Thank You, Stranger: ‘Front Row Paul’ gave the Twin Cities music scene his all

NINA MOINI: This week's episode of Thank You, Stranger honors a Twin Cities music scene legend. He was well-known by local musicians and showgoers as "Front Row Paul," or Paul Engebretson. MPR News producer Ellen Finn talked to a local musician and talent buyer about how he went from stranger to friend for hundreds of musicians.

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CHRISTY COSTELLO: My name is Christy Costello, and I am a talent buyer for two venues in Minneapolis, Minnesota. One is Palmer's Bar on the West Bank, and one is Dusty's Bar in Northeast Minneapolis. I also play in three bands.

ELLEN FINN: Tell me about when you first became aware of Front Row Paul.

CHRISTY COSTELLO: It would go back to me playing with a band that no longer exists called Butcher's Union. He would often be at those shows. And then I just started noticing more around all the shows, because I booked the venues. Yeah, he was that guy with the camera, standing right in front. There was always that question, like, who is that guy right up front with the camera?

But they'll fast learn who he is and how supportive he is. He's always the first one at the show when you're walking in to play. He's ready there. And he greets you with a big hug and just makes you feel a little less anxiety to get on stage. And he's always been the first person to take something. If you post a show, he'll repost it. He's just, like, the biggest sweetheart, the person you're always happy to see. And he just exudes that positive energy.

He just started going to shows, all of them, all the time, and wanted to be the person that went to the most shows. I think he even once put a number up of how many shows he went to a year or a month. For me, being somebody who runs and books shows, he's outbeat me by, like, 10 times. [CHUCKLES]

He's up to record you, post it up. And he's got a pretty good social media presence. And he ran a YouTube kind of podcast or interview called Some Kind of Fun. And then he makes videos and puts videos of his live shows he went to on them. So he's just a really good archivist of the local scene. He would share and make everybody, in his, at least, network, know of all these new bands that were coming around and get people to go to the shows. It's super supportive.

ELLEN FINN: What does that do for musicians, to have someone who's such a big fan like that?

CHRISTY COSTELLO: It's an ego boost. I personally still feel the jitters almost every time I get on stage, so Paul is the calming force with that. He's just right there, and he's just ready to go. And you're like, oh, Paul's here. Ah, I can rest easy, you know? I think a lot of bands feel that way about that.

And not everybody goes to the front row either. A lot of people are a little bit shy when it comes to that, unless you're, like, a really packed show. But those smaller shows that he shows up at, he's just right up there. And good, somebody's up front. That means usually a couple more bodies are going to approach the front of the stage, too. He's that icebreaker.

ELLEN FINN: Does he dance?

CHRISTY COSTELLO: All the time. There's a lot of video of him out there at shows, and he's always dancing and singing. I always laugh because he always-- if he was really excited, he would sing along. So you would hear us, but you would also hear him singing all the lyrics in the videos. It's just joy.

ELLEN FINN: And tell me about when you learned that he was sick.

CHRISTY COSTELLO: That was only a month ago. So he just made a post about not feeling well and going into the hospital, and how he was going to miss a couple of shows, you know? And then within a few days, he made another post that he had pancreatic cancer, and it had jumped the pancreas. And he was given time. So it was really fast.

ELLEN FINN: More than 400 people involved in the Twin Cities music scene donated to a fund for his health care costs and his family. After a very short battle with pancreatic cancer, Paul died on Tuesday.

CHRISTY COSTELLO: We thought we'd have a little more time with them, and we could do a bunch of more shows. I mean, I even put together a benefit for him that's happening at the end of May, which is now going to be a celebration of life. And there's going to be around 70 bands at Palmer's on May 31 and June 1.

So it'll be a celebration of life. Maybe if I can, I can raise enough money to get him a bronze statue. [LAUGHS] It's arm in the air, kind of Johnny Ramone, Hollywood forever sort of deal. That's a pipe dream.

ELLEN FINN: What do you picture when you just see him in your mind's eye?

CHRISTY COSTELLO: I just see his smile, and is happy. He just has the happiest eyes. And he's that guy that just sings back all your words at you, too. He was a fun one. We're going to miss him a lot.

ELLEN FINN: Christy, what would you say to him if you were able to talk to him now?

CHRISTY COSTELLO: I'd just tell him I love him. He already knows that, though. And he knows that he's very loved by a lot of people here. And thank you, because he's done so much for me and a lot of people here. But a lot of people are really sad they didn't get to see him one more time. He's just so lovable.

I was always so surprised that he was the first person to always just retaliate anything I put out and make sure everybody was aware that this was what I was doing. And I'm sure he's done that for a lot of people. That's an overwhelming feeling to have somebody that supports you that much. So yeah, I'm going to miss that. We all are.

[THE SHACKLETONS, "FRONT ROW PAUL"] Front Row Paul

No one gets in front of Front Row Paul

No one gets in front of Front Row Paul

NINA MOINI: That was a music tribute to Paul Engebretson by the local band called The Shackletons. That conversation was Christy Costello talking to our producer, Ellen Finn. To listen to more stories from Thank you, Stranger, the series, or to submit a story of your own, go to mprnews.org.