The Mainroom, The Entry | |
 First Avenue nightclub in Minneapolis | |
 Interactive map of First Avenue and 7th St Entry | |
| Former names | Minneapolis Greyhound Bus Depot (1937–1968) The Depot (1970–1972) Uncle Sam's (1972–1980) Sam's (1980–1981) |
|---|---|
| Address | 701 First Avenue North |
| Location | Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S. |
| Coordinates | 44°58′42″N93°16′34″W / 44.97833°N 93.27611°W /44.97833; -93.27611 |
| Events | music, concerts |
| Capacity | 1,550 (Main Room) 250 (7th St Entry) |
| Construction | |
| Built | 1937; 88 years ago (1937) |
| Opened | April 3, 1970; 55 years ago (1970-04-03) |
| Website | |
| www | |
First Avenue and7th St Entry are two historicmusic venues housed in the same landmark building in downtownMinneapolis. The nightclub sits on the corner of First Avenue North and 7th Street North, from which the venues get their names. The two are colloquially distinguished by locals asThe Mainroom andThe Entry.[1]
The building was constructed in 1937 as the Minneapolis depot of theGreyhound Lines bus system and operated for 31 years. Allan Fingerhut purchased the facility in 1970 and converted it into a nightclub. During the 1980s, First Avenue flourished and became a landmark in the music and entertainment industry, playing a seminal role in establishing the '80sfunk rock sub genre via theMinneapolis sound, and being the primary local venue for hometown starPrince. Since its rise to fame in the 1980s, First Avenue has hosted many notable local and national music acts. The building is marked by more than 400 large stars on its exterior commemorating these performers, along with other figures notable to the city.[2]
The venue's history and cultural significance has resulted in local and national recognition. JournalistDavid Carr wrote inThe New York Times that First Avenue's cultural weight and history is matched by only a few clubs in the United States:CBGB,Maxwell's,Metro Chicago and the9:30 Club.[3] It was also one of the first clubs to book Black performers in Minneapolis's once largely segregated music scene.[4]
The nightclub was featured in Prince's commercially successful 1984 film,Purple Rain.
The building opened as a bus depot in 1937, decades afterGreyhound Lines was founded inHibbing, Minnesota. It was noted for itsArt Deco style and amenities of air conditioning, shower rooms, and public telephones. The interior floor was checkeredterrazzo, while the exterior was shiny blue bricks with white trim.[5] The bus station moved to10th Street in 1968,[6] and moved again to Ramp B nearTarget Field in 2023.[7]
The transformation from a bus depot into a concert venue has a disputed history.[6] Clearly, Allan Fingerhut, heir to theFingerhut mail-order merchandise company, had capital and invested $150,000, and Danny Stevens of the bandDanny's Reasons had a hard-to-get liquor license.[6] Both men agree promoter Skip Goucher had the original idea for a nightclub in the bus depot.[6]
They openedThe Depot on 3 April 1970, withJoe Cocker and Mad Dogs & Englishmen and a stage crowded with 27 musicians and singers who turned in two sets.[6] Among Cocker'sMad Dogs & Englishmen that night wereLeon Russell,Rita Coolidge,Claudia Lennear,Jim Keltner,Jim Price andBobby Keys.[8]
Following two years of steady business, The Depot was faced with a new reality: the public music scene was changing. Psychedelic rock was out and disco was in. In order to stay on top of this new trend, the club needed to change its image. After a short remodel,The Depot in July 1972, evolved intoUncle Sam's, a national franchise of the American Avents Corporation ofCincinnati. A red, white, and blue patriotic-themed club with recorded dance music, a drummer, a DJ, and a light-up plexiglass dance floor became what doorman Richard Luka described as "Studio 54 for the discriminatingKmart shopper."[9] In about late 1973,Steve McClellan (who had become the club's talent buyer and eventually general manager)[10] started working at Uncle Sam's as a bartender.[11] He would enter American Avents' management training in 1975.
