BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) - The population increase in North Dakota has launched significant changes in the Bismarck-Mandan area, but few as significant as a boost in entertainment opportunities.
Bismarck has risen to become a stopping point for national and traveling artists and performers.
“I’ve been blown away by how much it’s changed, especially in live music,” Amber Rae Bernhardt, executive director of Dakota Stage, told the Bismarck Tribune (https://bit.ly/1CvcCi6 ). “We definitely jumped on the bandwagon.”
Bismarck’s offerings have increased in diversity going from local musicians to national artists, comedians and stage performances.
The key to this entertainment boom is an increasing population from diverse backgrounds, which is what national performers and promoters look for, according to Charlie Jeske, general manager of the Bismarck Event Center.
“Our plan is to have events that touch all of the masses,” he said. “Bismarck is unique. It pulls from such a wide demographic for entertainment.”
Jeske said hard rock and country music still remain the two most popular attractions, but the Event Center has other options, including rodeos, the circus, Monster Jam, the Bismarck-Mandan Symphony Orchestra, national comedians and the Central Dakota Children’s Choir.
The Bell Mehus also offers smaller, more local and individualistic experiences, he said.
The Event Center also has expanded into stage performances, bringing Broadway musicals, such as “Anything Goes” and “Mamma Mia” to Bismarck.
“I think there’s more opportunities as a whole in Bismarck and Mandan,” Jeske said. “We’re just one piece.”
A similar growth can be seen at Dakota Stage, which has traditionally offered theater, but Bernhardt said there has been experimenting with new things for the past five years.
“Sometimes, I don’t know how it happened,” she said. “We just got big ideas and tried new stuff.”
The company’s Stand-Up Comedy segment was one of those experiments, and it grew from four comedians to seven in its second year.
Bernhardt introduced “The Awesome ’80s Prom” in October, a “Tony n’ Tina’s Wedding”-style event.
“I always make sure we have something going on here because that’s how we stay alive,” she said. “The more events that come up the more new ideas spring from that.”
Dakota Stage’s other offerings include a film series, the Shade Tree Players - which is a children’s theater - and Living Masterpieces.
The bigger city productions, though, aren’t the only venues seeing an impact.
The downtown music scene has been experiencing a surge of local talent with an increasing number of bars and restaurants opening doors to live music.
Kate Herzog, assistant director of the Downtown Business Association, said the live music scene has picked up over the past few years.
Local music is easier to find in the summer, she said, when restaurants have bands on their patios, including Fiesta Villa, but it’s been increasing in the winter months at new places, such as Laughing Sun and the Pond.
In the summer, the venues range from tent parties to festivals, such as Urban Harvest and the new Busker’s Corner at the 2014 Street Fair.
“There are more venues for the local musicians to play,” Herzog said. “They’ve also increased the number of days they have music.”
After being open for two years, Laughing Sun has become synonymous with the local music scene.
“We opened the pub with the idea that we would have loud music,” said Todd Sattler, owner of the Laughing Sun.
The pub supports local and traveling musicians with shows five nights a week, featuring bands such as Frog Holler and Anonymous Phenomenon.
Other bars have experimented with live music to varying degrees.
The Pond offers live music on a semi-consistent basis, and Luft, the rooftop bar, put together a temporary Song Writer’s Revolution.
“Even places like the Burnt Creek and the Broken Oar have bands that have been around for ages,” Herzog said. “They’re like fun bar bands.”
Burnt Creek, the Broken Oar, Lonesome Dove and Silver Dollar have been consistently offering live music for many years, but haven’t been seeing the same upsurge at their bars.
“I think the live music scene is really struggling and that’s why not many venues do it,” said Laurie Anderson, owner of Burnt Creek.
Anderson said smaller bands fit the smaller venues located downtown. It is the larger local bands facing problems.
“It’s just two guys with a guitar at Laughing Sun, but there’s a lot of time and effort in a six-piece band getting going,” Anderson said.
It’s easier to move three guys and guitars than a whole setup, she said, and it’s harder to get the band together to practice and expensive to travel.
Anderson said it’s a struggle sometimes to fill music slots, but not from a shortage of talent in the area.
Bernhardt, though, said it’s important for the community to be involved in building an entertainment scene in Bismarck.
“If the community wants to keep these options available, they have to support it,” she said. “A lot of that is with an influx of people.”
And Sattler has already seen community involvement increase.
“Before, there was this emergence of a music scene downtown people would come to a bar and treat the live music like it was background music,” Sattler said. “Now, you’re sitting as an audience and listening and engaging.”
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Information from: Bismarck Tribune, https://www.bismarcktribune.com
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