St. Vincent crowd surf, yeeeeeah! (Taken with instagram)
Awesome Lee “Scratch” Perry bobblehead. The reggae legend is at the Cedar on May 23, get your tickets here.
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Today is our 42nd Birthday! It all started with two sets from Joe Cocker.
this was my main hangout for music in the 80s and 90s. i’ve seen so many acts here over those years. some made it big, many didn’t and quite a few were already somebody when they played this legendary place. g-d, i have so many stories about my youth and famous people who i encountered or saw a concert of theirs here back in the day.
about the closest venue i’ve found out here in LA that has a similar feel is the Echoplex in Echo Park, but it’s not the same.
First Avenue Staff 2012
Minneapolis Sweatshop And Show!!!!! Ayye, Lake Minatoncka Or Whatever.
Tomorrow! Tickets are still available here
Valentine’s Day may have come and gone, but there are still have tales of love discovered at First Avenue to tell. Pittsburgh-native Sara shares how her passion for Minneapolis music led her to 701 First Avenue and her boyfriend, Jim.
It was December 4, 2009 when my wonderful boyfriend Jim and I met. Playing the Mainroom that night was Soul Asylum, and I’d come nearly halfway across the country from my hometown of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to see them. Being a big fan of Soul Asylum, the Mats, and the whole 80’s/90’s Minneapolis music scene in general, I’d highly romanticized the city, and finally I was in the temple itself: First Avenue.
It was about an hour or two before the show was due to start and while my mom went to check her coat, I introduced myself to the cute guy in the baseball hat socializing with some other fans by the stage. When he saw the black X’s on my hands, he thought they were straight edge tattoos or something. They were not; I was simply the youngest person in the club by at least eight years and happened to be the only one sporting them.
Before the show began, he ordered two Red Bulls and decided he didn’t want one. “Here, you can have it,” he said. I told him no, and that I hated Red Bull, but he forced it into my hand anyway. I drank the whole thing, so by the time the show started, the massive dose of caffeine combined with the excitement of seeing Soul Asylum in their hometown had me shaking like a chipmunk on speed.
Needless to say, the show was amazing. Afterwards, Jim was allowed to go backstage. He took my Pleased To Meet Me cassette I’d brought along and got Tommy to sign it for me AND he got Dave to come out and talk to me. He had said something like, “There’s a girl outside that really wants to meet you,” so he came out and signed my tape and listened to me talk at him for 90 seconds and let me hug him and oh-my-god it was one of the greatest things ever.
I saved the tab from the can of Red Bull and put it on a bracelet, and the next year I got another one to go with it. Except this time it came from the guys’ fridge backstage. (Dan said, “Help yourself,” so we did.) There’s nothing quite as romantic or satisfying as a full-circle ending.
Jim and I have “officially” been together since June 19, 2010. A lot of people say the whole long-distance love thing can’t work, but we’re proof that it can. We love each other so much and have had some great adventures together.
Maybe it’s just the cold air or the Midwestern charm, but there’s something magical about the Twin Cities. I love Minneapolis. I love Soul Asylum, I love First Avenue, and Jim, I love you.
Video: Soul Asylum’s show-closing cover of “My Generation” from 12/4/09.
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