Review: Semisonic delivers the perfect, Minnesota-proud set for State Fair closing time

An unofficial tradition in recent years for the State Fair’s final day, old-school Minnesota music fans filed in as the masses started clearing out to catch local rock royalty close down the Leinie Lodge Bandshell stage on Monday night. This year’s entrant, Semisonic, seemed extra fitting — not only because the trio’s biggest hit is “Closing Time,” but because it put out its first full-length album in 22 years last November. This wasn’t just another case of rock ‘n’ roll nostalgia at the fair.

The scene: After an overflowing crowd crammed the band shell area for the band’s first night there Sunday (another record-breaking attendance day), the scene on closing night was less mobbed and a lot more chill, in a good way. Fans kicked back under the big trees and lit-up Space Tower to soak up the golden late-summer weather. Semi-perfect night, you might say.

The music: With a 19-year lull between recordings — from 2001 to 2020 — there are two distinct eras of Semisonic, and Monday’s 90-minute set pulled evenly from both.

After opening with two upbeat, older fan faves to get the crowd singing along sweetly from the get-go, “Singing in My Sleep” and “F.N.T.,” the band set down a steady groove for “Grow Your Own” that was funky and hippie-ish enough to make you believe the song from last year’s album “Little Bit of Sun” is a cannabis legalization anthem (in fact, it’s about starting a band). That was the first of many smooth transitions between old and new material, and the reception from the crowd stayed steady between the two eras.

Biggest takeaways: These 2020s-era songs really have sparked a whole new life to Semisonic’s live shows. Especially for Minnesota fans who caught a majority of the band’s very sporadic concerts during their long recording lull, it was great to hear the extra musical spark in songs like the urgent rocker “The Rope,” the comforting “You’re Not Alone” and the paisley-poppy “If You Say So,” the latter earnestly sung by bassist John Munson.

The other definitive aspect of the show was how much the band clearly relished playing the fair. They said so several times, but they also paid homage to the fair’s Minnesota-proud vibe by playing what singer/guitarist Dan Wilson called a “triptych of Minnesota songs” (“trio” to those of us who didn’t go to Harvard). It included: “Falling,” a song inspired by getting stuck on the fair’s Ferris wheel; “Sculpture Garden,” about the shenanigans that go on outside Walker Art Center, and a cover of Prince’s “Take Me With U,” another one sung by Munson.

Coolest moment: Hearing the big “Closing Time” sing-along just before closing time at the fair was obviously a serendipitous moment not lost on anyone. It may even go down as many attendees’ most memorable instance of hearing it.

However, there was arguably an even more meaningful and lasting moment in the three-song encore that followed, when the band closed the night with the new ballad “Beautiful Sky,” co-written with My Morning Jacket’s Jim James. “Let’s make this one last,” frontman Wilson sang over and over in the song about relishing post-pandemic togetherness. A spot-on choice for closing out this particular show.

Low point: While plugging the beneficiary of the night’s drum head auction, Roseville’s Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, Munson told a story about a robin bouncing off his windshield that prompted nice-guy Wilson to make a darkly comedic comment. “Do they have robin-on-a-stick here?” he asked, to a resounding groan. “Oh wow, my first boo of the year!” he added.

Best banter: Lamenting that the end of the fair also unofficially meant the end of summer, Munson advised Wilson, “It’s time to put the dock in, Dan. Get your boat out of the water.” (Funny since Wilson now lives in Los Angeles, nowhere near a lake or autumn or winter.)