I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: February 18, 2026] Jordan Burchel

Jordan I saw The Rural Alberta Advantage two years ago at The Foundry and it was such a great show I couldn’t wait to see them again.  I even grabbed a ticket for my wife because I was sure she’d love them.  She didn’t feel up to going but I did and it was even more fun than last time.

The RAA is a trio with an unusual setup: Keys, guitar and drums, with the drums on the right side and the drummer facing the other two.  Nils Edenloff sings and plays acoustic guitar.  Amy Cole plays keys and (most importantly) bass foot pedals that add so much to these songs. She also has a floor tom that she occasionally bangs on.  And Paul Banwatt plays drums (which is the biggest understatement I can make).

I wrote this last time and I’ll say it again

But no drumming could compare to Paul Banwatt.  He has a fairly small kit, but it’s amazing that it’s still standing by the end of the show.  He throws in all kinds of fills on the snare and even the hi-hat.  He has speed and power and is simply amazing to watch.  I think that since the songs themselves are fairly simple, it gives Banwatt the ability to fill in any open spaces as needed.  Banwatt, who is also a lawyer (!) has to be the most underrated drummer out there.  The way he plays the drums in counterpoint to the guitar in “Drain the Blood ” is just incredible to watch.

He broke two drumstick by about the fifth song.

Amy Cole has a lot to do in the songs, but she also has parts where she doesn’t do anything.  So she skips around the stage, claps, or just hangs out in the back of the stage until one of her responsibilities is called upon.  She and Paul seem to communicate a lot on stage with meaningful looks.  They even had a kind of dance move for one of the songs when Nils was singing by himself.

For a band whose songs are so intense (Nils’ voice is so intense, I love it) they have a lot of fun.

They are not very prolific–they were still calling their last album (2023) their new album.  Although Nils did say that his friend got him to participate in a “write a song a week” session which really loosened up his creativity. They have been around for almost 20 years and have put out 5 albums (an easy band to get caught up with).

Despite the lack of new material, the setlist had a lot of songs they didn’t play last time.  There were several from the album before this one and a bunch from their debut.   Indeed, they mix up their songs from different albums, but the band is so consistent, they flow perfectly.

Nils told some amusing stories between songs.  Like that Vulcan, AB was about the town which saw Star Trek and said “that’s our identity!)

Oh, you and me and the Enterprise
Stuck in Vulcan, telling lies

Nils switches to the keys for a few songs.  They don’t change the intensity with this, it just sounds different, which is no bad thing.

Nils sang two solo songs.  One was new about his cat Edson bringing a live mouse into their bed.  And one of  the new songs from that “song a week” thing he did.  He didn’t say the name of it, but it was really good (as the other songs are).

The final six songs were exactly the same as last tm and I have no problem with that because it’s just one great song after another.   The final song Terrified is just fantastic.

They left for an encore break while everyone chanted R-A-A and then Nils came back and sang a song appropriate for the city he was in–a cover of Eye of the Tiger.  Someone had shouted Freebird (when will this overplayed joke end), and he stopped and held up his guitar and said do you think this can play Freebird.  Then he pointed to his throat and said do you think this can sing Freebird?  I enjoyed the way his cover different from the original in cool ways.

The band came back and said there was someone at the show last night who was there tonight and he had requested a song (which is risky since they don’t remember all of their songs) and they played Sleep All Day.

Like last time, after playing the amazingly titled (and super intense) “The Dethbridge in Lethbrigde” they came out into the crowd to play the final song of the evening, “Good Night.”  It was so much fun, like a old fashioned sing along.

On my way out of the venue, I ran into both Paul and Amy and got to tell them how much I liked the show.  Which is cool. I’m sure I could have hung out longer and had them sign my album, but you gotta get home.

As I said last time: I am so glad that I got to see them [again].  I’m now bummed that I haven’t seen the more.

 

2026	2024
Beacon Hill ∉	FSHG ⇔ (begun in the crowd then moved on stage)
Muscle Relaxants ♦	CANDU ⇔
Tornado ’87 ♦	Don’t Haunt This Place ∇
Vulcan, AB Ø	3 Sisters ⇔
3 Sisters ⇔	Four Night Rider ∇
CANDU ⇔	Tornado ’87 ♦
Barnes’ Yard ♦	Vulcan, AB Ø
Don’t Haunt This Place ∇	AB Bride ⇔
Bad Luck Again ∉	Drain the Blood ∇
Falling Apart §	Stamp ♦
Drain the Blood ∇	North Star ♦ (Nils solo)
Stamp ♦	Don’t Wake Up ⇔
The Hunt in Edson (Nils solo) ‰	White Lights ∉
unknown (song from the “song a week” program)	Plague Dogs ⇔
White Lights ∉	Edmonton ∇
Plague Dogs ⇔	Frank, AB ∇
Edmonton ∇	Brother ∉
Frank, AB ∇	Terrified Ø
Brother ∉	encore
Terrified Ø	In the Summertime  ∇
encore	Alright ∉
Eye of the Tiger (Survivor cover)	The Dethbridge in Lethbridge ∇
Sleep All Day ∇ (fan request)	Good Night ♦ (sung in the middle of the audience)
The Dethbridge in Lethbridge ∇
Good Night ♦ (sung in the middle of the audience)

‰ single 2026
§ single 2025
⇔ The Rise & The Fall (2023)
∉ The Wild (2017)
Ø Mended with Gold (2014)
♦ Departing (2011)
∇ Hometowns (2008)