Ben Vaughn Quintet threw a pre-holiday record release party at Boot and Saddle

Ben Vaughn Quintet | Photo by Ellen Miller | ellencm.com

December 23rd is typically a day that is filled with shopping and cooking to prepare for holiday parties. However, there also tends to be many holiday concerts happening on the 23rd. This year, the Ben Vaughn Quintet took people’s minds off of the stress of the season Friday night with an outstanding record release show.

You may know Ben Vaughn from his WXPN show “The Many Moods of Ben Vaughn.” While on that show he plays less of his own music, more by an encyclopedic range of other artists, “Many Moods” tends to fit his own music as well. The record release show included The Ben Vaughn Quintet playing two full sets to a sold out crowd at Boot and Saddle. His quintet includes many different instruments keeping the show interesting. While Ben plays guitar and sings, there is an accordion, saxophone, and drummer making up the rest of the quintet.

The whole show included a mix of old favorites and brand new songs, and a whole lot of instruments were played throughout the night. C.C. Crabtree (the saxophonist in the quintet) was switching between six instruments himself while others took a break from their regular instruments to play tambourine and a hubcap!

Each song had its own story and the songs making up both set lists ranged from slow jams to fast rock. In addition to the energetic music, the audience was entertained all night with funny lyrics in many songs played and funny conversation in between the songs. The show felt very relaxed and comfortable with lots of banter between the band and crowd and many songs featuring various instrumental solos – everything from drums to sax to a train whistle.

There was also a sense of fun and comedic energy in the room — several songs played had the crowd laughing throughout including “I Dig Your Wig,” “Miss Me” and “Christmas in Jail” (which featured a ukulele).

The amount of energy sustained throughout the night allowed people to not only leave with a smile on their face but be laughing and dancing and singing for the duration of the show. Many of the songs included crowd sing-a-longs, while others requiring different types of audience participation — such as everyone snapping along for the very last song of the night. Take a look at the full set list and a full photo recap of the night below.

Setlists

Set One
Jerry Lewis
Beautiful Thing
Walkin’ My Way
Trouble
Resistance
If You Live
Gimme Gimme
Percy’s Blues
Miss Me
Railroad Track

Set Two
Everything
Sleep
Murphy Bed
Tape A Nickel
Trumpet Vine
Road / Cashier
I’m Just Sayin’
Too Sensitive
I Dig Your Wig
Xmas in Jail
Santa Claus
Jukebox / Losers
Desert / Vibrato
Mind

Encore
My First Band
I Don’t Wanna