Ben Vaughn, Kip Boardman and Sarah Stanley at Unurban, 3-17-26

Ben Vaughn Duo

If you had told me a week ago that I'd be going out on St. Patrick's Day to see live music that's not Irish at a venue that doesn't even serve alcohol, I would have laughed in your face. But when I learned that Kip Boardman was on the bill with Ben Vaughn and Sarah Stanley at the Unurban, well, that's precisely what I did. Kip Boardman so rarely performs, and it turned out that this was Sarah Stanley's first show in two years, so it was a special evening, to be sure. Ben Vaughn Duo (that's Ben Vaughn on vocals and guitar, and Teresa Cowles on bass and vocals) started the night off, as those two are wont to do, with a short set, kicking things off with "Looking For A Friend" at 7:12 p.m. This is one of the songs that feature Ben and Teresa doing their vocal versions of horns, and this one also had them doing their own fadeout. That was followed by "Apropos Of Nothing," which included a humorous guitar intro and then more good work on guitar later, with Ben playfully indicating that applause was due. And applause was received. The audience echoed him toward the end. Ben then joked with someone in the audience who is apparently obsessed with Jerry Lewis in his introduction to "Jerry Lewis In France." And that song marked the end of the short set. Only ten minutes long, but we knew there would be more from Ben Vaughn Duo later.

Kip Boardman

Kip Boardman was up next, and this time he was on keys. The other times I've seen him perform (the last time being in April of 2024), he played guitar. So this added another layer to my excitement about his set, since whatever he did, it was going to be different from what I'd seen before. He opened the set with "Upon The Stars," the title track from his 2022 album, softly captivating the audience. "I still bear the scars/She's up there dancing upon the stars." He followed that with "Last Mistake," a song from his 2023 album The Good Leave. Such a good vocal performance. And that's one of his main draws, his delivery, which somehow seems effortlessly beautiful and tender and meaningful. "I really want to play this cover," he then told the audience, and apologized for not having it memorized, asking folks to bear with him as he played and read at the same time. That cover was "A Salty Dog," one of Procol Harum's best songs. This is the second Procol Harum song I've seen him cover. In both 2023 and 2024, I saw him play "Homburg." He stopped for a moment, then picked up where he left off, and easily brought us into the world of that song, delivering a special rendition. Kip started to play an original number, but gave up on it after a few moments. "It's going to be good, though, one day," he said, and from what we heard, that seems certain. Kip decided to go back to more familiar material, and delivered a really good rendition of The Band's "Twilight." "How much longer I got, Ben?" he then asked. "You mean in life?" Ben Vaughn replied jokingly. "Yeah," Kip said, going along with the joke. Ben said he didn't have the answer to that, but figured three more songs seemed about right for the set. One of those three was a new one, or "newish," as Kip described it. And the last song of his set was a beautiful rendition of "Waterfall."

Sarah Stanley Trio

Sarah Stanley Trio then took the stage, and it turned out this group was yet another to feature Teresa Cowles on bass. Does anyone have a comprehensive list of bands she plays with? It must be pretty long. Anyway, in this band she played standup bass, which was cool. The third member of the trio was Jay Green on guitar. The trio kicked off the set at 8:14 p.m. with "Down And Dirty," a totally fun song that at one point mentions beer, which felt a bit like a tease to me. For, again, this venue did not serve alcohol. And the beer I downed in my car before heading in wasn't nearly enough to get me where I wanted to be. Anyway, "Down And Dirty" was followed by "Tuesday Girl," and after the first time she sang the line, "She's not your Tuesday girl," Sarah said, "It's Tuesday," suddenly realizing, which was kind of adorable. Jay delivered some nice guitar work. At the end, Sarah added, "St. Patrick's Day Tuesday girl."  Teresa then laid her bass down on the stage for "Love Is For Lunatics," Sarah's voice supported by just guitar and Teresa's backing vocals on that one. "Caught up in some crazy dream/Only you can make me scream/It's undeniable/We're certifiable." Sarah has a great voice, and perhaps her best vocal performance of the set was on "Sunshine." "Sunshine, will I ever see you again/Or do I make the nighttime my new friend?" "Promises" was dedicated to the sound woman's dog, who was relaxing in front of the stage, and at the end Teresa sang the dog's name instead of "Promises." By the way, there was some excellent harmonizing during the set. The set ended with "Let Me Be Me."

Ben Vaughn Duo

Ten minutes later, Ben Vaughn Duo was back on stage, and Teresa Cowles was back on electric bass. There is something about Ben's music, his voice, his approach that makes me happy. Even when he's singing "People It's Bad," the lyrics are delivered with a wink and a smile. That song also featured some nice work on guitar last night, and after that part, he stopped the song to say, "That was the guitar solo," as if to indicate that applause would be appropriate. And the crowd applauded. Because the audience is in on the act, is in on the fun. Ben Vaughn has several songs that feature an audience vocal part, for example. Before one of those songs, "Too Sensitive For This World," Ben mentioned that Mark Fletcher was in the audience, and that the two of them were in a punk band called Sic Kidz in Philadelphia. Ben delivered a particularly good "Too Sensitive For This World" last night, and followed it with the fun "Miss Me When I'm Gone," featuring the return of the Pico Boulevard Horns. "I got high, but I'm still feeling low," he sang at the beginning of "New Jersey Rock 'N' Roll." It's a funny line, obviously, but it's also an honest line, a line many folks can relate to. And that's part of the genius of Ben Vaughn's songwriting. His material is full of lines like that, lines that simultaneously make us laugh and reflect. "That song was so heavy, we ended it on two different chords," he joked afterward. 

Ben Vaugh Duo, with Dan Marcus

"Blind Alley" had been stuck in my head for a good part of the day yesterday, and I was happy to see Ben Vaughn play it last night. There was no guitar on that song, so Teresa's bass was the driving force and heart of the number. And Ben delivered some great stuff on harmonica. "Heavy Machinery" was one of the songs given a cha-cha-cha ending, and after it, Ben mentioned that it was written by Dan Marcus, who was in the audience. He then invited Dan Marcus to come up and sing a couple of songs. Both songs were funny. The first, "The Existential Banana Peel," was dedicated, in part, to Jean-Paul Sartre. And when asking the audience to join in, instead of saying "Everybody," as is usual, he said, "Anybody," which got a big laugh. The second, "Sometimes I Feel Like Richard Nixon," featured these lines: "But you've got it all down on tape/Every little mistake that I ever made." Marcus ended with the line, "I'm going to resign," giving the crowd Nixon's odd victory sign and then walking off the stage while Ben and Teresa finished the song. Not only did he leave the stage, but the venue entirely, Teresa mentioning how she could see him through the window walking down the street. The set concluded with "Walkin' My Way (Back To Your Heart)," which featured some nice whistling by Teresa Cowles, perhaps more than she had intended to do, for Ben repeated the final section. And if you know Ben Vaughn, you know he occasionally likes to playfully milk an ending, so Teresa was in danger of having to do that whistling part multiple times. But Ben showed her a little mercy last night, having her do that final part only twice. The show ended at 9:37 p.m.

The Unurban is located at 3301 Pico Boulevard in Santa Monica, California.