Rural Alberta Advantage (Fort York, July 14/12)

It's a funny concept celebrating a war two hundred years later - especially with a concert. Yet a free Rural Alberta Advantage show at Fort York, regardless of the reason, is something to attend. I was slightly peeved having left the cool comfort of my house during a heatwave in Toronto to arrive precisely on time but find the previous act (Alex Cuba) still with plenty of set left. Eventually Nils, Amy and Paul took to the stage to bang out tunes from their two full lengths. Bang them out they do as Paul is always so energetic when attacking his set and Nils is known to let loose on his acoustic. Muscle Relaxants from the latest release was a standout from the first half of what would turn out to be well over an hour, uncommon for a summer fest. Post Nils' solo rendition of The Littlest Hobo theme song, which I don't know or get, they hit their stride when the full band returned. North Star sounded great and personal fave Barnes Yard rocked. They closed with a Gord Downie solo number (Canada Geese) that ran right into Stamp. Despite the seemingly barren grounds (large space made the people there seem relatively few) there was a strong call for an encore that had host Tom Power scratching his head and looking around to see if they'd do it. After some confusion it seemed they would. That is until the sound guy threw a hissy fit and stormed away, stranding the band and the host. Nils graciously thanked the crowd and promised to play for us, their hometown fans, again real soon.