so quick that a late night set was added, and that sold out as well.

McCabe's celebrated it's 50th anniversary a few years back, and shows no signs of slowing down.  It's the room of choice for some very choosy guitarists, and to no one's surprise, one of the best sounding rooms in L.A.  The strict 'no recording, no photos' policy is magnified by the small capacity, (200 ish?), and totally benefits the listener.
'Eye' doesn't seem to come up much in critical assessments, but was always a favorite of mine.  Done during his A&M tenure, but released on Minneapolis indie Twin Tone, it was less band-centric than the surrounding albums, and the songs were starker and more personal, echoing at different times all his personal touchstones of Dylan, Lennon, Syd Barrett, and John Cale.  It was most certainly not the hit fodder A&M was seeking.

I had the pleasure of catching him in Tucson, AZ a good 20 years ago or so at the Cushing St. Bar, a popular watering hole for local politicians that did live music at night.  He was in fine fettle, intermingling songs with his trademark rambling discourses...The show was held on the back patio of the venue, and my strongest memory is Robyn talking one of the local bikers into revving his hog for percussion during a song.

It's always a crapshoot with backward focusing shows, but this night at McCabe's managed to live up to, and in some ways, surpass the original.  It started, as does the album, with the bitterly luminous 'Cynthia Mask'.  Midway through the first verse, I became aware of a presence on the stairs above the stage, a semi-familiar figure who bobbed in time to the music...Shortly he shuffled onto the stage and sang quiet backing vocals until he was introduced as Grant Lee Phillips.  The shock had not worn off when who would come bounding down the stairs but Mr. David Rawlings, who jumped right into the tune, lending it an additional gravitas with his old Epiphone.  Sure enough, Gillian Welch came down to make the circle complete, and the hung out and played in varying configurations with Robyn for the remainder of the night.

While it was clearly Hitchcock's show, it was fascinating to watch him literally in between Welch and Rawlings, whose years of playing together have gifted them with an amazing telepathy.  Phillips hung out on the piano, and his deadpan sense of humor was the perfect foil and grounding for Hitchcock's verbal flights of fancy.  Rawlings delicate lines and Phillips & Welch's harmonies transformed "Linctus House", a song that, (on the LP), seemed lost in the shadows of "Executioner", but was uplifting here.  "Executioner" was given a ferocious reading, highlighting the Lennon.esque shades of Hitchcock's voice.  The set stuck totally with 'Eye', but not track for track, and not in order.  All the high points were hit, and it was a reminder of how many great tunes were on the album.  "Glass Hotel" was certainly one of the highlights of the night, and the group playing hit it's peak on a raucous 'Clean Steve', after which Robyn remained onstage, reining in everyone's attention with a transcendent take on "Rainy Twilight Coast".  "Satellite" turned out to be the perfect set closer, and the crowd was rewarded with an encore set that ran through the Grateful Dead's "Candy Man", The Band's "The Weight", and the standard "Long Black Veil", before finishing with a Hitchcock tune.  An amazing night in a remarkable venue, what more can be said?
(Ed. Note: An accounting of the evening's first set is available at Chewable Vitamins!)

Buffalo Springfield Rides Again...

Giving power to the phrase 'never say never', after much weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth, the passing of two members, and 45 years of water under the bridge, it was with both heady excitement and blind fear that I awaited the return of Buffalo Springfield.

They clocked in for two nights at the Santa Barbara County Bowl this week, in the midst of a handful of California warm up dates, setting the stage for an appearance at Bonnaroo this weekend.

I studiously avoided anything in the way of reviews; figuring just to play it out and hope for the best. Knowing the involvement of Neil Young, a certain amount of faith could be invested that a) the process would not be easy, and b) that his quality control would be in effect. Which ultimately turned out to be the case...the man seems very vested in every part of his legacy, and not only was the Springfield crown brushed off, but one would say burnished. The band only lasted '66-'68 and managed a few records before imploding into acrimony, and never had the advantage of playing shows where the technology matched the talent...

So, this was what had to be put right, and the answer turned out to be a resounding 'Exceeds Expectations'. Like the Pixies reunion, it was driven not wholly by money, or new material, but a chance to shine a light on an unjustly overlooked band, as the setlist reaffirmed. Not only that, but it was done the right way, giving out star turns to the players, but keeping the entire night focused on the unit. The big takeaway was the indelible tightness of the players. In just their sixth official show since returning, the tone was set early on, from the emotionally charged opener "On The Way Home", they slid into "Rock and Roll Woman", Steven Stills and Young trading off solos like it was yesterday, as Neil gruffly observed between songs: "We come from the Past..."

The setlist was well chosen, giving everyone a spotlight, and they made the most of it, from Richie Furay turning "Kind Woman" into a sublime tribute to his 40+ year marriage, to Steven Stills masterwork "For What It's Worth", where his tattered growl showed it's age, but aged like good whiskey. Stills' finest moments might have been when he donned a solid body Gibson and added delicate tonal colorings to the songs. Seeing the songs played gave lie to everyone's subsequent individual celebrity and reinforced the greatness of the band.

