WE Fest 2011 is in the books and it’s too bad it didn’t close on a better note.

I’m not talking about the rain that came at the end, but rather the closer, Rascal Flatts.

The trio’s odd show was anticlimactic after previous night headliners Brad Paisley and Sugarland. Miranda Lambert, who played before the Rascally ones would’ve been a better closer as she delivered a much more energetic set.

Not that the little Rascals didn’t try. Their set was interesting, a lit back drop with three doors and stairs coming down from each. As an intro video showed big blocks of ice cracking over the doors, the three main members appeared backlit in the entryway and sauntered down the stairs. Dramatic, but only as much as a JCPenny fashion show.

Each member took their place behind a couple of mounted floor tom drums that lit white when struck, kind of a cross between Blue Man Group meets Fushu Daiko. Suffice to say, it was a first for the usually fairly straight-laced WE Fest.

From there the group got the crowd going with “Why Wait.” I wish the band would’ve asked themselves that as they seemed to be running out the clock instead of running through their songs. Just a handful of tunes later bassist Jay DeMarcus took over as the others disappeared. He thanked the crowd, talked about how crazy country fans are and asked for prayers for the members of the military killed on Saturday. The way DeMarcus worked the stage, it wouldn’t have surprised me if he broke into a sermon.

Instead, a couple of tunes later, each member broke into a solo cover. DeMarcus sat at the keys for Michael McDonald’s “Taking it to the streets, while guitarist Joe Don Rooney picked away at Stevie Ray Vaughan’s “If the House is a-Rockin’” and singer Gary LeVox’s take on Stevie Wonder’s “Signed Sealed Delivered.”

Did someone need a breather? Were there technical problems to figure out? I kinda hope so because the pacing stalled the show, especially since the group shot the moon early by playing its biggest song, “Bless the Broken Road,” fourth.

Of course, they have other hits, like the Tom Cochrane cover “Life is a Highway” from the “Cars” movie., “Fast Cars and Freedom” and “Take Me There.”

It’s hard to say whether people started streaming out at the end of the main set because of the rain, because they thought the band was done or because they’d heard enough. The Flatt-tops came back for the spiritual “I Won’t Let Go,” the lyrics of which fit the rainy weather.

Those that stayed cheered for the finale, a medley of Boston’s “Long Time, Kansas’ Carry on My Wayward Son” and Edgar Winter’s “Free Ride.”

The group has talent, especially as a vocal group. When they are a rock group, they are pretty boring. Unfortunately that’s what closed out the region’s biggest country music fest.

That shouldn’t be a problem next year as the headlining acts, Alabama, Toby Keith and Jason Aldean, have all been announced.

Saturday’s opener, Rocket Club, is the subject of a documentary filmed at WE Fest. The piece will document a day in the life of a band that opened and closed the final day. Rocket Club plays at 2:45 p.m. on the main stage, then later at 12:25 a.m. at the Barn Stage. The Minneapolis-based group is making its mark with the single “North Country.”

Sugarland didn’t play as loud as Lynyrd Skynyrd or  and they don’t have the 50-plus year catalog of Willie Nelson, but they had no problem making their own joyous noise Friday night at WE Fest

If anyone questioned how Sugarland, a 7-year-old group with only four albums, would do headlining over seasoned veterans, those questions would’ve been answered by Jennifer Nettles’ confident smile.

The Sugarland singer is arguably the best front woman in contemporary country (Taylor Swift perhaps her only real competition) and she showed why.

Nettles’ voice is as flexible and engaging as her body language. She strutted, sashayed and danced all round the stage from the powerful opener, “All We Are.”

Nettles is a triple threat: Good looking, great stage presence and oh yeah, a power house voice. But unlike other female country singers, she doesn’t reach for high notes to show off. She’s gifted with one of the most identifiable voices. It’s hard to picture her on a “Divas” special, though she would easily steal the show.

