Rural Alberta Advantage, Yukon Blonde - Castle & Falcon - March 16, '18

Yukon Blonde

Entering the Castle and Falcon I was surprised to hear live music emanating from the back room ahead of the venue’s own set times. Sure enough, Yukon Blonde must have gone on early and were playing to a surprisingly well-filled room. Surprising only because I’d never seen any advertising for anything at this pub before this show and only noticed this gig because I knew the bands. The five of them, with a sideways, side stage drum kit and a female tucked in back were jamming out their throwback guitar rock. Besides the vocals being occasionally flat, whether due to singing or sound system I couldn’t quite tell, they were pretty tight. Playing a lot of new tunes from their last release, .. On Blonde (get it), I didn’t recognise as much as I expected, with Saturday Night being a highlight. The new single Crazy came across well and they excelled when jamming out loudly. Heads were bopping and toes tapping throughout.

Rural Alberta Advantage
I forget just how good The RAA are. Despite having seen them umpteen times it has been awhile; this the first time since the release of The Wild and it all came flooding back when they hit the stage. As an additional bonus I was stoked to see Barefoot Amy back in the fold after a departure for the recording and original tour of The Wild. The crowd were obviously here for this and rocked out right along with us up front, some more determined than others to get individual band members attention (in the form of fist bumps.) I don’t blame them too much as Paul Banwatt is still one of the best in the biz, as exhibited right in front of me, also with a sideways kit. I can’t even keep track of the rhythms and changes and he’s the one playing them. Nils brought his signature nasal to the table, slightly toned down perhaps due to sickness or maybe just evolution. While Amy was her regular geeky self, trying to impress with awkward yet endearing banter about slimy feet and all age shows. The music drew on the entire catalogue, with love throughout, though earlier tunes seemed to get a bigger reaction (perhaps that’s a personal bias though.) Don’t Haunt this Place got things revving a couple tracks in while mid set In the Summertime was beautiful as ever. For the much deserved encore Nils returned alone and rather than his old go-to of Eye of the Tiger he played an acoustic rendition of North Star that definitely mixed things up a little. He introduced it as being written about an encounter with a crush while watching a Stars gig at an Ontario festival. Finally they all came out for Deathbridge in Lethbridge for us to leave it all on the floor. I’d have liked Four Night Rider but besides that I was thoroughly pleased!

Rural Alberta Advantage, Great Lake Swimmers - Massey Hall (July 7/14)

RAA

It seemed a toss up double bill but the Rural Alberta Advantage were up first and were understandably psyched to be playing at the historic Massey Hall. They made the most of it too with a solid set of favourites from their first two Alberta-entrenched records plus a smattering of cuts from the upcoming autumn release. Muscle Relaxants struck early but there were plenty more; Drain the Blood, Tornado '87, Barnes Yard, Four Night Rider to name but a few. Amy had plenty of room to wander around the stage when not perched on one foot playing her synths, xylo and drum, or complementing Nils' distinct voice with her soft coo. That is excepting the rendition of Two Lovers that he laid down solo mid-set. After their return Paul laid down a wicked new drumline on the second of three new songs - the first being the released-that-day Terrified. Of course the songs aren't a huge departure from their signature style but it's always nice to hear new material.

Naturally they played Summertime to a nice response but it was actually a technical malfunction that roused the biggest reaction. Despite his best efforts during a song to rectify his cut-out guitar amp Nils was unable to get it going - rather than crash and burn he just started clapping and yelling out the chorus over and over. Realising his conundrum the crowd joined right along and when it wrapped we organically stood to applaud - which he didn't even notice for a full minute as he was so engrossed with fixing the problem. As he mentioned this could have been a closer but who wants to rush off the Massey stage? They finished off the set as planned and left us all happy by closing with the single, Stamp.

Great Lake Swimmers

First from the darkness appear four clad all in black - alongside Tony and the gang would be a four-piece string section (three violins and a cello). This group who were on and off stage throughout the set helped to fill out the already layered song and brought that extra something to the large, lovely space. The Great Lake Swimmers for their part broke right into song and in many cases jammed right through from song to song with incredibly dense instrumental breakdowns before clearing up into the recognizable melody of the next song. This definitely was a positive and moved the set right along from tunes like Pulling on a Line to Easy Come and Changing Colours, Put There by the Land. As always the break out of the banjo for Your Rocky Spine was a standout (while Moving Pictures didn't play this time around.) Being in the acoustic haven of Massey they trooped out to a solitary freestanding microphone at the front of the stage to close their set by harmonizing into it and even dropping a banjo and fiddle single. That is before they returned from a short pause for a one-song encore recalling their long travels together. Though the upper balcony may not have been completely full some 2,400 people stood to show their appreciation at the end of the night.

