Haggard and Kristofferson Delight Rowdy Crowd at Paramount in Seattle

Kris Kristofferson, dressed in black and donning his harmonica, strolled on stage alone at the Paramount Theater on Friday night, picked up a guitar and began singing. The vocal was a oddly quiet, but adjusted quickly and before making it halfway through the song, he realized he was at the wrong mic and sheepishly made his way to center stage. And the jovial mood was set for the rest of the night.

Once finished, Kristofferson introduced the legendary Merle Haggard as he made his way on stage, dressed in black as well, followed by a four-piece band that included his 16 year old son, Benny, on electric guitar. Without saying anything Haggard kicked off with “Big City,” followed by “Silver Wings,” and “Mama Tried.”

The Strangers, with a single snare drum, felt incomplete and were mainly on stage to keep Haggard comfortable with a soft beat and a few familiar licks on the electric guitar, but mostly stayed in the background, playing a bit role to the two legends. Kristofferson seemed to be content with taking a supporting role and enjoying the moment and allowed Haggard to play nearly three songs to his every one. The spotlight belonged to Haggard and he reveled in it. Both artists clearly enjoyed each other’s company.

The Paramount is an old, renovated theater in Seattle. It’s the type of venue where audiences are typically reverent, listening when the artist plays and clapping when they should. The crowd for this show was certainly reverent, but not so quiet. Like they were starving for the music, they sat on the edge of their seats, ready to burst into applause at any given moment. They rewarded the artists with several standing ovations, clapped and stomped along to songs, whooped, hollered, and were as generally rowdy as a seated audience could be. However, their exuberance was a little awkward when they clapped along to “Sunday Morning Coming Down” later in the show.

The artists ran through numbers like “Kern River,” “I Think I’ll Just Stay Here and Drink,” “Me and Bobby McGee,” “Help Me Make It Through the Night,” “Sing Me Back Home,” and “Loving Her Was Easier (Than Anything I’ll Ever Do Again).”

Haggard had incredible stage presence and swagger. He appeared in good health and never one to rely on vocal acrobatics or range, he sounded fantastic and showed off his surprising guitar skills, playing solos on several of his and Kristofferson’s tunes.

For the most part, the two artists kept to their own songs except to provide occasional harmony bits on each other’s choruses. Kristofferson did jump in to add a few lines to “Okie From Muskogee,” demonstrating its intended satirical nature. While introducing it, Haggard seemingly distanced himself from the content of the song while claiming it was a song that had to be written at the time and claiming that it was for his dad.

An unintentional theme of hard times wove itself throughout the songs covered during the two hours Haggard and Kristofferson blessed the stage. Songs like “Are the Good Times Really Over,” “For the Good Times,” “If We Make it Through December,” and “Here Comes that Rainbow Again” felt wholly relevant to our current economic situation, but the politics were mostly kept in check and the music spoke for itself.

In the end, Haggard and Kristofferson sang “Why Me Lord,” undeniably grateful for the lives they’ve been blessed to lead, then the two men in black strolled off the stage together, basking in the applause, while the band played on.