By Curtis D. Tucker, Enid Buzz | Thursday, Aril 14, 2016
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WILLIE NELSON & FAMILY TOUR
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ENID, Okla. – Many Enid country fans were very saddened to hear of the passing of Merle Haggard. Merle was to be in Enid with Willie Nelson for their Family Tour. The duo was so popular that tickets sold out almost as quickly as they went on sale. After hearing of Haggard's passing, a small number of tickets were returned but quickly purchased by fans that had been waiting on tickets.
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For those that hung in there just to see Willie, there was a very special surprise on Wednesday night at Enid Event Center. During the last Ryan Bingham song, Jamey Johnson and Chris Stapleton came out and let everyone know that Stapleton would be performing throughout the evening as well!
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After Bingham finished his set Johnson and Stapleton took the stage. The surprised audience pulled out there mobile devices just to let everyone in the country know that Chris Stapleton was playing live in Enid, Oklahoma. Stapleton had been here several months back but it was before he began to win several big singing awards.
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Johnson and Stapleton played many of the old Merle Haggard tunes. They gelled just like a group that had been performing for years. The audience watched as they would huddle in between songs to decided which one to do next. This appearance was completely unrehearsed. At one point during the set Johnson said he would like to introduce the band. He then let all of the band members on stage introduce themselves to each other!
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It wasn't long before Willie made his appearance and he went straight to his guitar and microphone and started singing. Willie has truly aged but he was strumming away and didn't miss a beat on any song. His son, Lukas, was on stage with him and played electric guitar. Lukas also sang vocals and had a very rocking guitar solo.
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Willie played all of his big hits and seemed to get more energetic and played a bit better as the evening wore on. If you love Willie you should have loved seeing him in Enid. The evening ended with all of the musicians on stage together. It was a bitter sweet night of country music. Fantastic artists and songs but many memories of one of the greats, Merle Haggard.
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