DULUTH — Even as the Duluth Homegrown Music Festival claimed the city's largest indoor performance venue, the annual event continued a longstanding tradition of not taking itself too seriously.
"I've always dreamed of playing here," said Dave Adams from a stage on the arena floor Tuesday night. "As a hockey player."
The frontman of Big Wave Dave and the Ripples had to settle for rock and roll, and his band's enthusiastic fans weren't sad about it as they clamored to support the group during the night's closing set. Even Duluth Mayor Roger Reinert turned out to join the audience at the historic night for local music.
The Duluth Entertainment Convention Center has become an increasingly prominent part of the Homegrown mix in recent years, last year welcoming festivalgoers to the DECC Arena.
DECC Executive Director Dan Hartman explained to the News Tribune that putting a Homegrown show in Amsoil Arena with a lower-capacity configuration than is customary there — the stage stood before a partition blocking off much of the floor — was partly motivated by a desire to see how well it would work.
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Potentially, Hartman said, an act looking for a bigger venue than Symphony Hall (seating 2,221) but something smaller than Amsoil's full capacity (7,377) could be offered a similar setup.
Judging by the buoyant mood of Tuesday's crowd, the experiment was a success. Grinning fans crowded up towards the stage, with some hanging back to take advantage of the ample space for dancing and socializing. Others relaxed in arena seats or settled into low chairs arranged near a cocktail table.
The 10 p.m. Amsoil slot was a couple hours earlier than the Homegrown norm for Adams and his high-energy rhythm and blues band, but even so, they got started promptly — five minutes before the hour.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Amsoil stage hosted The Brothers Burn Mountain, Woodblind, and A Band Called Truman. Elsewhere in town on "Canal Park Night," Homegrown acts played Vikre Distillery, Sir Benedict's Tavern on the Lake and Dubh Linn Irish Pub.
Tuesday may have marked the first time an act playing Amsoil (A Band Called Truman) introduced a song as having appeared on one of the Wussow's Concert Cafe One Week Live compilations, though judging by Tuesday's successful showcase of local music, it won't be the last.
"Thanks, Amsoil!" called Adams from onstage. "Thanks, Homegrown! Thanks, Duluth, for being so damn nice to us!" Though no goals were scored on Tuesday at UMD's hockey arena, other types of goals were certainly achieved.
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