Jesse Welles BY MARK DOLEJS Friday night at The Orange Peel in Asheville was a checkmark on my bucket list. I was hoping to catch Jesse W...
Friday night at The Orange Peel in Asheville was a checkmark on my bucket list. I was hoping to catch Jesse Welles last year when he was in Durham, but did not have a chance to catch his show. For his Under The Powerlines Tour, Welles visited Asheville and brought along S.G. Goodman for the ride.
Holy crap- this was a fun night! Goodman started the night off with a bang, getting the crowd ready for Welles. “Snapping Turtle” and “I Can See The Devil” were both great songs, but “The Way I Talk” was insane, with amazing guitar work by Gusti Escalante.
My favorite from Goodman was her version of “Which Side Are You On.” I first heard Billy Bragg’s mid 1980s version of this old song originally written by Florence Reece in 1931. The pro-union protest song has traveled through the years to mean different things to different people, often with new adopted lyrics to fit the season.
Welles started off his set with “Join Ice,” a song that has garnered a lot attention recently, including the opportunity to share the song on network TV, on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
His first set was just him on stage for the first eight or nine songs, including “Fat” and probably a couple of his more well-known songs, “Walmart” and “United Health.”
Welles’ band joined him on stage for sort of a second set. I say second set, because the tone and sound of the show changed dramatically. The energy increased and at the same time showed off Welles’ skills on the guitar on songs like “Masks Off” and “God, Abraham, & Xanax.”
A couple of covers brought the crowd into a frenzy, including Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid” and Nirvana’s “Heart-Shaped Box.” The later had the crowd singing at the top of their lungs over the sound of the band.
The third and final set had Welles back on stage by himself for a set of encore songs. The song order and choices could not have been better. He started off with a crowd favorite, “Gilgamesh,” and followed it with Bob Dylan’s “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door.”
Next up was “Bugs,” which is one of my favorites, a great song and I love bugs, lol. John Denver’s “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” had the crowd singing along again, maybe the loudest of the night.
Jesse Welles is one very talented MF. He seems to take everything in stride as he moves from song to song. The night is well planned out and the song mix really made my night. His talent with the guitar is so fluent to his songs that sometimes, as I am listening to the lyrics and singing along, I don’t necessarily notice the guitar.
But his lyrics are key to his success. In the last year or two, it seems that Welles is writing constantly about important current events. His songs step on our toes and confront each and every one of us on different levels.
Some of his songs are quite simple and beautiful at the same time. Welles ended the night with his whimsical song “Turtle:”
Some turtles like to live out in the ocean
Some turtles like to live on land
Every turtle likes to make a comfy nest
And lay its babies in the turtle sand
Turtles don’t need a whole lot
They’re pretty independent dudes
They need clean water
And clean air
About the same things as we need up here
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- MARK DOLEJS
Photography is an avenue that
Mark Dolejs uses to learn about the people and places that cross his path. After more than 30 years as a photojournalist, Mark enjoys concert, macro, and roadside photography. Follow Mark on Instagram at @solidrockpix.
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