First Avenue (nightclub) - History

History

Built in 1937 as a Greyhound bus station, The Depot as it was called was noted for its art deco style and amenities of air conditioning, shower rooms, and public telephones. The floor inside was a checkered terrazzo, while the sidewalk was made of shiny blue bricks with white trim. The club got its start when the twenty-seven year old owners, Danny Stevens (who owned the class A liquor license from the Hotel Hastings) and Allan Fingerhut opened the doors on April 3, 1970 to showcase a two set evening with Joe Cocker's Mad Dogs and Englishmen. In July 1972, the venue was renamed Uncle Sam's, becoming part of a national franchise of the American Events Company. Along with Allan Fingerhut, Danny Stevens, Steve McClellan, Dan Lessard and Jack Meyers, the club's financial manager, took control in 1979, changing the club's name to Sam's. With disco making way for progressive rock, the club got another name change on New Year's Eve in 1981, when it became First Avenue.

The name change to First Avenue did not affect the club's growing popularity. During the 80s, local artist Prince helped put it at the forefront of music venues in Minneapolis, making it his main stage, the place for him to try out new material, and using it as the set for many scenes in his movie Purple Rain. Already mentioned in Newsweek in 1986, when the club turned the ripe age of twenty in the 90s it started to get national recognition with mentions in magazines like 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 this music and its performers.

The club was shut down by then-owner Allan Fingerhut in the late fall of 2004 for financial reasons, causing protest from music fans in Minnesota and elsewhere. The issues were quickly resolved (even the judge presiding in the bankruptcy case noted, "I gather there is some urgency about this"), and the club was reopened by owners Meyers, McClellan, and longtime business manager Byron Frank, resuming shows after only one week. Minneapolis mayor R.T. Rybak 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 earlier in the year.

McClellan ended his 32 year stint at First Avenue in 2005 and formed the non-profit Diverse Emerging Music Organization. He still serves as an outside consultant to the venue. After McClellan's departure as General Manager, Jack Meyers was appointed to the position and would continue to as General Manager until 2009 when Nathan Kranz took over.