Minnesota loves Nate Bargatze. You knew that. And we proved it once again as he set a comedy attendance record last weekend at Xcel Energy Center.
His shows on Saturday and Sunday in St. Paul drew 32,103 people. The old mark was 18,299 tickets for Dave Chappelle in 2023 for just one show.
Minnesota has many times manifested its love for the so-called clean comic from Nashville. Last year, Bargatze sold out the Minnesota State Fair grandstand with 13,570, the largest first Friday grandstand crowd in this century.
In June 2023, Bargatze did an unprecedented six shows in three nights at St. Paul’s Ordway Center for the Performing Arts, which is not known as a spot for comedy.
But Bargatze is not your typical comic. He doesn’t talk politics. He just tells timeless stories about life’s situations that keep his audience laughing more consistently than just about any other touring comic does.
His current Big Dumb Eyes World Tour will return to Minnesota when it stops by the Mayo Clinic Arena in Rochester on Sept. 17, just three nights after he hosts the 77th annual Emmy Awards in Los Angeles.
Last Sunday, the 46-year-old talked about things like ordering at McDonald’s, eating healthy, hiring babysitters and determining the cost of a horse.
He ended his 56 minutes onstage by reading a group chat from his cellphone between his family members: he and his father were at a celebrity golf tournament, his mom was at home in Nashville and his sister was at a beach in Mexico fighting with another vacationer.