After American Avents left in 1979, general manager McClellan hired his former high school classmate Jack Meyers to help him manage money.[11] Dan Lessard managed the bar staff. The club's name was shortened toSam's in March 1980. The club got its third name change on New Year's Eve 1981 when it becameFirst Avenue.[12]
The7th St Entry is a smaller stage (capacity 250) attached to the historic First Avenue (capacity 1500).[13] This space was once a restaurant (the "Greyhound Cafe") and later a coatroom, before staffer Danny Flies and McClellan spent $1,500 to turn it into a barebones music venue as part of Sam's. Meyers donated his own Bose speakers for stage monitors.[14] LikeJay's Longhorn Bar and Duffy's, the Entry catered to local bands, often too new to play the Mainroom.[12][15]
The Entry opened its doors on 21 March 1980, with Cathy Mason fronting Wilma & the Wilburs, who were first to play, as warmup for headlinerCurtiss A.[14]
Chrissie Dunlap began to work days in the office in 1979, about the time McClellan booked theRamones andPat Benatar in back-to-back, sell out concerts. Disc jockeys Kevin Cole and Roy Freedom developed weekend dance nights dubbedDanceteria inspired by theNew York club of that name, often creating enough business to pay the club's bills. The club has, through much of its existence, survived on the success of its dance nights.[16] AsEDM andrave culture grew in the 1990s, Cole mentored younger local DJs such as Woody McBride,DJ Apollo (Dory Kahalé) and E-Tones at Danceteria and other DJ nights such as House Nation Under a Groove and Depth Probe, helping to create a thriving and distinctive techno-music scene in the upper Midwest.[17][18][19] From 1998 to 2003, the second-level VIP Room hosted the weekly House music night beatopia.[20]
Discrimination had created a race barrier in the Minneapolis music scene. Encouraged by Dunlap to write their own material,[22]Jimmy Jam and the 11-piece Mind & Matter were able to break through with bookings by McClellan in the mid-1970s. First booking Black acts in theone-hit wonderLipps, Inc., with lead singerCynthia Johnson, McClellan decided to bookPrince in 1981, for $2,500 plus part of the gate. Before he died in 2016, Prince was to play nine full First Avenue concerts. Over time, many of his fans thought he owned the club.[22]
Recorded live in 1983 by aRecord Plant truck parked outside at an August 1983 show, "Purple Rain" became the title of the filmPurple Rain. Prince's management team offered First Avenue $100,000 to use the mainroom for filming in late November into December 1983, with the clause that the Entry would remain open. Most of the club's employees were extras in the film. The production gave the club itspatch panel anddimmer packs. McClellan feared the audience had changed from genuine music lovers to a lot of tourists; still, he and Meyers were grateful for the boost in revenue.[22]
The club was briefly closed by Fingerhut in late fall 2004 for financial reasons, causing a wave of protest from music fans.[3] The issues were quickly resolved (the judge presiding in the bankruptcy case noted, "I gather there is some urgency about this"), and the club was reopened by new partners Meyers, McClellan, and former business manager Byron Frank, with shows resuming after one week's closure.[3] An experiencedcrowd surfer, Minneapolis mayorR.T. Rybak reneged on his promise to stage dive at the first show after reopening.[23]
McClellan ended his 32-year stint at First Avenue in 2005,[24] and began to focus on local music non-profit, the Diverse Emerging Music Organization (or DEMO).[25] After McClellan's departure as general manager, Jack Meyers was appointed to the position and continued until 2009, when Nathan Kranz took over.[26]Dayna Frank took over for her father the same year.[27]
Thenightclub has been the starting point for many acts that have come out of theTwin Cities, includingPrince,The Replacements,Hüsker Dü,Soul Asylum,Semisonic, andLizzo, among others.[28]
Bands and artists have performed at the nightclub and influenced the Minneapolis music scene from 1970 onward, as exemplified by the silver stars that adorn the black building's exterior (every star has the name of an artist who has played at First Avenue or 7th St Entry). First Avenue also appeared in Prince's 1984 filmPurple Rain,[29] and many of the film's music performances take place at the venue.[30]
U2 wrote part ofOctober at First Avenue, during sound check.[31]
Grammy Award-winning alternative-country starLucinda Williams was married on stage following a performance at First Avenue in 2009.[32]
Gwar guitaristCory Smoot played his last performance at the venue on 3 November 2011—he died just hours afterward.[33]
During theTheory of a Deadman concert on 12 August 2015, part of the ceiling collapsed, pulling down part of the sprinkler pipes. Three people were slightly injured, two of whom were taken to the hospital.[34][35]
In 1970, The Depot recorded the first live album from the venue, titledGathering at The Depot, featuring artists such as Danny’s Reasons andThe Litter.[36]
Daniel Corrigan is a First Avenue photographer since 1981 whose work fills the bookHeyday.[37] Later after the advent of ubiquitous digital photography, he became an employee in the facilities department,[38] and made a series of under-two minute videos for theMinnesota Historical Society describing his photos.[39]
Local Minnesota bandTrampled by Turtles released their albumLive at First Avenue in November 2014.
First Avenue & 7th St Entry published a promotional book in 2000,First Avenue & 7th Street Entry: Your Downtown 'Danceteria' Since 1970. The book was written, edited and designed by Rebecca Noran; and contains information on the history of the club.[12] Furthermore, the club published a magazine entitledFirst Avenue In House for a brief time from September 1998 to August 2000.[40][41]
In November 2005, First Avenue released its first compilation CD celebrating 35 years of history. The 16 track CD,Bootlegs Volume 1, is a collection of songs recorded in either the mainroom or the 7th St Entry. Most of the songs on the CD werebootlegged, thus forming the title of the CD.[42]Bootlegs was produced by Karrie Vrabel, with the liner notes written by Steve McClellan.[43] All the proceeds of the CD go to McClellan's non-profit organization, DEMO.[44] The goals of his organization are "to support musicians while promoting gender equity; diversity of music style and genre; diversity of musicians from local communities; careers in all stages of establishment; and the staging of performances with high production values."[45]
First Avenue is also home to F1RST Wrestling, a local professional wrestling company currently owned by professional wrestlerArik Cannon. It showcases Minnesota's top wrestling talent and brings in bigger names, includingSean Waltman,Jerry Lynn,Tyler Black,Colt Cabana and others. F1RST Wrestling currently holds its WRESTLEPALOOZA events at First Avenue which feature a combination of pro wrestling, live music and burlesque.
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