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Piano men
A little raunchy, a little rude. Dueling Pianos is just what St. Cloud needs.
 Media Credit: Michael Martin/Managing Editor Mark Andert, one half of the Deuces Wild!, puts the spotlight on a crowd member during a “Team Drink” Jan. 16 at the Red Carpet downtown St. Cloud. The Dueling Pianos will be back in St. Cloud Feb. 27.
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In Margaritaville, some people claim that there was a woman to blame. In St. Cloud, the people who hold the blame for the rowdiness downtown are Mark Andert and Dave Eichholz, better known as the Deuces Wild! Dueling Piano showmen.
Andert and Eichholz are the reason why the Red Carpet Nightclub in downtown St. Cloud has become the hot spot on Wednesday nights. The bar is nearly packed every Wednesday as the two men bring their piano bar-style show to the main stage.
Since meeting five years ago, the duo has accumulated a strong fan base, selling out 1,000-seat shows at casinos and bars across the country. Deuces Wild! makes its weekly stop in St. Cloud as part of a rigorous travel schedule that includes playing as far away as Salt Lake City and as near as O’Gara’s in St. Paul.
The show works like this:
“We roll in and start playing some nice songs and when the kids start getting crazy, we play some crazy songs,” Eichholz said.
After KY-ing the audience (Eichholz’s term for warming them up), the duo begins their famous rowdy, raunchy, racy show, including their infamous Yogi Bear and Full Monty Shows.
The audience takes part in nearly every part of the show, from “team drinks” to helping roast people who are nominated by their friends and family to join Andert and Eichholz on stage. And it is the audience participation that makes the show a hot spot.
“Our goal is audience participation and interaction,” Eichholz said.
Troy Rahn, Red Carpet general manager, agrees that the crowd comes for the audience participation.
“The audience interaction makes it different every night, but they have different skits,” Rahn said. “It’s a little change off the beaten path.”
Even though the audience participation makes for a different show every night the team takes the stage, Andert and Eichholz have a handle on how the interactive show works.
“The crowd starts out kinda mellow,” Eichholz said. “Then, the crowd is ready to go. We both know what songs should go where. We know when it is time to start being naughty.”
And just how naughty are they? Perhaps the toilet on the stage is some indicator.
“When we redid the bathroom in my house, I thought we should put the old toilet on stage,” Eichholz said. “People wondered what it was for.”
But now the stage setting is an attraction to audience members as they witness nominated participants sitting upon the throne — with pants dropped, of course.
After playing show after show, Andert and Eichholz have gotten to the point where naughty mind thinks like naughty mind.
“We don’t need to look at each other,” Eichholz said. “That is the magic. That is what makes the show so fun. It’s like one kid keeps pushing one kid to keep getting naughtier and naughtier. It’s a weird deal, but Mark and I are same on page. We both know what song is going to be the next song.”
Some of the best times during the show, Eichholz said, is when the naughty turns into the unexpected.
“In Oshkosh (Wis.), the room is always full. By 5:30 it is full and our show starts at 10. People have been drinking since 4:30, and there is no need for a warm up,” Eichholz said. “There was this family. It was a boyfriend and girlfriend and the girlfriend’s parents. It was the girl’s birthday and was nominated for the Cindy Bear. (The parents) freaked out. The boyfriend was hollering because of the reaction. They were pissed.”
But that sort of unexpected behavior actually helps Deuces Wild!
Eichholz said people in the town talked about the angry parents at the show, which attracted more people the next time.
“That helps. That is the way it works,” he said. “Probably 99 percent have a good time and the one percent that don’t double our show the next time (by spreading the word.)”
Not that all this naughty behavior isn’t paying off for the pair. Next month, Deuces Wild! makes its Olympic debut, playing 20 straight nights in Salt Lake City, Utah.
“We’re playing at a club right downtown, where there might not be a lot of entertainment,” Eichholz said. “Hopefully we’ll be the only thing to do. We’re playing three shows a day for 20 days.”
And what will the loyal St. Cloud fans do while Andert and Eichholz go for the gold in Utah? Eichholz said the showmen plan on sending video tapes back to the Red Carpet to make sure the fans don’t forget about them.
Having such a high quality show visit St. Cloud is something Rahn is happy to see.
“The quality of entertainment they bring to the stage exceeds other piano bars, even in New York,” Rahn said. “They are two of the best ones I’ve ever seen. It’s great to offer something to our clientele. They get to catch something they would have to travel to a big city to see.”
Part of the success and professionalism of the show has to do with the relationship between Eichholz and Andert.
“Working with Mark is just so cool. He is the consummate pro,” Eichholz said. “When we are together it is something. There are people who think we click. We are the two musketeers.”
The two musketeers who, instead of fighting evil in France, fight for fun and interactive entertainment, via a little bit of naughtiness.
“You were brought up to know that there were seven or eight words that you can’t say in public, but you get in trouble with us if you don’t say them.”
Mark & Dave's schedule:
- Tonight: O’Gara’s, St. Paul.
- Friday: Chucker’s, Winona.
- Monday: Borrowed Buck’s Roadhouse, Sioux Falls, S.D.
- Tuesday: Borrowed Buck’s Roadhouse, Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
- Feb. 2: The Bar, Oshkosh, Wis.
- Feb. 4 - 25: Zipperz, Salt Lake City, Utah. (Their Olympic Debut!)
- Feb. 27: The Red Carpet, St. Cloud.
Tracy Ust can be reached at: [email protected]
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