Unlike some artists, George Thorogood isn’t trying to re-write the big book of rock ‘n roll, or even ripping a page from the tome.

Instead, he’s simply re-reading the good book and on Tuesday night he was reading it ALOUD.

The singer/guitarist brought his gutteral growl and chunky Gibson guitar riffs to Bluestem Center for the Arts in Moorhead for a show that seems likely to draw noise complaints from the neighbors.

I was surprised that the road veteran of 30-plus years had as much hardware as if he were playing the Fargodome. I didn’t see the stack of speakers on ground to the side of the stage for Alice Cooper earlier this month, though in fairness that was a pretty full crowd in the bowl.

I sat with my cousin Dan in the reserved bowl seats, centerstage, and before the end of the second song, Bo Diddley’s “Who Do You Love?,” Dan wanted to move because it was too loud for him. The volume didn’t seem to bother the rest of the crowd, most of which stood and danced for the duration of the 90-minute show.

Finding a new spot wasn’t a problem as the show drew about 1,150, less than half the venue’s capacity. And it doesn’t necessarily impact appreciation of the show as there isn’t a bad seat or spot for sound in the house.

But back to the music. Thorogood tells you straight up what to expect in the title of the first song, “Rock Party.” And he doesn’t disappoint. There are no ballads, no acoustic numbers, just gritty, bluesy, pounding rock.

The slowest tempo was probably on his hit “I Drink Alone,” followed nicely with a shout-out to tip the bartenders, who appeared to be having their busiest show of the summer. He also requested everyone find a sober ride home.

He’s more effective as a rock star than as a M.A.D.D. spokesman. At 61, Thorogood still has as much kick in his step as snarl in his voice. He scooted from each side of the stage, making faces at the crowd and posing, even pulling off the guitar-crobatics of playing behind his head on only the second song, “Who Do You Love?”

I was surprised how front-loaded his hits were in the set with “I Drink Alone” and his take on John Lee Hooker’s “One Bourbon, One Scotch and One Beer” were only a handful of songs in. He did play “Hi-Heel Sneakers” and “Seventh Son” from his new tribute to Chess Records, “2120 South Michigan Ave.,” but didn’t play his lesser hits, “Haircut,” “Willie and the Hand Jive,” or “Long Gone.”

He did save Hank Williams’ “Move it on Over” and his signature “Bad to the Bone” for the end of the set. During the latter, LED light screens behind the band played the video for the 1982 hit. I forgot Bo Diddley’s role in the video, a nice nod to a major influence on Thorogood’s style.

A more surprising influence was shown when Thorogood came back for the first encore, “Tail Dragger.” Without a guitar, but wearing a porkpie hat and carrying a microphone, he minced, pranced, danced and strutted across the stage like a Mick Jagger impersonator.

Fans saw a more familiar side for the closer when he brought out opener, 74-year-old sax man Eddie Shaw, a former Muddy waters and Howlin’ Wolf sideman,  for Elmore James’ “Madison Blues.”

Thorogood may not be hip, but he knows and honors his musical history.

As Jagger summed it up, “It’s Only Rock ‘n Roll, but I Like it.”

Jeffrey Ross was worth the wait – especially if you were in the front row Thursday nigh at the Fargo Theatre – or liked laughing at those who were.

Ross’ North Dakota March shows were postponed due to flooding concerns which gave “The Roastmaster General” more time to work on Dakota material.

“North and South Dakota are the second and third most popular Dakota’s behind Dakota Fanning.”

“Flying into Fargo, everything was so flat. I hadn’t seen anything so flat since Brooke Shields in ‘Blue Lagoon.’”

“Fargo is just like ‘Cheers’ – everyone knows your name and nothing new has happened since 1993.’”

If you thought those were mean, you should’ve heard what the insult comic had to say about the front row. He worked his way down the line picking apart what people, mostly based on what they were wearing.

“Thanks for wearing your best table cloth tonight,” he said to one, then later asked another in a Hawaiian shirt whether he would try to make sales pitches later. Even when that man tried to sneak away to get a beer, Ross pulled him back in.

“Why are you hunched over like there’s a helicopter? This isn’t M.A.S.H.” 

Remember what I said last week about the benefits of sitting in the front row when Sharon Jones ? While the soul singer pulled a handful of people onstage with her to dance, comedian Jeff Ross brought nine of his new biggest fans up to roast.

The fans had to know what they were getting into (again, lots of jokes based on what people were wearing) but it was surprising when a few seemed to think he went too far. A guy named Blaine got miffed when Ross asked him three times for his name. The only female on stage was taken aback when Ross asked her who (besides her boyfriend, standing next to her) of the other fans on stage she would have sex with.

Too much? What else would you expect from the man who roasted Abraham Lincoln and Anne Frank?

Too soon?

 If there ever was a case of getting what you paid for, it was Wednesday night at the Fargo Theatre.

Fans who bought Golden Circle seats (folding chairs set up in the orchestra pit) to see Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings got up close and personal with the soul singer. Some even were brought up on stage.

