From Fargo with Love

I understand having Fargo Mayor Dennis Walaker capping off the litany of colorful characters giving enthusiastic endorsements of “Downtown, baby!” in the recent promotional push for downtown businesses, but I hoped they talked to Patton Oswalt when he was in town Tuesday and Wednesday.

The comedian/actor/writer was glowing about being in Fargo and particularly Broadway. At a book reading and signing Wednesday afternoon at Barnes & Noble, Oswalt praised downtown and seemed genuinely astounded by the Fargo Theatre marquee. (Good thing the lights were still on.)

Acknowleding his previous knowledge of Fargo was from the Coen Brothers (“You have no idea how many woodchipper references I got on Twitter today”), he was also impressed that over 100 fans showed up. He was less impressed with the state of the men’s bathroom, as he opened the show that night, but that just makes me shudder now.

And what fans. Two from the book sining sat in the first row of Wednesday night’s show and gave him a good bulk of material when he found out two were DJs at the Northern.

If you were thinking the voice of Remy in “Ratatouille” would bring a family friendly show, you probably didn’t care for the bit about daddy issues and a Garfield mask. Too bad, everyone else did.  

The really entertaining thing about Oswalt’s show was how much he genuinely liked coming to Fargo. Veteran stand-up comedians can come across as some of the most jaded, bitter people, but Oswalt really warmed up to the Fargo crowd in a hurry.

And since the powers that be would like to believe everyone would have that reaction to Fargo-Moorhead, why don’t they tape visiting celebrities enthusiastically saying “Downtown, baby,” instead of Mayor Walrus mumbling it without a break in the words?

Josh Duhamel and Fergie, where you gonna go to escape the papparazzi? Downtown Fargo, baby! Patton Oswalt, where are you gonna go to get your comic book fix in town? Downtown, baby! hey Ronny from “The Jersey Shore,” where you gonna go to get your gtl (gym, tan, laundry) on when you cometo town? Downtown, baby. Hey Lemmy, where are you gonna go to get your hair done when Motorhead plays? Downtown #%@!

OK, maybe don’t ask Lemme.

Maybe I caught him on a bad day. Maybe I didn’t ask questions that sparked his interest. Maybe he had other things on his mind. Any which way, I wish Patton Oswalt would have been more loquacious when I talked to him. Even a question I thought he may enjoy (“What movie adaptation of a comic book would you want to be involved with?”) got little in response. (“I just want to be in good movies.”)

In my experience, comedians are tough interviews. They aren’t necessarily their stage personalities and like musicians, they are usually on the road between shows.

For the record, he was polite, considerate with his time, but never seemed too interested in elaborating much. Too bad I didn’t catch him when he was “on,” like he was Thursday on “The Daily Show,” discussing his new book “Zombie Spaceship Wasteland.” Imagine that, being more excited talking to John Stewart than John Lamb.

Oh yeah, if you didn’t already know, Oswalt will be signing copies of his book at Barnes & Noble at noon on Wednesday.

If you want another taste of the comic, read his smart analysis of the dire state and future of pop culture in the new Wired.

Pretty excited about this show.

Country singer Craig Morgan’s Saturday show at the Scheels Arena was cancelled. Word got out Wednesday via press release that the show was scrapped due to “unforeseen scheduling conflicts.”
Hmmm….

According to his website , as of Wednesday morning – shortly after the statement was released by the Scheels on behalf of the promoter, Winterset Concert Events of Nashville, Denver and that entertainment hotbed, Rapid City, S.D. – the show was still listed.

Heck (it’s only right to say ”heck” when you’re talking country acts), according to his Facebook page, as late as Monday evening he was looking forward to the show. Then again, Morgan announced Tuesday on Facebook he swallowed a tooth cap and wondered if it passed if it could be cleaned. Aparently Morgan is big on recycling. But maybe that cap was causing too much discomfort to make it from Nashville on Thursday to Fargo on Saturday. His next date is two weeks away, Dec. 2, in Sacramento.

Or, maybe Morgan got hurt while extreme aerial bowfishing!

Or maybe there just wasn’t much interest in paying $20 – $50 for a guy who just played here opening for Carrie Underwood in June, played WE Fest in 2009 – only four months after playing the Shooting Star.

Campers are allowed onto the WE Fest grounds today at noon. The forecast is for partly sunny in the mid-80s through Friday, but a chance of showers on Saturday.

The new permanent stage at Soo Pass makes concert promoter Chyrll Sparks eager to do a variety of more shows, though on a smaller scale than WE Fest or even July’s 10 K, which averages about 16,000 fans.
She can see a 5-6,000 gig of "classic rock, but hip."
Not sure what that means, but I’m curious.
Likewise I’m curious to see who is booked for next year’s 10 K. According to Sparks, rock acts don’t book as far in advance as country acts, so the headliners won’t be announced until late fall, unlike WE Fest, which already announced two 2010 headliners.
And while next year’s 10 K may seem far away, the headliners won’t be too far out.
"10 K will be slightly more mainstream," Sparks said. "Dave Matthews Band is a little left of center. We need to be more in tune with people who live here. We can’t rely on people driving 220 miles from the (Twin) Cities, because they can see (shows like DMB) there."
DMB, which was Saturday’s mainstage headliner, failed to bring in the 10-15,000 extra fans organizers were hoping for, despite being the highest paid act in that festival’s seven-year history. But left of center? Isn’t a little left of center what 10 K is all about?

Jam band fans who may have been concerned that 10,000 Lakes Festival organizers were leaving their roots after Thursday’s lineup (Wilco, Atmosphere, Junior Brown among others) were likely thinking, "Thank Garcia (Jerry, that is) it’s Friday."

The third day’s bill was back to some festival favorites, like main stage headliners Widespread Panic, Trampled by Turtles and Wookiefoot.

I stayed through the day, but having seen Widespread Wednesday night, I cut out around 8, to upload photos. You can see a 10 KLF gallery at The Forum’s site.

With the better part of half a day, I got my music’s worth from Trampled by Turtles. The Duluth, Minn.-based, five-piece string band absolutely shred it. Even sitting down they held the audience’s attendence for their 90-minute set. Makes you wonder if Old Crow Medicine Show is on promoters’ wish list.