by Roy Scopazzi
Going through my past concerts, I knew I was going to find that I’ve seen The Rural Alberta Advantage quite a few times. Nils Edenloff even brought up their first time in San Francisco in 2009, to comment on that the venue they played at, Bottom of the Hill, will be closing soon. That was the first out of now five times I’ve seen them (Thrice at Bottom of the Hill and twice at Rickshaw Stop) and outside of new albums they’ve released over the years, the sound has remained basically the same. Nils’ voice is unique, akin to a banjo which fits the folk type sound they’ve been going for their entire existence. Amy Cole accompanies him well as both back up vocalist and keyboardist, lending a softer voice. In my opinion, the real star is the drummer Paul Banwatt, whose thunderous and powerful style shakes me awake in nearly every song he’s featured in. I had seen them 4 times but as soon as I saw they were playing in the city once more, I knew I had to go.
Opening was Jordan Burchel with an impressive lyrical talent that certainly opened my eyes. Very much will be checking him out more.
