FRIDLEY, Minn. — This December, holiday decorations are back up and Christmas music rings out once more at Crooners Supper Club in Fridley. Each weekend, guests pour in to hear music on the venue's three different stages.
Music director Andrew Walesch lights up when he talks about it.
"All of these wonderful holiday shows are coming back this year and the trees are up and the holiday decorations are up," Walesch said. "Guests are coming in, and they’re so excited to celebrate music and the holidays and good times with friends."
Walesch, an energetic bandleader and crooner himself, said he's thrilled to bring back the shows that had to be cancelled last year. In December of 2020, state COVID restrictions forced performance art venues to shut their doors completely.
Crooners quickly adapted and began thinking of ways they could offer performances outdoors to patrons in their cars. And as soon as they could safely welcome performers indoors, they made it happen.
"We stayed open every single day that we could because we believed that it was possible to do so in a safe and responsible way," Walesch said.
In April, they opened The Belvedere, a large, outdoor heated tent. It's now one of three different stages throughout the venue, in addition to the Dunsmore Jazz Room and the Mainstage.
"It was born out of COVID completely serendipitously," Walesch said, of The Belvedere.
The club's owner, Mary Tjosvold, says the club aims to provide guests with an experience that takes them away from the stresses of the world: namely, COVID.
"This is a time when you can just listen to the music, shut everything else out, and just regenerate yourself," Tjosvold said.
Tjosvold founded the club with her late husband, Larry Dunsmore, after whom one of the stages is named. Dunsmore's experience as a professional pianist inspired them to create a no-talking environment when musicians are playing.
"It’s really about their relationship with the performer, and the performer’s relationship with the customers," Tjosvold said.
That connection with the musicians is felt by the patrons who spoke with KARE 11.
Edmund Rosen, of Minneapolis, brought his grandmother to a show December 9.
"You feel a part of the people onstage...I’m blown away. I’ve never seen better live music," said Rosen, 24. "You’re taken back in time in more ways than one. It feels untouched. Untouched by any sort of badness from a virus. And seeing Frank Sinatra specifically, it’s a portal to another place."
To learn more about the shows Crooners is offering, visit this website.