Sumner Brothers Xmas IX
At the Rickshaw Theatre on Saturday, December 13

With a crackling-fire video pro-jected on dual screens, hot whisky apple cider at the bar, Santa’s village nestled on one side of the pit, strings of lights hung over the stage, green and red gels, the odd tacky sweater, and a blow-up Frosty the Snowman humping speakers stage left, the ambiance at the Rickshaw was warm, welcoming, and thoroughly festive for the ninth annual Sumner Brothers holiday extravaganza. Over the course of 17 distinct sets crammed into four-and-a-half hours, it became obvious that there was as much talent as there was love here at the epicentre of Metro Vancouver’s alt-country and folk-music scene.

Emile Scott and Kesia Mei kicked off the evening with covers of two depressing seasonal tunes, “If We Make It Through December” by Merle Haggard and “Christmas Spirit” by the Wailers, followed by A Million Dollars in Pennies’ faithful rendition of “Bells of Harlem” by Dave Rawlings Machine and a vice-laden version of Harry McClintock’s classic “Big Rock Candy Mountain”. This elicited hoots and claps from audience members as they trickled in out of the cold.

Jack the Bear blended his set with Wooden Horsemen, who backed him up on a cover of “Come On Up to the House” by Tom Waits before Jack added his acoustic guitar to their rocking delivery of gospel traditionals “Somebody Touched Me” (which highlighted the righteous electric-guitar work of Steven Beddall) and “Lord I’ve Been Changed”.

Khari McClelland commanded the attention of the otherwise chatty crowd with the raw beauty of a three-part-harmony a cappella cover of “Show Me Love” by Hundred Waters. Rob Butterfield later asked for quiet so he could do “Marshmallow World” with only his voice and gentle electric guitar. He didn’t get quite the same respect, everyone being drunker by then, so he made them shut up and dance for a full-band version of the Sonics’ garage classic “Don’t Believe in Christmas”.

Viper Central brought the barn-dance vibe with fiddle, acoustic guitar, and upright bass, stomping on the stage for bluegrass classic “Breakin’ Up Christmas” as do-si-dos circled throughout the crowd. This seemed to rile folks up, as they started a “Santa” cheer between sets. Sure enough, Santa appeared shortly thereafter with a trio of elfed-up girls on his arms and proceeded to chug a beer, then toss it into the audience, as “Here Comes Santa Claus” played on the house system before he took his spot at the picture booth.

Two of the night’s cheekier musical moments came when Ben Rogers grafted the intro from “Fairytale of New York” into his own “Wanted” and when Twin Bandit’s Hannah Walker and Jamie Elliott infused “Silent Night” with a slick country-funk groove, inspiring McClelland to do a happy shuffle on the dance floor.

Even though her voice was damaged by the Xmas season, No Sinner’s Colleen Rennison crushed John Prine’s “Christmas in Prison” and Darlene Love’s “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)” in a way that would have done Janis Joplin proud, after which Rich Hope dubbed her the First Lady of Christmas.

The Sumner Brothers deservedly had the longest set, which clocked in at some 20 minutes. Brian Sumner played a mean harmonica on “Girl in the Window”, then picked up a guitar and belted out “I Don’t Wanna Die” and a Burl Ives–worthy “Holly Jolly Christmas”, while Bob Sumner worked the twang for “Cannery Row”, a song based on the John Steinbeck book of the same name. Well into the spirit of giving, Bob tossed several gift-wrapped copies of Steinbeck’s masterpiece into the crowd, then took a swig of whisky from his flask.

The evening was capped off with a raucous set from Wild North, fronted by a half-cut Elliot C. Way, with Erik Nielsen on bass, Johnnie Ninety-Nine on guitar, Nathan Shubert on organ, and Leon Power on drums, each of whom had played with several other acts. At the end, Way called all the musicians back on-stage for one of the drunkest renditions of “Auld Lang Syne” ever rambled, everyone locking arms, swaying slowly, and moaning whatever words they could remember. If you didn’t have the holiday spirit going in, this hootenanny had it knocking your boots by the end.