As for Neil, two things I never thought I'd see or hear: #1) Neil genuinely laughing & joking onstage, just generally having a blast...and #2) a beautifully arranged version of "Broken Arrow". Wow.

Opening the evening were Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, now with a few shows under their belt after a long hiatus, and they stepped up their game to the big stage. Unfortunately, as an opener, they were treated to the typical Santa Barbara apathy/hospitality, the audience looking to be about 70/30 yakking/engaged. They stepped out in the Nudie suits reserved for special occasions, and battled through a set of the highlights of their catalogue, and near the end, the normally unflappable Rawlings was even moved to observe audibly that: "There's a whole lot of time between the bands to talk..." After the set closer, "Revelator", they still had some time, and had the sound crew amp up the reverb, and pitched headlong into a noisy cover of Jefferson Airplane's "White Rabbit", thoroughly drowning out intended conversations...Which, ironically, earned them a standing ovation from the pit in front of the stage, most of whom had spent the show talking...Hmmm.

Programming note: lack of supporting media with this screed will be explained by the humble sign. My guess is that the shows were being recorded, as another sign stressed that after the show started, no one would be seated for two songs, and then only in between songs. For the main event, it certainly brought a hall ambiance to the great outdoors, and people, for the most part, complied with the cell phone photo restrictions.

It was a night to remember for all, and apparently the experiment worked, because word has come down that they'll be adding more dates in the fall. It's so nice to have them back, and I'm looking forward to reading about their reception at Bonnaroo.

Buffalo Springfield Santa Barbara Bowl ~ 6/8/2011
(courtesy of setlist.fm)

1. On the Way Home
2. Rock & Roll Woman
3. Burned
4. .A Child's Claim to Fame
5. Do I Have to Come Right Out and Say It
6. Go and Say Goodbye
7. I Am a Child
8. Hot Dusty Roads
9. Kind Woman
10. Mr. Soul
11. Nowadays Clancy Can't Even Sing
12. Everybody's Wrong
13. My Kind of Love
14. Sad Memory
15. Bluebird
16. (encore) Broken Arrow
    
17. For What It's Worth
18. Rockin' In The Free World

Highway of Dreams: Gillian Welch/David Rawlings In Big Sur

Memorial Day field trip saw me working my way down (not up...long story) Highway One...Destination: The Henry Miller Library. Shows at the Miller Lib. are always special, sitting outdoors in the courtyard, surrounded by pines...nice alternative to the usual club or small theater.

Headlining was the inimitable Gillian Welch and her trusty aide de camp David Rawlings, kicking off their first official tour in many a moon, a perfect spot for an intimate warmup to shake off the dust and rust. Her new album, The Harrow And The Harvest, will be out 28 June.

The Welch/Rawlings team has become our own Alt/Country comet, appearing irregularly and burning brightly...

It was a stellar evening, broken up into two sets, drawn from all her albums, with a spotlight song given to David Rawlings in each set and a tantalizing taste of the new LP.

Despite the long gap between LP's (8 years now), and infrequent touring, the magic is still there, and the most fun part of the evening was watching that chemistry and love of playing on display, and the few glitches actually had their own charm for the grace and self deprecating way in which they were covered.



Highlight of the first set was the *new song*, (above), which for the sake of argument we'll call "Throw Me A Rope", and stand corrected when the LP comes out. This would be the very same song that was hushed a rowdy Coachella audience in 2007, one of their best, and it's nice to see that it's finally coming out officially.








After a brief intermission, the second set kicked off with "My First Lover", included another precious new song, and hit its peak with a stunning rendition of "Revelator", always a showstopper.

Dipped into covers for the encore, essaying Townes Van Zandt's "Pancho & Lefty, the chestnut "I'll Fly Away", and finishing the night with the harrowing "Long Black Veil".

At work that morning, I happened on a Buffalo Nickel, what i took to be an omen for the day to come, and in the company of Welch and Rawlings, it was a welcome trip back to, as Greil Marcus put it, the Old Weird America...

Final note: Not only are Welch and Rawlings undertaking their own tour, but on a string of the dates they'll be opening for the long anticipated Buffalo Springfield reunion.

GILLIAN WELCH/DAVID RAWLINGS
HENRY MILLER LIBRARY, BIG SUR, CA
30 MAY, 2011

Orphan Girl/Make Me A Pallet On Your Floor/Rock Of Ages/Dear Someone/I Want To Sing That Rock & Roll/Elvis Presley Blues/*Throw Me A Rope (new)/Ruby/Red Clay Halo
(intermission)
My First Lover/No One Knows My Name/Wayside-Back In Time/*The Way That It Goes (new)/Revelator/Sweet Tooth/Look At Miss Ohio/Caleb Meyer
Encore: Pancho & Lefty/I'll Fly Away/Long Black Veil