Merlefest, Part 2, Emmitt-Nershi Band, Doobie Brothers

We arrived in Wilkesboro around 4:30PM on Friday. We pitched out tent, got some grub from the Firemen's concessions at Sewerfest, and jumped on an old school bus to be shuttled to Merlefest.

As Merlefest newbies, we soon discovered our first mistake. We arrived at the main stage, and realized that we should have brought chairs rather than a blanket. We found a good spot but the field is not sloped. 95% of the audience is sitting in chairs. It is impossible to see the stage when sitting on the ground. "It will be OK" I said. "Everyone will be up and dancing during the Doobie Brothers." (Remember that quote.)

The Emmitt-Nershi Band started playing soon after we arrived. Apparently anyone who follows Bluegrass knows who Emmitt and Nershi are, but I'll admit that I had never heard of them. They are from two very well known bands, Leftover Salmon and String Cheese Incident. Emmitt-Nershi were excellent and a good band to set the tone for Rachel and my next two days at Merlefest. My note from their performance says "I love the way a Bluegrass song can seemingly ramble on".

This is a video I found on YouTube from of the Emmitt-Nershi Band performing "Down in the Hollow" at Merlefest this year.

Finally the Doobie Brothers came on, so everyone stood up to dance. You have to dance around to the Doobie Brothers. Don't you? Apparently not. Dancing does not appear to be part of the culture of Merlefest. As the evening gets chilly folks huddle down under blankets in their woolly hats and fleece blankets. I love the Doobie Brothers but that was the most uncomfortable first half of a concert I've endured. Nobody stood up. In order to see and not block the view of the bundled being behind us we kneeled and shifted our weight so as not to do permanent damage to our 40 or so year old knees

The Doobie Brothers sounded fabulous. They played all of their old hits plus a few songs from their new album. Their first release from the album "World Gone Crazy" is called Nobody (click for video). It sounds like another Doobie Brothers song and doesn't knock my socks off, but the official video has some ancient and entertaining footage of them. The new song I really like it called "Far From Home" (click for video). It's just a quiet and sweet song.

This video from YouTube is what the concert looked like to me, kneeling way in the back.

Finally I'd had enough of the kneeling and decided that I don't give a hoot about obstructing the view of the huddled masses. "Blackwater" was the straw that broke the camel's back. I jumped up, sang my heart out, and danced around for the rest of the concert. The Doobie Brothers are one of those bands that have so many great songs, they do one encore and you say, "That must be it, they've sung it all." and they pull another hit out of the archive.