In her two-hour set, the energetic star brought five folks up from the crowd to dance with her. That’s no small task – what the 55-year-old singer lacks in stature, she more than makes up with stage presence and impressive dancing.

First up was Fargo artist Josh Dahl, perhaps because his glittery art up the street at ecce art + yoga reminded Jones of her own sparkly dress.

A two other men and a woman were brought up from the front row throughout the night, but none put on a show quite like Fargo exhibitionist Mary Purcell did.

A member of the local Bad Weather Burlesque troupe, Purcell revealed a little too much leg upon getting on stage. Jones playfully chided her, then looked out at the crowd hoping aloud there weren’t any kids in the crowd.

Actually, there were quite a few, accompanied by parents who were looking to get the young students extra credit for taking in a horn show.

Purcell’s thigh-high tease was tame compared to opener Black Joe Lewis, whose guitar was decorated with girly pics.

Then again, what do you expect from a guy whose new album is called “Scandalous” featuring the standout track, “Booty City”?

Fargo photographer Britta Trygstad 

Sharon Jones and her Dap King guitarist Binky Griptite perform "Mama Don't Like My Man" Wednesday night at the Fargo Theatre.

didn’t get on stage, but she was close enough to take these cool photo and videos with her phone.

Lucinda Williams practically tore down the Fargo Theatre last night.

A cursory listen to her voice may leave you thinking she’s about to crack and break, but after two hours she was only sounding stronger.

Listening to her growl out the line, “I’ll change the name of this town,” to distance herself from an ex in the brilliant kiss-off “Change the Locks,” I remembered part of our conversation last week that didn’t make it into my preview on Sunday.

As fans, or anyone who stumbled into the Fargo last night, know Williams’ songs are like a road trip mix tape, criss-crossing the country, particularly in the South (“Jackson” and “Joy”) but also out West (“Ventura”). She even has a song called “Minneapolis,” written while she was recording there, but didn’t play it Tuesday.

So I asked her if after finally coming to Fargo (she was looking forward to the trip, saying Fargo seemed kind of exotic), if our fair city would find its way into a song.

“I would love that, but I would be nervous because of the movie, ‘Fargo.’ I don’t know if I’d want to call it ‘Fargo,’” she said. “But I love that name. I like that word. Sometimes it’s just the sound of word.”

She then asked what the weather would be like.

Well, the sun shined on her stay, so we’ll see how she remembers Fargo.

If my 20-minute phone interview with Guy Maddin on Wednesday is any indication, he is ready to talk. In my piece in the paper, he talked about his on-screen muse, Isabella Rossellini (who he says he shares daddy issues with), his hometown Winnipeg in his movies and another good reason to come to town besides the Fargo Film Festival – paying tribute to Roger Maris.

So what else did he have to say?

Here’s what Maddin says about his upcoming feature, “Keyhole,” which stars Rossellini:

“It’s an adaptaion of the “Odyssey” in which Odysseus is the ultimate dead-beat dad and husband that he was thousands of years ago. This time in stead of returning acrossmediterrannean seas to return to his wife and son he journeys from the back doorof his house up to his marriage bedroom and his wife and son and various ghosts in the house observe or impede his progress. I’ll argue it’s the most faithful adaptation of the odyssey although it’s set in a North American home… I don’t even dream of people anymore, I dream of houses… So inquisitive am I for space in my dreams.”

Whether his upcoming movies would continue being autobiographical, or if that was exhaused by “My Winnipeg.”

 “I think the mythology of my family’s history is put in its proper place now. Now I am healthily loving and living in the present. I have a daughter and two granddaughters and a wife now and I’m dealing with them in the present. I used to be  a loner for so many years… I’ve just been so ashamed of the way I lived my life, it just felt good to confess in a big spew of melodrama in these movies. I just couldn’t think of fiction that could top the ridiculous things I did in fact. I’ve basically mined my past.”

On the women in his life – not including Rossellini:

“I’m an Icelander and very chilly and very inclined to brooding, I find myself sounding like an Italian when I say ‘Family matters the most to me.’

Winnipeg surrealist director Guy Maddin

 I think deep inside my frozen bosom is something Mediterranean and enflamed for my daughter and granddaughter and wife. And mother! The women in my life, god. I’ve just been living under the thumb of women. My mom’s thumb is the biggest. All the other thumbs are lovely playful things.”

Lemmy is such a softie

Motorhead frontman Lemmy needs few words to make his point.

“We are Motorhead and we play rock ‘n %$#@! roll!,” he said before the trio rolled into Sunday night’s opener, “We Are Motorhead.”

Like I said, Lemmy needs few words, but instead of using “%$#@!” as a descriptive, he could’ve replaced it with “loud,” “sonically abusive” or just “deafening,” thus giving those unprepared a second or two to jam a napkin, Kleeex, the label off a beer bottle or a dollar bill in their ear.

I’d been warned that Motorhead would be loud and brought a packet of ear plugs to pass around. “Be prepared” is a motto not only for the Boy Scouts, but also people who have been going to heavy metal shows for a quarter of a century.

