Gillian Welch and David Rawlings have put in a very early claim for the best show of 2025. It's only January but their show on Friday night at the Sydney Opera House will be very hard to beat. This was the second night of three and it was as perfect as you could possibly hope for. Their first tour in ages was hotly anticipated and they delivered in spades. They divide their shows into two sets. About an hour each before the encore. I loved everything minute. Welch is a supreme songwriter and conveys beauty and emotion just perfectly. She plays rhythm on her trusty Gibson acoustic. Whilst David Rawlings astounds with his incredible lead guitar on his 1930s Epiphone. Sometimes Welch breaks out the banjo. But that's it. Just the two of them. Alone on stage, in perfect unison. No frills, just the best of songs and melodies. I think they did switch out the set list a little, which meant 'Wayside/Back in Time' was left out. But that was my only complaint, a minor one at that. The rest was just a stream of greatness. And I was ecstatic that they pulled out a very early song in 'Caleb Meyer' at the end of the first set. And all of the songs they played from 2024's excellent 'Woodland' were great. Especially 'Empty Trainload of Sky' and 'Hashtag'. Then in the second set 'Revelator' and 'Six White Horses' soared like wild beasts. The encore was perfect. 'Look at Miss Ohio' had grown men crying (me), whilst 'I'll Fly Away' was a perfect singalong. But wait, they came back for more and closed with the country classic 'Jackson'. An awesome way to end an awesome show.

Set List

Elvis Presley Blues

Midnight Train

Empty Trainload of Sky

Cumberland Gap

North Country

The Bells And The Birds

Howdy Howdy

Ruby

The Way It Will Be

Caleb Meyer

Lawman

What We Had

Hashtag

Hard Times

Midnight Bones

The Way It Goes

Six White Horses

Revelator

Red Clay Halo

Look at Miss Ohio

I'll Fly Away

Everything Is Free

Jackson