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| Midnight Reruns |
When I owned a drumkit -- before I moved to a small apartment in Saint Paul -- it had a Rural Alberta Advantage (RAA) sticker on it. I like their lyrics; I like their drumming; I like their singer's
weird voice. I first heard them on a Saddle Creek sampler when I lived in France, and since then I have frequently wished they would make music faster. The good news is that they have a new record on its way out, and their short tour that began in Minneapolis last week is kind of a test run for new material they're recording right now.
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| Midnight Reruns |
Midnight Reruns opened the show. They're a four-piece rock act from Milwaukee who played the first two nights of the RAA's tour, after swinging back up from Austin (they played the Soundpony
in Tulsa on the way). I liked some of their riffs and the way they smiled when they played. I liked that they visited the Como Zoo before the show that night. And so I bought their record after the show. Their drummer was nice.
The RAA is a three-piece band signed to Saddle Creek in Omaha, but they live in Toronto. I've wanted to see them for a long time, but their tours tend not to come anywhere near Oklahoma. After the show, I met them, and explained how I'd recently moved from Tulsa and had never gotten a chance to see them. They denied that they had any fans in Tulsa -- I argued the point. I'm not sure I was that successful, as I am in Minneapolis now, where they play often and with much success.
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| RAA |
The show was really fun, and had one of the most respectful crowds I've yet seen in Minneapolis. Everyone was captivated, no one pushed or smelled (I'm looking at you, fans of The Faint and Desaparecidos), and a good time was had by all. The band interspersed songs from their two studio albums with new cuts, which having heard only once, I'm not super qualified to talk about. I'll say only that they tended toward a heavier beat and sometimes subbed the RAA's signature-ish acoustic guitar for some synthesizers. They were enjoyable songs, and I'm looking forward to the release of the record, whenever they finish it.
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| RAA |
The show was high energy, and the band seemed glad to be in Minneapolis, which they claimed was a special place for them. A lot of Saddle Creek tours (including Desaparecidos and Conor Oberst, if he counts) have been starting in Minneapolis lately, and I am beginning to wonder if these things are connected.
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| RAA has a drumming party |
Anyway, they hit all the highlights for me: "Muscle Relaxants", "North Star", "The Dethbridge in Lethbridge", "Drain the Blood", "Ballad of the RAA", etc. They ended the encore on one of my favorite songs, "Goodnight". To perform it, the band walked out into the crowd with a floor tom and an acoustic guitar, and did it unplugged. The crowd was remarkably respectful when things were quiet, and loud when loud was called for, and the song was beautiful. It was a great way to end the evening.
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