Rural Alberta Advantage / Bahamas / Fox Jaws @ Lee's Palace

Procrastination nearly gave me a swift kick to the head last Friday night, when up until about noon that day, it looked like I wasn't going to get in to the Rural Alberta Advantage's sold out show at Lee's Palace. I don't know why I didn't think it was going to be a problem since, according to a very reliable source, the RAA is currently the hottest band in Canada. Thankfully, I was one of the fortunate ones as I was able to squeeze in at basically the last minute. Sometimes it's kinda cool knowing someone who knows someone.

If you're a fan, (and these days who isn't) then you've likely already read a review of this show somewhere else on the interweb already, but here's a few of my own highlights anyway:

Barrie's Fox Jaws opened the night, and as always, they put on a fantastic show. The band and I have been forming quite the bond as of late, due to mutual admiration for what we do. I love their music, and they love how often I gush about how much I love their music. It's a very special relationship. When I play their music for friends, I'm admittedly greeted with varying levels of enthusiasm, but their live show is one of the few that I have brought friends to that have resulted in blown minds every single time. Obviously there was no room for me to bring friends this time around, but I did run into a couple of them when I was there, and following the show it looked like the Jaws have recruited yet some more new converts. The performance was as high energy as always, the vocals were insane, and the group really benefited from the excellent sound at Lee's on this particular night. Besides all of the great new songs from their latest album At Odds (or Exercises in Separation While United In The Fall), it was nice to hear a couple of the older classics as well, most notably my favorite song My Hands, My Plans, which I swear I saw lead vocalist Carleigh Aikins dedicate to yours truly, even though none of my friends saw it, which leads me to think that maybe it was just in my imagination, but I'm going to pretend that it wasn't, so that I can go on believing that this show was, in fact, the happiest day of my life, next to my wedding and the first time that I tried an apple fritter at Starbucks. (I'm not kidding, have you tried one of those sweet delicacies of death yet? Life altering.)

Photos: My shots of Fox Jaws @ Lee's Palace are on flickr
Myspace: Fox Jaws

Next up was Fox Jaws Nevado labelmate Afie Jurvanen, also known as Bahamas. When I saw him back in February he was still starting out as a solo artist, having only a handful of contacts on his myspace page. Since then, a lot has happened, including the aforementioned indie label signing, as well as the playing of a lot of shows. I remembered liking him back then, but I actually remembered very little else about the show. On the contrary, after this show, I don't think that I'll be forgetting him again anytime soon, although I hope that it's his impressive guitar playing that sticks with me in the long haul, and not some of the other stuff. I have to admit that I wasn't a huge fan of his stage presence and banter. He came across to me as rather cocky, (and not the good kind of cocky), and a lot of the times that he thought he was being funny, he really wasn't. If his attempts at humor were just of the bombing comedian sort, then I'd just feel bad for him, but it was more of the cutting and insulting sort, and I don't really have a lot of sympathy for that. In his defense the audience was littered with an irritating "let's talk during his whole set" vibe, so I understand that it must've been a test of his patience. Also, personal opinions aside, many who were paying attention actually did seem quite taken by him so maybe he actually was funny and my idea of humour is just different than everybody else's. (I also think Dane Cook is the most not-funny guy ever, so there you go.) He eventually got better as the set progressed though and, although it was a case of too little too late, he did actually make me chuckle a bit towards the end. As far as the music goes, the songs were decent enough, though not particularly memorable, but what eventually won me over was his guitar playing. He is an outstanding guitarist, and I really would've liked to see him (hear him) do more of that. Frank Zappa has a collection titled Shut Up And Play Yer Guitar, and I think that nowhere would that sentiment have been more appropriate than during this particular set. Those moments where he stepped away from the microphone towards center stage and wailed away on that axe were the definite highlights for me, and he also gets full marks for closing with a fun cover of Purple Rain. He ended the song after only a couple of verses, so I didn't get to see if vocally he could pull off the "I know I know I know times are changing!" scream or the apocalyptic closing guitar solo, but from what I had witnessed of his talents, I'd imagine that he could have. At least the solo.

Photos: My shots of Bahamas @ Lee's Palace are on flickr
Myspace: Bahamas

I had just seen the RAA at the Horseshoe back in July and, with a few exceptions, I don't usually make a habit of seeing the same artist twice within a certain space of time but there were a few reasons why I made an exception for this show. First of all, Fox Jaws (one of my exceptions) were opening. Secondly, the Horseshoe show was littered with irritating and out of place frat boy types and I was eagerly hoping that this wouldn't be the case this time. Thirdly, they seem to play bigger and bigger venues these days, which means if I don't catch them now, the next time could very well be a place like Kool Haus or Sound Academy and I just won't stand for that sort of thing. And fourthly, they're just so freakin' good!

The set of course was as phenomenal as always, with the band displaying that amicable sense of sincere gratitude that makes them so endearing to all of us. From where I was standing, the crowd was significantly better than last time, although I've read reports that seem to disagree. But simply forming an opinion based on those who were in my general vicinity, the crowd was appreciative and respectful. All of the touring and honing of their live show has really paid off in the sense that the band did not miss a step in terms of performance. Nils Edenloff didn't say all that much inbetween songs, but what he did say was worthwhile and enjoyable. He also, once again sang his heart out although it can't be easy to stretch the vocal muscles the way that he does night after night, and his voice did have a noticeable hoarseness that must be due to a staggering amount of performances lately. Amy Cole reminded me that she's much more than just another cute indie rocker, with her backing vocals adding just the right amount of timbre and variety to help these songs move beyond what they would be otherwise. Just like last time though, the star of the show for me was percussionist extraordinaire Paul Banwatt, who really is one of the best out there right now. The way he uses that kit to fill out the empty spaces within the songs helps to solidify their sound in such a way that the percussion really becomes the key distinguishing ingredient. They played almost every song from Hometowns which was great of course, but the highlights were a couple of the newer songs which showcased the fact that, while they definitely have a specific style, the next album is not likely to be a simple regurgitating of the same songs. There was one in particular that I believe they played right after Drain The Blood that sounded especially atmospheric and scrumptious. Nils solo cover of the theme song to The Littlest Hobo was also a nice touch that brought many of the thirtysomethings in the crowd back to their youth.

It looks like the tour is not going to be settling down any time soon as they spend a good chunk of December and January in the States, before settling in Vancouver in February. Hopefully they take a little break at that time and hit the studio to commit some of these new tracks to vinyl so that we can be spinning a second album in the early part of 2010.

Photos: My shots of Rural Alberta Advantage @ Lee's Palace are on flickr.
Myspace: Rural Alberta Advantage

Reviews are also available on Chromewaves, Narratives, Chart and BlogTO.