Peter White Christmas 2008 recap December 14, 2008

Friday night at 9:30, I attended the later of two Peter White Christmas concerts at IMAC in Huntington.  It was the fourth year in a row that I attended the concert.  I was seated in the first row of the center left section, a few seats to the right of where I sat for Guitars & Saxes in October.

For this recap, we’ll introduce the players as we progress through the set list and accompanying pictures.  Here we go:

1. The Little Drummer Boy

Rick Braun was on the trumpet, flugelhorn, and percussion.

Peter White (right) handled the guitars.

Mindi Abair (third from left) played alto and soprano saxophones.

2. The Christmas Song/Greensleeves

In between Christmas Song verses: “Merry Christmas, everybody!”

Peter addresses Mindi between songs.

3. I Can’t Wait For Christmas

Nate Phillips (bass) and Peter provide background vocals for the a capella portion…

…as did Rayford Griffin (drums; above Mindi) and Rick (not pictured).

The only vocalless player in the band was Ron Reinhardt (keyboards).

4. Notorious

5. Winter Wonderland (with audience participation)

6. White Christmas (with audience participation)

7. Blue Christmas

Peter donned an Elvis Presley wig and sang in the late rocker’s style.

Another picture of Peter addressing the audience between songs:

8. Jingle Jangle Blues (audience participation for Jingle Bells chorus lyrics)

This song featured a keyboard solo from Ron Reinhardt…

…and a drum solo from Rayford Griffin.

9. Silent Night

Rayford had a moving vocal solo.

10. Lucy’s (with audience participation)

11. Cadillac Slim

Rick and Mindi came into the audience to perform.

Most of the performance was right next to my section!

They returned to the stage for Nate Phillips’ bass solo…

…and to finish the song.

12. Bueno Funk

The James Bond glasses…

13. Grazin’ in the Grass

14. Santa Claus is Coming to Town/Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy

“I know if you’ve been bad or good…”

Lt. Col. Braun:

Then, the band briefly walked off the stage…

…and returned for the encore.

Encore: Happy Chrismtas/O Holy Night

And that was it.

During the meet-and-greet, I finally met Rayford…

…and caught up with Peter and Mindi.

I’m sorry I missed you, Rick.  Next time.

With that, another recap is complete.  Next week, I’ll have a recap of the Charlie Brown Christmas concert featuring David Benoit.