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FARGO — It all started when vocalist and guitarist Sky Husebye found 25 copies of "Wedding Crashers" at the Used-a-Bit Sales and Pawn shop in Fargo and purchased the lot for just over $6 back in July 2021.
Rushing home, Husebye filled the top shelf of their entertainment center with the DVDs and brought bandmate Tim Gibson in to “pick out any movie from the top shelf” to watch that evening.
The pair had a good laugh, but they didn’t know that this harmless joke would soon spiral into their endless obsession of growing an already massive collection, which now tops out at 322 copies.
Prior to their collection, the band had no connection to the 2005 comedy/romance film starring Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn.
As for the why of it all, the group couldn’t say. Not one of the band’s four members have seen the film.
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“It would ruin it if we watched it now,” Husebye said.
The band, Straight Line Arrival, is an emo-punk group from Fargo composed of Husebye, Gibson (guitarist), Chris Holmes (drummer) and Mike Hansen (bassist).
“We’re the best band in the history of the world,” Husebye said. “If another band wants to be better they just need 323 copies of the DVD. It isn’t that hard.”
The group reckons they have spent around $300 on their collection. About half of their DVDS were found at area thrift stores and the other half were either purchased online or sent by friends and fans.
Husebye and their partner, Christiana Toman, have a rotation of thrift stores that they visit to scour for copies, snatching up every one they can find.
“It is absolutely everywhere,” Husebye said. “Thrift stores are filled to the brim.”
They even search for them when the band goes on tour. In Minneapolis, Husebye called around to see if anyone in town had copies for sale.
“People kept trying to rip me off,” Husebye laughed. “Like I know what a copy of this DVD is worth, and it's not $5.”
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The band is single-handedly inflating the price of the DVD, Gibson joked.
Local stores like Electric Underground in Fargo have even started to hold all their copies behind the counter for the crazed bandmates to purchase, Gibson said.
“Don’t go there if you need a copy,” Gibson said. The band has dibs.
A chain of multimedia stores in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, heard of their quest and gathered together all 150 copies that they had across their three stores for the band. A fan in Milwaukee packaged them up and mailed them to Fargo.
“There are a lot of people that don’t get it,” Husebye said, but those that do are enthusiastically supportive.
During a show in Bismarck, an audience member brought them a bootleg copy of the DVD. The fan had drawn their own cover art on the case.
While none of their music has been inspired by the collection, Holmes joked they will need to start working on a song about it now.
The band formed in 2019 as a solo project of Husebye’s, but they quickly grew to embrace their current sound. Their music is punky, aggressive, a little grungy and a little bit emo, Husebye said.
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“We all bring something completely different to the table,” Husebye said.
The group currently has four albums, Gibson said, available wherever music is heard.
Despite an entire bookshelf nearly filled, band members agree there's no end in sight to their collection.
They also have no plans of watching the movie anytime soon, but have thought about renting out the Fargo Theatre and hosting a screening of the film once they reach 1,000 copies.
Hopefully, Husebye said, some of the film’s actors will be inspired to join their screening in-person.
“I feel like (Wedding Crashers) is going to be empty calories,” Hansen said. “You enjoy it while you watch it but forget it instantly.”
Holmes just wants to have Wilson look at their collection and exclaim his catchphrase, “ wow .”
The band invites people to send any copies of "Wedding Crashers" that they have to:
Sky Husebye
PO Box #2907
Fargo, ND 58108
It is not yet known if the band is aware of Hollywood whispers about the creation of a "Wedding Crashers" sequel .
