Tom: I’ve written about the Rural Alberta Advantage more than any other band this year. In my (secret) attempt to sway the Radio Exile Best Of 2009 Poll, I’ve begun to try and get other Exilers into the RAA. My biggest success thus far has been Holly Louise Perry.

Holly: The First time I heard The Rural Alberta Advantage was on a mix made by Radio Exiler Tom Williams about four months ago. Bought the album right away. Hooked.

I’m supposed to be on a strict no-concert diet (as I’m Europe bound in a few weeks), but I figured i could sacrifice a glass of Italy’s finest so I could catch them in my ‘hood. Very happy I did.

Tom: Since we both saw the RAA live on consecutive night, Holly thought it would be a really cool idea to do a he said/she said review of their live show. I agreed! Here it is.

Gig Location

Tom: Music Hall of Williamsburg in New York on 8/4/09.

Holly: Middle East Upstairs, Cambridge, MA 8/5/09 (their first gig in Cambridge!)

Beverages Consumed

Tom: One pf something I don’t know the name of. It tasted pretty hoppy. Might have been something from Brooklyn Brewery (which is awesome, by the way).

Holly: One draught Harpoon UFO. This lightweight was flying solo for the gig, and I’d much rather remember the music.

Crowd Vibe

Tom: For me, the best part of the show as the crowd. The RAA first played in New York City only about seven months ago, playing several small venues (100 capacity?). They came back in April and May, playing 200 and 300 capacity venues. And now they’re here playing a venue with a capacity of almost 600. Every time they come to New York their audience size doubles. Not only that but when I first saw them in New York in April, the crowd was into it but they didn’t really know the songs that well. At the show at the Music Hall, half the crowd was singing along! It felt like the entire place knew every lyric. This is a band on a huge accent right now.

Holly: I don’t believe the gig was sold out, but by the time RAA took the stage, it sure was cozy. A lot of people knew the words, and, judging by the applause-o-meter and the “one-more-songs,” you wouldn’t have been twisting anyone’s arm to stay another hour to hear the whole thing again.

Openers

Tom: New York band The Dig opened. They seemed to have a core of really hard core fans. Not only that, but they weren’t your typical Williamsburg hipsters; they felt almost like Long Island and Jersey kids. The Dig were good, pretty much straight up rock and roll. They seemed like they have a fair amount of potential to become a fairly large band.

Holly: I was running a little late, and had the delightful experience of getting caught behind slow walkers about 500 ft. or so from the Middle East. I hate missing opening bands, and was slightly irritated with myself. The slow walkers stopped in front of the door, realized I was breathing down their necks and let me go in ahead of them. I made my way through the restaurant to the club entrance. I arrived in the nick of time, and the place was still kind of empty. Yay! But, as luck always seems to have it with my experiences, the slow walkers just so happened to be opening act Jennifer Greer and her bandmate. Yep. It felt great.

Jennifer can really belt it out while rocking on the keys. I’m not really sure why this Cambridge native isn’t on the local airwaves yet. Tori Amos-like, but much more fun. Her song “Turn It Up” could easily be a regular player on WBOS.

After grooving to piano-funk, I wasn’t prepared for the walk down Devo memory lane that is called Baby Teeth. The baseline in their “Hustle Beach” is totally “Whip It.” The crowd was eating it up and wriggling around, but I wasn’t the biggest fan… until the “Secretary Day” song. The lyrics were hilarious and the synth was so damn happy. I was in fits. Here’s the only clip I could find.

Joshua English, along with violinist Lisa Molinaro, put on a fantastic acoustic set. English’s folksy vocals paired with the depth of Molinaro’s viola playing provided a great segue into the Rural Alberta Advantage. Also, English covered the Everly Brothers “Let it Be Me.” Awesome.

Favorite Part Of The Set

Tom: I love to watch Paul drum. I love Amy’s energetic and giddy bouncing around. I love how blow away Nils always seems at the RAA’s fans.

Holly: When RAA made small talk in between songs, it was genuine. There wasn’t an “I’m better than you” tone. They also have a great energetic stage presence. This results in you falling harder for them.

Before they played “Frank, AB,” frontman Nils Edenloff gave us a little insight on it. He told us that Frank is an eerie little town up in Alberta, and back in the 1800′s there was a rock slide that killed pretty much the whole town. They were only able to find and pull a few of the bodies out from under the debris. Afterwards, people built up the town again over the bodies.

Once you know this, the song transforms into something much more tangible and powerful. The emotions that blast through Edenloff’s vocals, especially when performed live, are chilling. Getting wrapped up in the notion of love being so powerful and yet so simple in this three and a half minute song makes it quite moving. Give it a listen.

Favorite Song Performed

Tom: Four Night Rider. Hands down. Drain The Blood is great too, as was the surprise acoustic cover of Eye Of The Tiger (yes, the song from Rocky).

Holly: With the above excluded, it’s a tie between “Four Night Rider” and “The Dethbridge in Lethbridge. ” “Four Night…” because the drums were ridiculous and it’s my favorite song on the album. “Dethbridge…” because it’s so intense live you can’t keep still.

Favorite Lyric

Tom: From Four Night Rider (admittedly I love this more for the delivery than anything else): cold wind whipping through the windows / freezing each of the lymph nodes / maybe we gotta try / to get out of town

Holly: “but when we’re middle aged, you’ll tell me i loved you like a renegade” – “In The Summertime”

Something You Saw That The Rest Of The Crowd Didn’t Notice

Holly: Drummer Paul Banwatt plays in his socks. Also he has a Tokyo Police Club sticker on the side of one of his drums.

Gripes

Tom: They didn’t play their usual in-the-crowd set ender “Goodnight”

Holly: The four college-aged clods (who apparently had never had a beer in their life) whirling and flailing around uncontrollably in a room of 250 people. You know who you are. Happy you love RAA, but go play in traffic.

Would You See Them Again?

Tom: I’ve seen them three times already this year and if I could see them three more by January I’d be thrilled.

Holly: Yes, please!

Afterthoughts

Tom: If the RAA continue their current pace, they’ll be playing at Madison Square Garden by March. Also, Amy, will you marry me? kthanxbye.

Holly: I’ve never been that close to a drumset at a live gig. Banwatt’s kit was right up at the edge of the stage, but positioned a bit slanted. I was standing right in front of it. I don’t know the first thing about the intricacies of drumming, but it was amazing to watch it all happening right in front of me. I became sort of fixated on this. After the final encore bit, the band was starting to close up shop, and these crazy drunk girls were trying to get pictures of Banwatt. I caught his eye and said, “Awesome show. Really, really good.” He walked towards me, said “Thanks!” grinned, and held up his hand for a chilled out high five. I grinned back and met him halfway. It was such a badass moment that I had to walk away before I could do something moronic (misprounce a word, trip over my jean cuffs, etc) to ruin it.

Also, Amy Cole’s stage presence makes me want to be in a band. Or be best friends with her. And I love that Nils sometimes sounds like Billy Corgan.

[mp3] Drain The Blood

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