The all-stripes audience at Gas Monkey Live on Sunday night didn't just get reacquainted with Merle Haggard, the singing legend. They also hung out with Merle, fun-loving master of ceremonies.
Halfway through the 78-year-old country giant's hit-filled set on Sunday, he took a moment to acknowledge both his surroundings and the nine-piece band behind him.
Saying he was glad to be playing Gas Monkey's spacious West Dallas hall, Haggard deadpanned, "I needed my monkey greased anyway."
Then he did what's likely a running gag regarding his ever-evolving backing band: "Let me introduce the Strangers," Haggard said, and his band members began to shake hands with each other. Corny, but effective (they got a proper intro later on).
"Through many presidents and lots of wars fought, this band has been going the entire time," Haggard said. "And guess who wrote the checks?"
The Hag probably doesn't much mind writing those checks these days, though, since the Strangers' roster includes decades-long collaborators and members of the singer's actual family.
In true country-revue fashion, the main event began with a warmup segment before the man of the hour was coaxed out. Merle's 52-year-old spittin'-image son, Noel Lee Haggard, capably led the Strangers through three tunes including Waylon Jennings' "Stop the World (and Let me Off)." Also in the mix were Noel's younger half-brother Ben Haggard on guitar, Merle's wife, Theresa, on backing vocals and longtime Strangers bandleader Norm Hamlet on steel guitar.
The star of the show, looking sharp in his black jacket and signature hat, finally joined the Strangers after their warmup and signaled he was ready for action by slipping on dark sunglasses.
First Merle moment of the evening? The 1981 single "Big City" found the crowd belting, "turn me loose and set me free" along with the Hag.
Although his voice's clarity and volume varied Sunday depending on song and sound mix, Haggard never hit a bad note. The rich tones and crooner's cadence were at a level his fans have come to expect, whether he was unpacking the love-letter lyrics of "That's the Way Love Goes" or injecting defiance into "I Think I'll Just Stay Here and Drink."
"Silver Wings" sounded perfect, too, even its live saxophone solo.
Before the career-defining tune "Okie From Muskogee," Haggard said, "Keep in mind that most of these songs were written in my 20s, and here I am in my late 40s trying to pull them off."
The jokes kept the mood light, but there was also a reverent streak to the evening when it came to Texas' influence on country music. Haggard shouted out his friend and frequent collaborator Willie Nelson before performing "Pancho and Lefty." He went further back in time by grabbing a fiddle and leading the band in some Bob Wills-style Western swing.
Understandably, Haggard scored the biggest applause with his own stuff. When he looked out at his adoring crowd and said, "Here's a drankin' song for all the girls in the house," we all knew "The Bottle Let Me Down" was coming. Despite the words of its title, it had no chance of failing us.
Haggard's setlist:
"Big City"
"Twinkle, Twinkle Lucky Star"
"Silver Wings"
"Folsom Prison Blues"
"Ramblin' Fever"
"The Bottle Let Me Down"
"Motorcycle Cowboy"
"That's The Way Love Goes"
"Footlights"
"Pancho and Lefty"
"Take Me Back to Tulsa"
"Little Betty Brown"
"I Think I'll Just Stay Here and Drink"
"Okie From Muskogee"
"The Fightin' Side of Me"
