First Avenue (nightclub)

History

The building opened in 1937 as a Greyhound bus station. It was noted for its art deco style and amenities of air conditioning, shower rooms, and public telephones. The interior floor was a checkered terrazzo, while the exterior was shiny blue bricks with white trim.

The transformation from a closed bus depot into a concert venue was developed in 1968 by local rock & roll performer Danny Stevens and Elizabeth Heffelfinger, the original financial partner of the project and wife of wealthy businessman Frank Peavey Heffelfinger. When Mrs. Heffelinger fell ill midway through the development of the project in 1969, Stevens brought in an outside investor, Allan Fingerhut. Stevens, who owned the class-A liquor license from the nearby Hotel Hastings and contributed the initial investment capital, and Fingerhut, heir to the Fingerhut catalog company, opened the doors to the newly transformed venue named The Depot on April 3, 1970 to showcase a two set evening with Joe Cocker's Mad Dogs and Englishmen. In 1970 The Depot recorded the first live album from the historic venue titled, “Gathering at The Depot” featuring artists such as Deadeye, Chesterfield Gathering, System, Thundertree, Danny’s Reasons, Pepper Fog, Kiwani, Free and Easy, Grizzly, and The Litter.

Skip Gaucher (who was well known locally for the psychedelic concerts he booked at Dania Hall on the West Bank) and his business partner/roommate, Tom Fineberg claim to have had the original inspiration for The Depot, however this is heavily disputed by Danny Stevens. Gaucher and Fineberg have made unsubstantiated claims that they were looking for a new venue for concerts when they spotted the abandoned bus depot. Danny Stevens has been cited as being the original developer of The Depot in numerous publications. Stevens recognizes that Gaucher and Fineberg made several important bookings early at The Depot including the opening night act of Joe Cocker's Mad Dogs and the Englishmen as well as other acts like Poco.

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 evolved into Uncle Sam's in July 1972. Uncle Sam's was a part of a national franchise of the American Events Company. Fingerhut and Stevens were joined on a new management team in 1979 by Steve McClellan, Dan Lessard and Jack Meyers, the club's financial manager, changing the club's name to just Sam's following the end of the American Events Company franchise deal. With disco fading, the club got another name change on New Year's Eve 1981, when it became First Avenue.

The name change to First Avenue did not affect the club's growing popularity. During the 1980s, local artist Prince helped put it at the forefront of Minneapolis music venues by using it as the location for many scenes in his movie, Purple Rain, whilst also recording the definitive version of the song Purple Rain, live in 1983.

When the club turned twenty in 1990, it started to get national recognition—with mentions in magazines such as Rolling Stone and Time. Around this time, there was an increased interest in DJs and house music; and the VIP lounge on the second level was unveiled, featuring DJ music and personalities.

The club was briefly closed by Fingerhut in late fall of 2004 for financial reasons, causing a wave of protest from music fans. 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 Byron Frank (a longtime business manager), with shows resuming after only one week's closure. Mayor R.T. Rybak of Minneapolis promised to do a stage dive at the first show after reopening, but ended up dropping the idea when he discovered that the show would feature the heavy metal band Gwar. Rybak had crowd surfed at a "Rock for Democracy" event at the venue earlier in the year.

McClellan ended his 32-year stint at First Avenue in 2005, and formed a non-profit company, the Diverse Emerging Music Organization (or DEMO). After McClellan's departure as General Manager, Jack Meyers was appointed to the position and continued until 2009, when Nathan Kranz took over.

Notable events

The nightclub has been the starting point for many bands that have come out of the Twin Cities (including Prince, The Revolution, The Replacements, Hüsker Dü, Soul Asylum, Semisonic, Atmosphere, Brother Ali, Dosh, The Jayhawks, and Curtiss A, among others).

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 film Purple Rain, and many of the film's music performances take place at the venue.

U2 wrote part of October at First Avenue, during sound check.

Grammy Award winning Alternative-Country star, Lucinda Williams, was married on stage, following a performance at First Avenue in 2009.

Gwar guitarist, Cory Smoot, played his last performance at the venue on November 3, 2011—he died just hours afterward.

The club was named in Playboy Magazine's Guide to Best Nightclubs in the World at #15 out of 20 in the November 2013 issue.

During the Theory of a Deadman concert on August 12, 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.

7th St Entry

The 7th St Entry is a smaller venue (capacity 250) attached to the historic First Avenue (capacity 1500). This space was once used as a restaurant area (the "Greyhound Cafe") in the bus station, before it became the music venue that is known today as "The Entry" among the locals. "The Entry" opened its doors in March 1980 (under club Sam's) as a venue that catered to local bands. The 7th St Entry is a venue where smaller and lesser known bands play (more popular bands play the First Avenue main-room). Several recordings have been recorded live at The Entry, including Hüsker Dü's first album, Land Speed Record; the song, "Cables," on Big Black's Atomizer album; Rifle Sport's live album, Live at the Entry, Dead at the Exit; and Motion City Soundtrack's, Commit This to Memory live DVD.

Productions

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 Main-room or the 7th St Entry. Most of the songs on the CD were bootlegged, thus forming the title of the CD. Bootlegs was produced by Karrie Vrabel, with the liner notes written by Steve McClellan. All the proceeds of the CD go to McClellan’s non-profit organization, DEMO. 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."

In addition to producing the CD, 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. Furthermore, the club published a magazine entitled the In House Magazine for a brief time in 2001.

First Avenue is also home to F1RST Wrestling, a local professional wrestling company currently owned by professional wrestler Arik Cannon. It showcases Minnesota's top wrestling talent and brings in bigger names, including Sean Waltman, Jerry Lynn, Tyler Black, Colt Cabana and others. F1RST Wrestling currently holds it's WRESTLEPALOOZA events at First Avenue which feature a combination of pro wrestling, live music and burlesque.