CONCERT REPORT: Dead Reckoning @ Haw River Ballroom, North Carolina - April 7, 2026

Setlist: Dead Reckoning @ Haw River Ballroom, North Carolina - April 7, 2026
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Here is a concert report of Dead Reckoning @ Haw River Ballroom, North Carolina  on April 7, 2026 by Jim McKelvey.

 

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Dead Reckoning @ Haw River Ballroom, North Carolina  - April 7, 2026 

Caught the second Dead Reckoning show of two at the Haw River Ballroom in North Carolina and it was a very interesting concert experience. These shows sold out really fast and many long time fans missed out on tickets.

Some in the audience were strictly Welch/Rawlings fans and some of them left early because this was a tribute to the Dead and there wasn't any Gillian Welch or Dave Rawlings songs during the show. Going into the show I was thinking they might open with "Wrecking Ball," but that didn't happen.

Since this tour just came out of the blue and they were not promoting a new release some people around me said they only knew one or two songs from the set. Kind of similar to that Neil Young "Tonight's The Night" tour which was all new songs that were unreleased at the time.

Clearly, the tour is locked into the Dead's 1981 acoustic live album Reckoning and it is highly recommended to listen to that before the show if you are unfamiliar with the Dead. Both Welch and Rawlings have been doing Dead covers for a long time, but some of the fans didn't realize the importance of song "Wrecking Ball" to Gillian until now. In a recent interview the Dead influence on Gillian Welch is discussed at length in the Bitter Southerner piece.

From the rail of the first balcony, it was interesting to see the crowd reaction as songs were recognized. Once the song was clearly established, people on the entire main floor began to sway together. For my blood, this was not so much a cover band situation as much as giving these songs the Welch/Rawlings treatment and making the songs their own.

These two are sitting on live recordings going back to 1993 so it will be interesting what is done with recordings from this tour. Rawlings has been recording every show for years starting back when they were doing house concerts in Hickory, North Carolina that is sort of ready for release. Honestly, if they aren't going to release something from the Dead Reckoning tour, they really should allow a taping section at venues. At one time the duo was taper friendly, but that changed as they became more popular, but I never heard the specific reason it was no longer allowed after years of being OK with it. Yes, "Everything is Free" comes to mind in terms of their taping policy.

Another surprise is how similar Dave Rawlings guitar style is to Jerry Garcia acoustic playing. Sort of fits like a glove, but I'd never made that connection before. Rawlings has mentioned Neil Young as a major influence, but I'd never heard/read about a Garcia influence.

By the way, given the really deep Neil Young cuts the various formations of the Dave Rawlings Machine have done I hope a Rust tribute tour might happen also.

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Thanks for the detailed report here Jim!  And thanks for supporting live music.

We've really enjoyed seeing Welch and Rawlings.  We last saw them in 2024, so we're due and will be on the lookout for area concerts.

 Dave Rawlings & Gillian Welch

[Corporate Name] Hall, Tysons Corner, Virginia - December 8, 2024

photo by thrashette

#LiveMusicIsBetter

#KORITFW 

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