A stint in the slammer, a pardon from then Governor of California Ronald Reagan—those lines alone could start a good country song. But Merle Haggard lived it. The country legend played Mystic Lake Casino on Tuesday night, and I had been getting overly excited about it since the moment I saw it announcing itself on a giant billboard in Downtown Minneapolis earlier this year. Some of my first musical experiences were borne out of trips to visit my family up north as a child, and most of the time we would listen to the country stations on our five-hour excursions. Singers like Merle Haggard were larger than life to me—that kind of man’s man, with all kinds of hard-living stories, and possessing an unattainable twang that artists since have tried to replicate.
So we made the trek to Prior Lake, rushed our gullets through an awesomely expansive buffet, and before I knew it, I was speed-walking through the mirrors and flashing lights and the glorious smell of people smoking cigarettes indoors to get to Merle in time. I had never seen a show at a casino before, and I must say that their new Mystic Showroom impressed me. It’s a huge auditorium seating 2100, with more than ample legroom, and (gasp) even cup holders. The sound was relatively crisp and clear, with an exception made for the fact that the performance would have benefited greatly from bringing the vocals up a notch.
It was a short, but sweet show at an hour and a half. Merle’s band, The Strangers took the stage and played their rousing warm up. Two young men with slicked back Elvis hair, dreamy southern accents and old-time traditional country menswear, The Malpass Brothers looked like they had stepped off an Opry stage circa 1960 right onto that casino stage. As the younger Malpass, Taylor took the front mic with his mandolin, he opened his mouth to croon and it was almost as if Faron Young himself was virtually standing right in front of me, as he sang Young’s most famous tune, “Hello Walls.” Okay, not quite, but it was an unexpected and lovely cover.
After a short set of a couple classics and original songs from Merle’s middle son Danny, Hag himself finally set foot on the stage. It’s been 48 years since his release from San Quentin, where he saw many of Johnny Cash’s shows, and as he gets older, the absolutely deep smoothness of his croon gets a little worn with age, but still, he was funny and generous—a great entertainer with a warm and wise presence to go along with his dirty old man charm. (But, damn how I would love to hop into a time machine and lay eyes on the younger, hottest ex-con of all time) As he went straight into his signature pedal steel “Mama Tried,” I knew I was in the right place. Throughout the show, the audience clapped appreciatively, a bit timid at times, yet there was a fair mix of good-natured hecklers and request spouters. He played every song I had run through my head that I needed to hear such as “Silver Wings,” “The Fightin’ Side of Me” and of course “Okie from Muskogee” which was fun to hear, but would have been better without the audience participation and if Hag remembered all the lines.
But let’s be honest here—does it really matter if he remembered all the lines to his songs? Does it matter that sometimes everything wasn’t in its right place? Not so much, I preferred the transport into our own little Ryman on this summer night to any perfectly canned show.
It was a real family affair, with the addition of his wife Jill on backup vocals. She also joined him in a duet on “Jackson,” the Carter/Cash classic, not to mention his youngest son Benny stealing the show with his guitar solos. I figured this kid was young, but not as young as his personal Myspace page states that he is: 15. This still blows my mind. Benny Haggard, already a country-blues guitar genius sat calm, cool and collected in a chair picking and fretting away like a seasoned pro many, many years his senior.
Even though the show ended a bit abruptly without an encore, and nearby a concertgoer’s flatulence continuously attacked my personal breathing space for 90 minutes, it was a great night. And not only did I walk out of Mystic Lake fifty dollars richer, I was able to put a check mark by the name of another legendary artist on my all-time to-see list.
