LANESBORO -- A slow, steady rain fell on Lanesboro on Friday, but it stopped just before Garrison Keillor took the stage in his famous red tie and sneakers.

"It's so great to be here in the ballpark," he said before leading the audience of 2,000 people in singing "The Star-Spangled Banner."

It was the first of two sold-out shows of "A Prairie Home Companion" to take place on the softball field of the small town nestled in the Root River valley. Fans arrived in ponchos and rain jackets, popping open lawn chairs as they crowded together on the outfield grass.

Shortly before starting the recorded part of the show, Keillor said he wasn't sure if the satellite uplink in the valley would allow the show to be aired tonight. It was scheduled for broadcast today at 5 p.m. on KZSE-FM 90.7 and KLSE-FM 91.7 in Rochester. If it does air, Keillor said, it will get people looking at their maps.

"They're going to go 'Lanesboro, Lanesboro, where's that?'" he said.

The show included many references to Lanesboro, including a skit in which God created Lanesboro, only to ban its inhabitants from eating rhubarb.

Guy Noir Private Eye, Keillor's recurring character, did a sketch where he was hired as a security guard on the Root River Bike Trail.

Keillor called Lanesboro "a beautiful town" that was "settled by Irish Catholics and Norwegian Lutherans who have gotten together reasonably well."

Even though the show was sold out, some folks gathered near the ball field's fenceline to listen as Keillor stood on stage with a backdrop that spelled "Rhubarb" to note the town's festival this weekend.

The show also included some local talent:

• The Rhubarb Sisters, who substituted the word "Rhubarb" into the chorus of "My Girl."

• Yvonne Freese, an opera-singing Lanesboro High School sophomore who drew a standing ovation from the crowd.

"In about 10 years, we'll see her in Wagner; she'll be a goddess," Keillor said. "She's well on her way to goddesshood right now."

For longtime fans of "A Prairie Home Companion," it was a dream: a chance to see the show performed in a small-town setting on an outdoor stage.

"It's fantastic," said Charlie Staub of Harmony as he settled into his front-row seat.

Before the show, some of the fans crowded into the Riverside on the Root restaurant, where the menu featured a rhubarb dessert with powdermilk biscuits, a nod to both the town's Rhubarb Festival and the "Companion" performances this weekend.

It was one of the biggest events the town has seen, and Ann Osland of rural Lanesboro marveled at the fact that Keillor had brought his show to town.

"I can't think of anyone else I'd stand out in the rain for," she said.