For the second night in a row, a crowd streamed through First Avenue’s doors for a sold-out celebration of The Current’s 14th birthday. Four local acts helped The Current usher in its second teenage year on Saturday night: Cloud Cult, J.S. Ondara, Annie Mack, and Porcupine. While the temperature outside hovered in the single digits, […]
On May 11-12, the Loft Literary Center will stop traffic in the East Town neighborhood of downtown Minneapolis to make way for more than 100 writers and thousands of eager readers at the largest literary festival the Twin Cities has ever seen. “Anybody who thinks of Minnesota should think about books,” said Britt Udesen, the Loft’s […]
I have a certain admiration for angry people. As a citizen and scholar of the United States, I’ve read about the provocative suffragettes; the can’t-be-tamed flag-wavers; the defiant revolutionaries. I’ve imagined myself joining their fights. But when I think about the issues threaded through present-day America, I feel numb and/or scared more often than roused. […]
The iconic music venue First Avenue will be the subject of a new exhibition at the Minnesota History Center opening in May 2019. The exhibit, “First Avenue: Stories of Minnesota’s Mainroom,” will feature everything from memorabilia of the bands that have adorned the stages since the venue’s inception, to the “scenes, sounds and stories” that […]
The Cactus Blossoms recently released the first single from their upcoming sophomore album, Easy Way. “Please Don’t Call Me Crazy” has a retro vibe to it — and not just because of the tremolo-soaked guitars. The song is a tribute to one of the Twin Cities’ veteran rock stars, Curtiss A. Curtiss A, born Curt Almsted, began […]
On Thursday night, local advertising and communications professionals will step out of the office and onto First Avenue’s stage. Five advertising agencies will be competing in the Battle, a battle of the bands to raise scholarship money for students from diverse backgrounds studying advertising and communications. Five bands are battling it out — but really […]
Minnesota music landmark First Avenue has teamed up with Minneapolis retailer Ragstock to create a pair of holiday sweaters sure to catch the eyes of local music fans. Ragstock, a thrift chain with locations that have become go-to destinations for holiday sweater shoppers, helped create two “ugly” Christmas sweaters adorned with the First Ave logo […]
The Hamilton touring cast currently presenting the acclaimed musical at the Orpheum Theatre will switch from rap to rock on Monday for the “We, The Revolution” benefit in the First Avenue Mainroom. Members of the Hamilton cast will be performing some of their favorite rock songs backed by the band that plays for the touring Broadway […]
Last night, legendary songwriter-producer Giorgio Moroder made his Minnesota debut with a DJ set at First Avenue. After a few humble words of tribute to Prince, Moroder started spinning the hits. For perspectives from gen X (Jay) and gen Y (Cecilia), two of our staffers saw the show together and shared their thoughts afterward. Cecilia […]
If you ask a Minnesotan if they’ve ever seen Radiohead live, they might lament the fact that the band hasn’t visited the Gopher State in over 20 years, since their 1997 show at the State Theatre in Minneapolis. Some fans, however, might recall having seen the up-and-coming English rock band play at First Avenue in […]
