Gig: The Rural Alberta Advantage

The Rural Alberta Advantage (Rebekah Higgs / Gravity Wave)

Lee's Palace. Thursday, December 16, 2010.

A sort of in-between-things show for locals-made-good The Rural Alberta Advantage, this gig marked the end of their globetrotting trail promoting their first album and the start of a brief pause before the emergence of their sophomore release. A victory lap for the band, to be sure, and a reward for loyal fans who had waited for over a year for a hometown show — but also a chance to share the stage with some old friends.

Gravity Wave have been around for awhile, and no doubt played some shows with the RAA when they were just another of the dozens of unheralded local indie groups. And while this was now an intimate show for the RAA, it was pretty clear that even a gradually-filling-in Lee's was an anxiety-inducing step into the spotlight for the four-piece, as vocalist Ken Farrell owned up to when the band took the stage: "we're a little nervous, so... just talk amongst yourselves, and the band you came here to see will be on shortly. Have your fun, we'll have ours."

That unassuming attitude managed to find its way into the band's cerebral brand of DOR. The music was groovy, but not viscerally body-movingly so. More like the band was committed to a steady pulse, with the drummer, bassist and DJ¹ all wearing earpieces to keep in time. Farrell didn't have an earpiece, but he was sporting a Chaplin-esque moustache and suspenders, which contributed to the band's slightly fusty, decidedly not down-and-dirty vibe. Still, Farrell did his best to get the crowd warmed up — quite literally so, as he led everyone in some practise arm bends and worked in some call-and-response RAA chants.

A couple songs toward the set's end featured a guest acoustic guitar player, which gave a different cast to the band's sound — in fact, the first vaguely brought Eddie Rabbitt's "Drivin' My Life Away" to mind. Overall, the band was fine, but a bit too genteel. Like Farrell's self-effacing banter ("We'll play one more — your night will get better from here, you gotta trust us."), this wasn't music that was going to force itself on anyone's consciousness.

Listen to a track from this set here.

If Gravity Wave has had a crowd that was perhaps robust by their standards, Rebekah Higgs had something close to a full house, with a packed floor of RAA fans holding down a spot for the headliner. Undoubtedly the sort of situation where an artist has a chance to make an impact and gain some new fans. Although her performance wasn't a knockout, Higgs confidently took more advantage than Gravity Wave had.

I'd first seen Higgs back in 2008 when she was still playing behind her debut full-length and that show was "nice" but not particularly memorable. I was more interested when I saw her playing with her dance-y side project Ruby Jean and the Thoughtful Bees, which had an engaging sense of fun to it. And here, her stage set up recalled that more than the stripped-down rock band I'd first seen her with, with Higgs having a table of electronics in front of her that occupied her as much as her guitar. Bringing these influences to her "name" project definitely added a spark, although sometimes it flickered more than exploded, such as on atmospheric opener "Lazy Morning".

But the steps forward that Higgs has taken were more plainly apparent with the excellent "Little Voice" (also the title track to her recent EP). A bouncy waltz with a chorus of floating bum-bah-bum backing vocalists (created via looping pedal), this could come across as a crass attempt at going pop, were it not so giddily spirited. That and the following "Gosh, Darn, Damn" announced that Higgs has indeed taken a big step forward.²

It wasn't all at that level. When the tempo slowed down for "Miserably Together" it didn't quite work in this environment, with people largely using it as a chat break. But on balance, this moved Higgs up in my esteem. Here's hoping her forthcoming second full-length can maintain the strides forward she's made here.³

Listen to a track from this set here.

And then, the floor in front of the stage managed to get pretty tightly crammed in. Given the star treatment that The Rural Alberta Advantage are accorded in their hometown, it felt momentarily jarring to see that they're still at the level where they're setting up their own gear before the set starts. After everyone sort of pretended not to notice that, they were greeted with wild cheers when they took the stage to play. Looking over the adoring, packed house, the band were visibly impressed and thankful. But once they were playing, they looked like the same band that not too long ago was playing to half-filled venues much smaller than this. As Paul Banwatt moved over from his drumkit to join Amy Cole pounding on her floor tom there was still the same goofy sense of friends having fun as there's always been.

This was a transitional show for the band. With their new album in the can but with just one track released to the public, the focus was more on the well-known first-album stuff, with some of the Departing material being slipped in. Which was of no concern to most of those assembled here. This was a crowd with lots of folks who knew every word on the album and were prepared to sing along to everything, even treating some of the lesser stuff like "Luciana" and "Rush Apart" (which opened the night) like anthems. And, in fact, the crowd's energy elevated them to the point where they almost felt as if they were.

So when "Don't Haunt This Place" — one of the band's standout tracks — came next, it felt, just for a moment, ridiculously good. That might also be because that one was particularly driven by the drums, thrusting in a way the recorded version isn't, and I was reminded once again what a fucking power Paul Banwatt is.⁴ Nils Edenloff's lyrics and unadorned, braying delivery — connoting the unvarnished "authenticity" that the kids seem to crave — is undoubtedly at the centre of the RAA's appeal. But it's that easy sense of comradeship that sells the band as a live enterprise, and Banwatt's drumming that truly marks them as something special.

After that came the first foray into the new songs. "Muscle Relaxants" fit in just fine, giving a hint of the stylistic continuities that would define Departures. Edenloff spent a couple songs battling technical gremlins, switching guitars mid-song during "Frank, AB" but still pulled the song off. As it turned out, when it got to the end, no instruments were needed, with the crowd's singing carrying it home.

The old stuff was often played at blinding speed — "The Ballad of the RAA" flew by amid thundering drums. That velocity plus the chance for the audience to join in made the middle of the set a blur — "Stamp" had the audience doing just that, and "Drain the Blood" seemed to be there mostly as a chance to sing along and clap. To some extent, the new (and unfamiliar) material gave the audience a chance to rest, and could be enjoyed more as a musical artifact rather than an immersive experience. "Barnes' Yard" — one of the new album's best tracks — registered strongly in that regard.

There was only the most perfunctory of breaks before the encore — "even Paul's booing me," Edenloff commented on calling "The Deadroads" as the last song. Ducking back onto the stage, there was a seasonal nod with an amped-up version of "The Little Drummer Boy".⁵ A couple more blasts and the band was done, making for an hour-long performance.

Though I woulda loved to have had more new stuff in the mix, I figured it'd be prudent to get to this show rather than the next one, which would focus a bit more squarely on the new album. And given that that next show was at the much-larger Phoenix, that turned out to be the right notion. It makes me think that if they can maintain their velocity, it's going to be hard for me to see the RAA in a palatable venue any time soon. On the other hand, the care that the band takes in remaining connected to their roots — and here I mean in the T.O. indie scene rather than Alberta — gives hope that they'll be around in a more accessible way no matter what.

A couple selections from this set — you can listen to a seasonal classic here or one from the new album here.

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¹ In the grand acceleration of all things we're living through, seeing a band like this with a DJ seemed faintly retro.

² It also helped that the band was supplemented by the magic fingers of Randy Lee — or, Randy Lee! as he's known around these parts — filling out the sound with his violin.

³ Higgs will be playing at The Piston on June 14, 2011.

⁴ One wonders whether other drummers on the same bill as the RAA simply feel outclassed. Because they should.

⁵ This is kinda a weird song when you think about it. Though I dig the shout-out to class solidarity, what sort of mother would think, "yes, the thing my newborn could really use right now is some drumming"?