Dan Mangan, Rural Alberta Advantage (Danforth Music Hall, Oct 25/12)

Dan Mangan

Kicking off with the new single from the Radicals EP surprised me slightly but I quickly came around to We Want To Be Pleasantly Surprised, Not Expectedly Let Down. It even descended into the disparate instruments jamming away before melding right back together straight into the other mouthful of a song title About As Helpful As You Can Be, Without Being Any Help at All, signalled by that telltale violin opening. Following Oh, Fortune's title track the first Nice, Nice track, Sold, was met with very enthusiastic crowd support. Next was an intro about the minuteness of human existence in history before Dan dropped Leaves, Trees, Forests with a mini interlude (well more of a pregnant pause). 

From the always impressive whistle showcase by 'Mr. Kenton Lowen on the drums' on If I am Dead they absolutely crashed right on into Post War Blues. What a fantastic song given a righteous live treatment as the keys and violin plucking fill it out beautifully. From this high, after which the band appeared momentarily physically exhausted, Dan almost had no choice but to give them leave and give us the wonderful solo rendition of Basket. The Dan Mangan Band returned for Starts with Them, Ends with Us that may as well have been titled "Starts with Them, Ends with Triumph" based on the feeling portrayed by the onstage band in its closing. They had no problem with classic Road Regrets, nor the quintessential Dan Mangan song Robots, that saw the author crowdsurfing as we belted out the refrain. Rows of Houses is an amazing song and the band did it justice, especially as Dan and Kenton had a standoff with Dan signalling all of "my hype man, K-dizzle"'s drum crashes.Mr. Mangan led us through Death and Dying before the final number, Jeopardy. Not only is this a well written song but it was cute that a group in the audience answered the majority of his questions (far enough away from me to be cute and not annoying) and then the band absolutely rocked out the ending of it. The crashing of this set was fantastic and essentially guaranteed an encore. 

Back out solo, Dan played The Indie Queens are Waiting before reintroducing the band. But not exactly everyone as in true rockstar form Kenton came running in just before the drumming in Tina's Glorious Comeback, smoke from his lit cigarette streaming behind his bottle of booze. It didn't affect the quality of the song however as they brought it down. In finale Dan obviously knew what he wanted to do.. Hauling a chair into the middle of the crowd he requested that as much as we love the internet we put down our phones and raise our voices instead. So from this lofty position he lead us in Postcards'.. So Much For Everyone. This may have been the best crowd participation I've ever seen for this song as 1500 voices joined Dan's in singing to the heavens. Gorgeous.

The Rural Alberta Advantage

The RAA have been at it a long while; working shows to gain fans. With the release of their first album Hometowns the fruits of their labours were reaped, gaining much critical adoration and blog praise. As they continued to slug it out, releasing their second album Departing (more of a continuation than a departure) their already won-over fans couldn't be overly disappointed but it seemed as if they had plateaued. Now a year or so following that release they continue their hardworking tour efforts, still as openers though, not headliners. That being said it was a massive hometown crowd who knew to arrive early for this rockin' folk trio. By this point most songs from the two albums are tried and true 'classics'. Lucky for the devoted fan there were a few new pieces to provide some variation, such as the new Love on the Rocks track. It was an upbeat acoustic number, ending, as so many RAA songs do, with everything falling away but Nils' voice and light acoustic strumming. The other new track (only played live on this tour, so third time ever), coming later in the set, had a wicked drum beat provided by Paul, and once again ended on a Nils acoustic note.

In a decently long 70 minute opening set there were a lot of solid moments (solo Nils' Littlest Hobo not included). These included the yelling on Frank, AB as Nils doesn't strum but pounds on the body of his acoustic guitar. Summertime was lovely as always, especially when Amy pipes up on the last few lines. A personal fave is Four Night Rider that always seems to hit its mark in the short time it is allotted. While the crowd wasn't outwardly excited they did get into the closing sequence of Deathbridge, North Star, the rocking Barnes' Yard and finally the well-known Stamp. Another very good performance in their long line of performances, though it would have been more rock and roll if Nils had smashed his guitar when it got unplugged seconds before the end of the set, instead of plugging it back in.

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.

Rural Alberta Advantage - Hillside Sunday

It was a live Rural Alberta Advantage Hillside show that first made me really love them. Back then, oh two years ago, the trio played their hearts out on the Lake Stage and simply drew everyone in. With a second album out and a much larger following they were now upgraded to the mainstage. Upgraded may be the wrong word though, as the intimacy is somewhat lost even from the front row. Amy was still lovely whether doing keys, bass pedals with her feet or bashing a drum and of course her backing vocals to offset those of Nils. Honestly there wasn't much to set this set apart however, perhaps as I'd seen them play a full headlining show recently. Paul still plays the drums with enthusiasm, and his mother was also front row with us this time to see his work. At the RAA workshop only Nils had been there but he had done a cool solo acoustic version of In The Summertime but this set list was pretty standard mix of Hometowns and Departing - Muscle Relaxant, Haunt this Place, Under the Knife, Tornado '87, and Two Lovers included. In closing was the first and rather successful single, Stamp. Good but not all that special.

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