Merlefest 2006: Friday Evening

Merlefest 2006: Friday Evening

Gillian Welch and David Rawlings on the Watson (main) Stage... what can I say? My favorite living songwriter, hands-down, and one of the most distinctive guitarists of our time? Yeah, I'll sit down for that. Oh, and evidently it was Gillian's turn to wear the cowboy hat. No new songs so far, but I'm holding on to hope.

(Oh, and Emmylou came out in a hot black cowboy hat to sing "Elvis Presley Blues," "Didn't Leave Nobody But The Baby," and "Orphan Girl" with them. Thought you might want to know.)

New song! "... beauty's been redefined..." And then they played the "throw me a rope" song. Have we figured out that song title yet?

After the Gillian and Dave show, we treked up the hill to the Walker Center (home to both the infamous Midnight Jam and Pete Wernick's Jam Camp) to see one of those wonderful gigs so unique to Merlefest -- the "Platypus Jam." That is of course the clever name for a jam session with both the Duhks and the Mammals. I love this idea!

They had some sound trouble at first, but then came in with a rocking instrumental fiddle tune with all instrumental members of both bands. After that, the lead singer of the Mammals had his grandfather -- none other than Pete Seeger himself -- out to do a rousing version of the classic "Worried Man." I gotta tell you, that song is growing on me. (I normally think it's pretty dull, but I think I'm getting turned around on that one.)

After that, the Mammals left to let the Duhks play a few tunes, and I'm reminded of how much I dislike the Duhks' lead singer. However, it went pretty well, and they pretty much rocked, vocal issues aside.

The Mammals replaced the Duhks at this point to do a few songs including a "new protest song" -- "Alone On The Homestead," and... "Come As You Are" by Nirvana in a spooky Gillian style. It was incredible!

God, her stage manner rubs me the wrong way! Oh, yeah, you guessed it -- the Duhks were back on stage with the Mammals. Her voice I'm learning to tolerate, but her mannerisms and way of speaking just has this self-serving attitude. She doesn't seem to respect the music the way an instrumentalist would. It's like she sees the music only as a vehicle to promote herself over others. If I'm incorrect in my assumptions, I beg her forgiveness. But either way, I know a lot of people here who feel as I do. Maybe a different way of speaking would serve her better.

Anyway, the "Platypus" band had Luc Bula up to play fiddle too. Where does he live? It must be some sort of parallel cold-dimension. He' s always wearing some crazy winter clothing! (Heh! ) Seriously though, who's he working with now?

Grrrr.... If I hadn't been "land-locked" in the center aisle, my ass would've been out of here during "Leather-Winged Bat." I *like* that song, I really do... I just despise what she did to it as a melodramatic "intro."

Okay, sorry. To recap: The Mammals? Great! Love 'em. The Duhks? Great! Love 'em! Their lead singer? Let her get her own band. I'm sure she'll want it soon anyway.

They brought it all back, though, with a freaking great Zydeco dance tune complete with bagpipe. Cause you gotta have a bagpipe, right?

I didn't get to see it, but I heard that the Waybacks with Bob Weir was really good. I love the Waybacks, and would've liked to have seen them, but sometimes you gotta make difficult choices like that. ( I mean, hell, I'm still disappointed I had to miss the second Avett Brothers show.) But I heard they did a lot of Dead covers, which I would have liked to have seen. To end it, I hear Gillian and David came out to play "Like A Rolling Stone" with them. Evidently the crowd was nuts! I'm sorry I missed it.

After that, the "presidential" Sam Bush took over the main stage. I,ve heard friends complain that all of Sam's Merlefest shows are the same. Sure, if you mean they all ROCK. I think he's one hell of an entertainer.

His set included lots of crazy time signatures, electric mandolin, straight-up Bluegrass tunes, and several rockin' covers including Robbie Fulk's "Where There's A Road" (from "Georgia Hard," great freaking song!) and Darrell Scott's "River Take Me," which is one of my all-time favorite songs. Emmylou stopped in to sing harmony on a song too, this time in an elegant black dress. (Notice how I only comment on Emylou's attire? But I digress...)

Rory Block played on the Cabin Stage and I really didn't like her. She had Jerry Douglass' guitar player (Guthrie) and fiddle player (the amazing but very subdued Gabe Witcher). This set didn't do much for me. I guess I just don't like her style of Blues.

To finish up the night was Robert Earl Keen. I was really looking forward to seeing him in a non-frat-boy-enriched environment. I enjoyed the show, especially "Farm Fresh Onions," but I think his set suffered from the classic Merlefest Overload Syndrome (MOS) -- having already seen so many amazing acts that day, and being tired, his set didn't seem to stand out. Plus, even in a much less drunken frat-boy environment, his die-hard fans still found a way to get drunk and sing along every word. I definitely could have used a beer myself. All in all, I'm still a good REK fan!

CDs to buy:
* Every freakin' CD the Mammals have ever put out

[Posted from my Treo 650 phone. I am ALL that is geek.]