That’s right – I’m 40 and instead of staying home wondering what Lady Gaga was going to wear to the Grammy’s, I went to the Venue knowing full well that red carpet would be jammed with smokers wearing black. Instead of watching 16-year-old Justin Bieber ”sing,” I watched Lemmy wheeze through songs twice as old as the Beebs.  Instead of being surprised that actual artists (and kooky Canadian artists at that!) won Album of the Year, I watched actual artists play the songs they wrote, since their only Grammy came from covering a band they inspired (Metallica’s “Whiplash”).

The Grammy’s will never figure out heavy metal.

But you know what you’re going to get with Motorhead and if you bothered Googling “Motorhead playlist” you would’ve known exactly what you were getting and when you were getting it, right down to the guitar solo and drum solo.

Yes, Motorhead was that heavy metal – not only deafening volume, but instrumental solos that otherwise would’ve left the show’s duration a lean (but loud) 70-75 minutes rather than 85. And since at least three songs in the set start similarly to the one song everyone knew (“Ace of Spades”- the finale of the main set) about four songs in (“We Are Motorhead,” “Stay Clean,” “Get Back in Line” and “Metropolis”) there were no surprises in the night.

And did I mention their second-to-last song of the main set was “Killed by Death?” Complete with crowd chanting along while pumping fists?

I like “Killed by Death.” In 1984 it was the first song by the group I ever heard, but even then I thought it was a bit over the top. Even if there hadn’t been “This is Spinal Tap,” there would still be Motorhead.

 And the best thing about the show – in addition to the skull-rattling tunes – was that the band seemed to be having a good time.

Speaking of over the top, in case you were wondering what Lemmy’s final number of the night was (for those who didn’t look at playlists), it was – fittingly – “Overkill.”

Don’t get me wrong – I liked the show. But I didn’t love it. It wasn’t in my top 10 shows or even my top 20, but I’m glad I went. Instead of staying home to watch a living egend (Bob Dylan) Bob Dylan play with bands his musical progeny (The Avett Brothers, Mumford and Sons), I went out to see live music and a living breathing (or wheezing) legend and watched Lemmy make what will likely be his only stop in Fargo.

To paraphrase Sir Mick Jagger, “I know it’s only heavy metal, but I like it.”

UPDATE: If you missed the show, or didn’t get close enough to actually see much, check out Lindsay Gjerde’s photos. Looks like someone can’t take her eyes off of Lemmy.

“Prairie Love,” the North Dakota-made feature, may not emerge from Sundance Film Festival with a distribution deal, but the quirky movie garnered it’s first review, a favorable write-up in the Hollywood Reporter.

Maybe I’m a pessimist, but I am impressed people don’t feel the need to compare it to another dark film set in rural North Dakota winter – “Fargo.”

Speaking of regional winter films, is “Buick Riviera,” the film shot around town in 2006-’07, ever going to be shown locally? Looks like it wa almost exclusively an eastern European release, with festival screenings in Seattle and Denver.

 

 Violinist Patrick Lin is the featured soloist at Saturday night’s FM Symphony Masterworks III concert, “An Evening in Vienna,” but if conductor Bernard Rubenstein (above) makes good on a suggestion, he could be the real star.

Rubenstein, who announced in November he would step down as musical director of the group following the 2011-’12 season may give us more than music to remember.

At Wednesday’s Urban Overture preview for this weekend’s concert, Rubenstein pointed out that waltzes, like the planned finale, “On the Beautiful Blue Danube,” make a rare final note for a symphony performance. However, since this concert focuses on Austrian music and Johann Strauss II is “The King of the Waltz,” the maestro said it was a fitting note.

So fitting that Rubenstein said he would urge the crowd at NDSU’s Festival Concert Hall to dance. The maestro said that once the piece started, he may just set down the baton, grab someone from the crowd and dance the night away.

Of course, in his standard work tuxedo, he would be dressed for the part.

Bernie will leave the FM Symphony with big (tux) tails to fill.

Eat your tart out

This is the third installment of the FM Symphony’s “Taste the World” program, tying the nationalities of each Master Works concert with participating restaurant’s menus.

Check out the Austrian eats at the following locations:

There are already a few shake-ups in the New Year for local restaurants, and no, I’m not talking about some Guy Fieri wasabi-tini at TGI Friday’s.

Owner Anthony Guerrieri is out at downtown Fargo’s Stella’s Italian American Restaurant, 612 First Ave. N. If  you ate at the Italian spot and don’t recognize his name, you may remember his face as the perpetually perturbed waiter/manager/owner who thought it was charming to treat customers like they were disturbing his otherwise quiet night at work.

Guerrieri changed the name to from Ristoranté Isabella to Stella’s in May 2009. Perhaps because googling “Ristoranté Isabella Fargo” and the address led to a foot fetish site for Goddess Isabella Dolce. Not very appetizing.

One plus about the change already: Stella’s is now open for lunch again from 11 a.m. – 2 p.m.

Around the corner on Broadway, another well-known restaurateur, and far more personable, has pulled out of spot that wasn’t even a diner.