Wednesday, May 4, 2011

The Rural Alberta Advantage (Phoenix, Apr 29)

The latest album may be Departing but on this night it was all about returning to their Hometown (of Toronto of course!). A max capacity show at The Phoenix on a Friday night saw spirits high both in the crowd and on the stage. Amy was beaming, while Nils played acoustic guitar as earnestly as ever and Paul, well, Paul was Paul. Intensely bashing his drumset, all the while a look of ecstasy on his face to match that intensity.

Playing their hearts out to any and practically all songs from either release (including In the Summertime, yay) they fed off the energy in the room. One particular moment of interaction came when the first member of the all ages crowd got up to body surf and Nils laughed mid lyric at this sight. The same came later when they upped the ante and pulled a stage dive! Granted Four Night Rider is a fantastic song but.. Suffice it to say everyone was having a ball and when suitable set-closer Stamp played its last chord there was no doubt that we'd demand them back.

Toning things down as he'd done earlier with a solo acoustic version of Eye of the Tiger, this time Nils played The Littlest Hobo before his bandmates returned. They flanked him for a pretty North Star, a raucous Departed highlight in Barnes' Yard and finally the tumultuous ending of Deathbridge in Lethbridge. Phenomenal.

Openers: Hooded Fang, Modern Superstitions

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