Review: Dave Rawlings Machine at Cat's Cradle

Several years ago I wrote in a review that somewhere inside Dave Rawlings hides a rock god. Well folks, I stand corrected, because it looks like the real Dave Rawlings has come out to play.

Dressed in jeans and a t-shirt — a stark difference from his usual concert attire of a suit and dress shirt — Rawlings took the stage as the Dave Rawlings Machine Sunday night at Cat's Cradle with Gillian Welch providing backup.

The duo played two sets of songs familiar to most in the crowd, including Ryan Adams' "To Be Young," (co-written by Rawlings) Bob Dylan's "Queen Jane Approximately" the old standard "Big Rock Candy Mountain" and even Cyndi Lauper's 80s classic "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun." No, seriously — and it was fantastic.

It's an inspiring thing to watch Rawlings play, if you want the sappy truth of the matter. As an audience member, you're never quite sure what he's going to do when he takes over for a solo, his body writhing behind his guitar and his fingers straining. But you also get the feeling he's not quite sure either as his face is in a near constant state of wonderment.

Gillian helped explain the "bemused" looks on both their faces at one point during the show after Dave had thrown her off with a song they'd never played. (There's no set list for these shows by the way, it's all spur of the moment.)

"We're still not quite sure what this machine does," Gillian said. "So when we finish a song I think, 'Oh! Cool, we know that one.'"

But even if they'd messed up, the two were having too good a time to care.

The Dave Rawlings Machine doesn't have any future local dates scheduled, but if you're intrigued, head on down to Charlotte Thursday night, Feb. 15, to see the two play at the Neighborhood Theatre.