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Minnesota Music Notes | Minnesota Music Notes: Stories from First Avenue

Minnesota Music Notes: Stories from First Avenue | celebrating noteworthy artists, people and moments that shaped the history of Minnesota’s Mainroom First Avenue

Minnesota Music Notes: Seasons 1 & 2 | celebrating noteworthy songs, artists, and musical performances from Minnesota

First Avenue Is Dead

David Carr put it this way in his New York Times column: First Avenue Is Dead (Long Live First Avenue). Britt Aamodt looks at the bankruptcy that nearly closed the iconic club for good in 2004.

The Prince Night That Almost Was

It was 2010 and Minnesota supergroup GAYNGS was hosting a CD release party at First Ave, when Prince appeared side stage. Britt Aamodt recounts what happened next.

The Greyhound Years

Before First Avenue was a club, it was a bus terminal. Britt Aamodt looks at the origins of the Greyhound Northland Bus Depot.

Dan Corrigan’s Big Picture

Dan Corrigan’s first photographic assignment at First Avenue/7th Street Entry in 1981 wouldn’t be his last. Not by a long shot. Britt Aamodt’s piece examines the photographer who captured a lifetime of Minnesota music.


The Bride and Groom Wore Black

Lucinda Williams had played First Avenue before. But this night was special. Britt Aamodt reports on the wedding of the country star with her Minnesota beau before a packed Mainroom audience in September 2009.

Mainroom Memories

Chris Riemenschneider, music critic at the Star Tribune, couldn’t believe no one had written a history of First Avenue. So he wrote one. Here is Britt Aamodt on Riemenschneider’s First Avenue: Minnesota’s Mainroom.


Mad Dogs, English Joe and the Depot

Woodstock breakout Joe Cocker had just come off a U.S. tour and really needed a break. But his North American manager had different ideas. Britt Aamodt has the story of the first live performance at the Depot, the Minneapolis club opened in 1970 that would later become First Avenue.

Nirvana at the Entry

Nirvana had just come from a recording studio in Madison, Wisconsin, where the group made initial steps to record songs for a second album. Now, April 9, 1990, they were playing Minneapolis’ 7th Street Entry. Britt Aamodt offers a snapshot of the Seattle band on their way up, the year before their second album, Nevermind, went supernova.

First Avenue Love Story

Mark Wojahn, artist and filmmaker, had been coming to First Avenue/Entry shows since he was in high school. But then in 1992 at a Buffalo Tom—or was it Beastie Boys?—concert in the Mainroom, he saw her. Who was she? Britt Aamodt shares Mark Wojahn’s First Avenue love story.

Bob Stinson Gets Replaced

By 1986, the Replacements had played First Avenue and the Entry more times than they could count. They’d grown up—as men and as musicians—there. Now they had to let one of their own go. Britt Aamodt has the story of guitarist Bob Stinson’s last hometown gig with the band.

The Time Debuts “Jungle Love” and “The Bird”

In 1983, The Time brought in a crew to record their concert at First Avenue. Producer Britt Aamodt takes a look at the Minneapolis R&B and funk band the year before Purple Rain made them international stars, and how one of those live First Ave recordings made it onto the fim’s soundtrack.

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McKnight FoundationMN Legacy