Whike she doesn’t seem to lack for confidence, part of her strength is her musical partner, singer/guitarist Kristian Bush. He seems happy to play beside her and not stand in front of her. Almost as energetic and mobile as Nettles, when the two would meet on the stage, watching them play off each other musically and with body language  was a treat, such as when she leaned on him during the infectiously poppy, “All I Want to Do.”

Even when the two stayed in one place, as they did when she played guitar on the acoustic “Baby Girl,” it was hard to take your eyes off the stage, or rather the jumbotrons. That said, watching the crowd, especially the young women, dance and sing along was also entertaining.

Nettles connects with fans, joking how good they looked, especially since the fans had been camping. Then getting them to sing along with a cover of Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline,” the loudest sing-along I’ve heard at WE Fest, including “Sweet Home Alabama” hours earlier by Skynyrd.

Bush connected on his own when he waded into the crowd to give away a guitar.

Sugarland likes having fun with covers. They worked in the PG version of Cee-Lo’s “Forget You,” Brittany Spears’ “Hit Me Baby One More Time,” Dolly Parton’s “9 to 5” and Beyonce’s “Bootylicious” into their own “Everyday America.” They even took back Bon Jovi’s “Who Says You Can’t Go Home,” which Nettle helped make a hit. (personally I liked Bush’s singing over Jon Bonjovi’s.) The group even closed with Dexy’s Midnight Runners’ “Come on Eileen.”

The finale was fun, but I wanted more songs like their own anthem, “Stand Up.” It’s another of their catchy tunes with a positive, uplifting message and made me wonder when Sugarland will make it to Glee.

Brad Paisley is bathed in blue light as he took the main stage at WE Fest Thursday night in Detroit Lakes, Minn. Brian Basham/DL Newspapers

Paisley snuck in and popped up in the crowd singing “Mud on the Tires” and worked his way to the stage. It was funny watching people standing near him looking at the large video moniters rather than the star next to them.

How can you not notice Paisley? Sure, he’s not as tall as Blake Shelton, or as bearded as Charlie Daniels, but Paisley wears a trademark white cowboy hat  – at least until he throws it out at the end of the show

In all fairness, however, Paisley’s stage show, particularly his video back drop, gave concert-goers a lot to watch.

At times he played video clips to add to the song, like Andy Griffith’s folksy lines during “Waiting on a Woman,” and Alabama’s appearance and lines in “Old Alabama.”

(Alabama may be the big 2012 headliner, but acts this year are paying their rerspect with Niemann singing “Mountain Music” early in his pre-party set Wednesday.)

He used the screens to add fish images during “I’m Gonna Miss Her.” Even when he used the screen to show the stage feed, like in the finale, “Alcohol,” he added graphics of beer bottles exposing.

The highlight was “Water,” at the end Paisley walked across a riser above and behind the drummer, silhoutted by images of water recreation. As the song ended, Paisley jumped behind the set, a visual trick to look like he pulled off a splash dive, complete with a geyser-like splash. Yes, it was kind of cheesy (and I don’t do it justice) , but it was also pretty awesome.

Paisley is pretty well known as one of the great guitar players of our day, so just a camera on his hands would’ve been thrilling, but Paisley put on the best show I’ve ever seen at WE Fest. The dude can pick, but he also knows how to use pictures and images to complement his songs – a real media-savvy star.

Brad Paisley finishes his second song at WE Fest in Detroit Lakes, Minn., Thursday night. Brian Basham/DL Newspapers

If WE Fest promoters want ideas on who to tap for next year’s 30th anniversary show, they should’ve listened to Troubadour’s set at Wednesday’s pre-party.
The Fargo-based cover act played a mix of contemporary country and classic rock, the latter getting the bigger response.
The biggest cheers came for Bryan Adams (“Summer of ’69″) AC/DC (“You Shook Me All Night Long”), and Bon Jovi (“You Give Love a Bad Name”).
While the first two have been covered out here before, I don’t know if Bon Jovi has left its mark here, but it would. be a huge show.