Daily Agenda Aug. 21: The Rural Alberta Advantage and Mexican Fiesta

The Rural Alberta Advantage is, as its name suggests, from Canada, but its music isn’t as plain or cocky as it might suggest. Rather, the Toronto trio weaves sleepy and spare melodies against ornate percussion, pairing a sighing organ with knee-weakening strings. The band's new record, Hometowns, sounds a bit like it was crafted by The White Stripes, if they weren’t so hung up on rubbing your face in how sparse their band is. Songs like the gently needling “Don’t Haunt This Place” and “Drain The Blood” prove there’s plenty of muscle under the band’s lingering melodies, while opener “The Ballad Of The RAA” and funereal closer “In The Summertime” are just dying to be listened to while driving in the rain. Opening tonight's show at Cactus Club is Catfish Haven, which tries to summon up the frenzy of a sweaty gospel session and the cheer of up-tempo funk on last year's Devastator, opener, even when songwriter George Hunter is feeling blue.

Lively music and even livelier food entice an ever-widening spectrum of visitors to Mexican Fiesta, which returns for its 36th year. Celebrating not only Mexico’s Spanish heritage, but also its Inca, Aztec, and other native roots, Fiesta is often the lakefront’s most colorful summer celebration, featuring plenty of dancing, mariachi bands, and other entertainment. Given Milwaukee’s huge Hispanic population, it’s hardly surprising that the Fiesta is packed every year.