Where the Bands Are (Gillian Welch and David Rawlings 25 October 2025, Manchester)

This past weekend Oliver and I flew to Manchester for yet another concert. This time it wasn’t a big rock act or anything flashy. It was Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, two American musicians I barely knew beforehand. I’d only heard a few songs on Radio Paradise and I think that’s where Oliver first discovered them.

But first we had to get to Manchester, which turned out to be easier said than done. I was flying with KLM via Amsterdam, while Oliver was coming directly from Düsseldorf. As I was waiting to board at Landvetter Airport in Gothenburg a message popped up in the KLM app: my flight was delayed. At first it was just 15 minutes, but soon the delay stretched to two hours, which meant I would miss my connection in Amsterdam.

After a call to the KLM hotline, it was clear I wasn’t going to make it to Manchester that evening. I was given two options: stay in Gothenburg and fly the next day, arriving around 1:30 in the afternoon, or fly to Amsterdam, spend the night in a hotel, and catch the first flight to Manchester at 7:55 the next morning. Needless to say, I chose the second option, though I was deeply disappointed that Oliver and I would have to spend yet another night apart.

On our last visit to Manchester, back in mid-May for Bruce Springsteen, we hadn’t been particularly impressed by the city. This time I was determined to give it another chance and try to find some nicer parts. I had it in my head that we’d somehow missed the area behind the large cathedral, so I decided that’s where we needed to explore.

From our airport hotel, we took the train into Piccadilly Station and started walking towards the city centre. The weather was clear and a bit sunny but also windy and cold. On the way, we stopped at the big Arndale shopping centre, Oliver is on the hunt for a new jacket and inside we found the HMV record store. We went in just to see if we could spot the newly released Bruce Springsteen Electric Nebraska box set, which had come out the day before. We couldn’t find it on display anywhere, so we asked the staff. They had a few CD copies behind the counter, but the vinyl version was already sold out. I reminded myself that I’d have to pick up my preordered box set in Gothenburg once I got home.

I was really looking forward to Sunday, when we were going to see the biopic Deliver Me From Nowhere in a cinema in Didsbury, a suburb of Manchester (more on that in the another blog post), before flying home. As we walked through the city, we kept spotting buses with the film poster on their sides. It was a nice little coincidence that made me look forward to it even more.

Finally, we reached Exchange Square, where we’d stopped the last time we were here. We were craving a fika and tried to find a coffee shop, but all we could see were restaurants and pubs. As we wandered around the cathedral gardens, we realised they’d already started setting up a Christmas market. We each had a cup of coffee (in Christmas mugs) and a waffle, sitting outside in the pale sunshine that actually warmed us a little. After our fika, we walked around the cathedral as planned, but although it was quite a nice area, it still didn’t convince us that Manchester is a beautiful city. We couldn’t even go inside the cathedral as there was a private event going on. A wine tasting, of all things. But, as Oliver said, if Jesus could turn water into wine, why not have a wine tasting in the cathedral.

We got to the O2 Apollo by bus from Piccadilly Station after a dinner at the station’s Italian restaurant, Carluccio’s. When we arrived, just before admission, a long line had already formed outside. As we walked towards the end, we noticed that most of the people in line were around our age or older (lots of silver foxes in the crowd). It was a bit nippy and we decided that for our next trip (Tallinn 30.10-3.11) we’d better give in and bring the winter jackets.

The Apollo itself is a an old theatre, all seated with a capacity of 2,693 people. Our seats were quite far back in the stalls. The stage looked enormous and almost empty. We saw just two microphones, some guitar stands, a stool and a small table with a water carafe and glasses.

A few minutes before the show started, a roadie came out and carefully placed a white banjo in one of the guitar stands. This small gesture caused a ripple of excitement through the audience and later Gillian Welch laughed about it: “It was great to hear how nicely greeted the banjo was. We heard it from backstage.”

There was something strikingly modest about the whole setup. No backdrop, no props and no costume changes, until David Rawlings had to lift his cowboy hat to strap on the banjo. “That’s all you get by way of costume changes from us.”, Welch joked, wearing a flowing brown dress that could be straight from a western film.

The banjo, again, really played a central role in the show; the audience went visibly enthusiastic every time Gillian switched from her acoustic guitar to the banjo. She even told a story from a concert in Australia where an overly excited woman in the crowd had shouted “You sexy beast!” At first they wondered whether she meant Gillian or David. A little later the woman clarified: “The banjo.”

Musically, Welch and Rawlings are an incredibly tight unit. Rawlings’s guitar playing is wild and beautiful, while Welch’s steady strumming and clear, powerful voice give everything balance. Together, they created an intimate atmosphere and their harmonies felt effortless.

After the first two songs, stand-up bassist Paul Kowert was introduced and stayed on stage for most of the show. His warm and steady bass lines added depth to the songs.

Rawlings’s voice has a slightly Neil Youngish quality, which you could really hear in the song Hashtag, where he took the lead. Most of the time, though, it was Welch leading the songs, with Rawlings adding harmonies and, most of all, his extraordinary guitar playing. I’ve never heard anyone play like that before. It sounded full, almost as if he used more than two hands when playing. Also, as he played, he moved awkwardly with the music. He was twitching and bending his body as if to pull the notes out of the guitar.

Welch, in contrast, was cool, calm and laid back. Her drawling voice carried a distinct country tone (even though, as I’ve later read, she was born in New York and grew up in Los Angeles).

One highlight for me was Lawman, with its intriguing, looping guitar melody that stays with you. When they slipped into Woody Guthrie’s This Land Is Your Land (in my head during What We Had, though the setlist says otherwise) a spontaneous sing-along started. It felt quietly political and the audience loved it. Overall, the second set was much stronger than the first, which at times drifted into slower, more melancholic territory which was a bit slumberous especially when you’ve been up early and out and about in the chilly city all day long. I caught myself nodding off for a moment or two.

They came back for two encores, clearly enjoying themselves as much as everyone else. Elvis Presley Blues and Look at Miss Ohio in the first encore drew big cheers from the crowd. The night ended with a stripped down, somewhat psycadelic version of White Rabbit. By then, the house lights were up and we got out of our seats for a swift walk back to the main station.

To conclude, it was a really good concert. There’s a melancholy running through most of their songs, often about loss or longing, but it doesn’t get heavy. Between songs they joked and chatted in a way that lightened things up and made the whole evening feel warm and genuine. I’m glad we went and I’ll definitely be adding some of their songs to my playlist.

Next stop: Tallinn