Yes, it's sad to me that America has never been as big on MK as Australia, Spain, Italy and many other countries.
You're right, many people know who MK is if you tell them it's the DS guy.
I do know several casual MK fans around here, though, and that's somewhat encouraging.
Also encouraging was that it seemed the 2008 tour was close to being sold out in most U.S. locations. The three concerts I went to were quite full, much more than in past tours. All three were close to capacity crowds, and it seemed most other venues were similar. And the crowds were pretty appreciative.