Gillian Welch & David Rawlings
O2 Apollo, Manchester
25th October 2025

The Grammy-winning pair’s first Manchester show in fourteen years powerfully evokes the American heartland

Gillian Welch is nothing if not authentic. As she gazes out at a sold-out Manchester Apollo, there’s one particular quote that springs to mind for her. “As my friend Buck White once said, you sure could stack a lot of hay in here!”

White was an icon of bluegrass, having led his band The Whites, alongside his daughters, until his death at the age of 94 in January of this year; apparently, that exclamation was his genuine reaction when he first walked out at Carnegie Hall in New York City. For Welch to channel him tonight feels appropriate, given that there’s a question as to why this is her first show in Manchester, alongside her partner in music and life, David Rawlings, in fourteen years; are they too American? Do they simply not translate?

On tonight’s evidence, that’s nonsense. The show is a sparse affair, just Welch, Rawlings and, occasionally, Paul Kowert on double bass. They open with a moving, bare-bones rendition of I Wanna Sing That Rock and Roll, from Welch’s 2001 masterpiece Time (the Revelator), an album that simultaneously mastered the country form and also introduced it to a new world, as the indie folk likes of Bright Eyes championed her compositions.

Everything about the pair’s demeanour tonight suggests that they can’t quite believe their luck; this is pure Americana, both of them trading songs. For every Welch classic, there’s a rough-and-ready Rawlings original like Midnight Train, but they really come alive on tracks from last year’s superb collaborative LP Woodland – Howdy Howdy and Cumberland Gap are both first-set highlights. Perhaps more controversial is the decision for Rawlings to play To Be Young (Is to Be Sad, Is to Be High), a song he co-wrote with the disgraced Ryan Adams but reclaims here, imbuing it with a ramshackle charm that comes easily to him, in his cowboy hat and double denim. “That’s all you’re getting for a costume change,” smiles Welch mid-set, when her partner briefly removes his hat to move his harmonica holder into place.

There’s an ease between the pair that imbues the show with a celebratory feel, even when they’re unfurling songs of loss and longing in America’s heartland. With no support, they take a break after an hour, and the second set really shines a light on Welch as one of the greatest songwriters of her generation.

There are moments of unabashed country, like Six White Horses, which Welch quite literally dances through, providing her own thigh-slapping percussion. There’s nuanced, heartfelt reflection, too, especially on the likes of Hard Times and The Way It Goes, Rawlings’ fabulously intricate finger-picked guitar the backdrop for Welch to offer up timeless wisdom in her lyrics. No song distils this more perfectly than Revelator, the first track of two richly deserved encores tonight, a deeply soulful paean to the enlightening properties of the passage of time. It’s a logic that can be applied to Welch and Rawlings themselves, and the slow-burn nature of their careers; gradually, over time, the UK has fallen in love with them. On the basis of tonight’s rapturous reception, they won’t be leaving it another fourteen years.

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Gillian Welch & David Rawlings can be found at their website | Facebook | and Instagram

Words by Joe Goggins: find him on X here

Photo by Khayam Khan, KSQUARED Films