A trip to New Orleans is never complete without taking in a live show.  Live music is found everywhere you turn in New Orleans, but the best shows are always the ones at a hard to find small crowded bar full of locals, wannabe locals, cheap drinks, and musicians that love to hang out with their fans before, during, and after their sets.   Vaughn’s is just that along with the added bonus of Kermit Ruffin’s BBQ he grills himself if you get there early enough, and the biggest pot of red beans and rice you have ever seen, free to all those with an appetite, gotta love New Orleans!   My dad first told me the stories of Vaughn’s when I was in high school and he used to go every Wednesday night to catch Kermit Ruffins perform.  I don’t think too much has changed other then Kermit now plays on Thursday nights and has become well known to those that watch the HBO series Treme.   When my sister and I first arrived it was a challenge just getting up to the bar for an Abita beer, much less finding a spot to actually see the band through a hole in the wall that separates the video poker machines from the crowd.  But eventually, with over a decade of crowd maneuvering experience, we were able to score a spot in the front row with just enough space to dance the night away. My first glimpse of Kermit Ruffins was from inside the tiny room that holds the video poker machines, looking through a missing window pane in the wall that separates it from the rest of the bar.  Below you can see how crowded Vaughn’s was that night, without my super wide angle fisheye lens it would have been impossible to capture half these photos.
Abita beer is the local’s beer of choice, especially at Vaughn’s where the counters are filled with nothing but Abita bottles!
My sister & I get our picture with the trumpet legend. On his break Kermit hung out with his fans taking photos, signing CD’s, &  sharing a smoke.  This photo was taken by our new friend of the night – Derek Freeman, thank you Derek!