The History of Minneapolis's Most Famous Music Club: First Avenue | Full Documentary

This was so fun to watch! Brought back lots of memories of hanging out, and our old band, Cold Front, playing both the Main stage and 7th Street in late 80s and early 90s...good times. Great documentary!

I've only been to Fifth Avenue once, but it was the best laid-out club I've ever been to. They also were great about ensuring a seat for my disabled partner.

💜💜💜💜💜💜💜

Lived a couple of Blocks Away in 1992 and 1993. Changed My Life 🎸 👊

Great documentary - I have a lot of thoughts on it. Its interesting that there was never a successful business there - even over the height of it's fame with Prince.....Seems like the people who ran it were dedicated but incompetent and never realized there was no money to be made from underground, local rock and punk bands...that the kids coming to see the shows were poor...the audience had no real money to spend. It's amazing that they kept it running on the bare minimum for so long, especially seen in how the building itself was crumbling and was 'held together with duct tape'...How there were several times when the business did fail and someone from the old days of The Depot kept bringing it back but not doing anything significantly different about making it financially successful. Finally it's really interesting and bit confusing about what happened in 2004 with it's current situation - now it's suddenly successful because one person owns the building and is even able to buy up all the other big clubs in the area? Bryon Frank must have had some serious capital in real estate to just buy the whole thing....and now his daughter is running the club? Too funny. After seeing this show, I think First Avenue's legend is more hype than reality. As a MN resident who was young during the Purple Rain days, I've only visited First Avenue twice and always thought it was pretty sleazy...a dark, dingy dump of a club that had live bands but the only ones I saw there didn't play very good music, they were very loud but not interesting. I didn't understand the 7th Street Entry either - I remember it as a plain dark room with some anonymous rock band set up in the corner playing way too loud and a few drunk people standing around, not really listening to them - I didn't stay long. This program helped me understand what they were trying to do with the Entry, comparing it to CBGBs. The people who went there were trashy too - a lot of punk types who all looked unemployed and wore clothes from the thrift stores....maybe I just wasn't into the punk scene and lived in south Minneapolis, so going downtown wasn't fun or exciting for me. The dance nights were OK but the times I was there for those, no one was dancing, everyone was just standing around trying to look moody and cool......it ending up being a pretty boring place and I never went back. Also, Block E and 1st Ave was a really sketchy and dangerous part of downtown in the 1980's and those of us who live here avoided it. They talk about that a bit in the documentary. Then about Prince....no one I knew at the time thought he 'owned First Avenue' , by 1989, all us locals knew he owned the Glam Slam club and we'd go there trying to catch a glimpse of him on the upper level.

Hated this place the smell the bathrooms the music

If PRINCE voice not speaking i usually wont watch

I hung out there 82 to 88 love that club

A documentary about First Avenue that does not contain Prince. Why?
Much respect 0+> " The greatest to ever do it" !!!!
07/07/1958 -- 04/21/2016

Prince was the GREATEST that ever graced the music world. Purple Rain was the GREATEST Rock N Roll film ever made. That Man gave his ALL, helped a lot of people, and still has a vault of music for the next century and regardless of what's inside of there, he gave us the cream of the crops of EVERYTHING that was ever recorded when he was alive in the flesh.

Any place that immortalises GG Allin on their building gotta be lit

top 5 Entry/ave shows

Helmet, Entry, 91-92 era
Iggy Pop, Main, 1996?
Husker Du, Warehouse tour, Main
Mats, PTMMe tour, main
Peter Murphy, Main, 90s

Kevin Cool indeed! ❤ I spent many hours here in the mid-80s when I was lucky enough to be working at the U of M. One of the best times of my life!

Is this documentary available to purchase on DVD/Blu-ray?

WONDERFUL !!!

Wow... seven people at a Bad Brains show?! I was too young to go to First Avenue that year and obviously very few locals heard much of their music, but... the things you wish you had known of looking back.

The years I went to First Ave-i.e. 1984-87, there was a weekly hip-hop night, one day a week. To say that there were no "black" bands welcomed with open arms may be true, but there wasn't exclusion because one night was reserved every week for "black" music (hip hop, at the time that is what it was called it was before Gangsta rap and other genres now with huge followings). The bands played were very often "punk" and white male rage or disco or hard rock, but that was the selling music at the time and hip hop was not as economically profitable on a large scale. I never saw hip-hop bands in downtown at small cafes or bars as this man claims in the video but I must have missed the clubs, unfortunately. It was very white though. I always considered the club "black" and that Prince was King and I often went dancing with a black female friend every weekend-

I think pretty much everybody worth going to see live has played at First Ave.

I'm pretty surprised to learn that the club used to be a Greyhound bus station.

Damn. Richard Luka looked good!!

My brother Buck and I scraped up the old floor for Steve. Made over $97k. In two days😂😎❤️

Steve is a sweetheart! 😍😘

Saw Ace Frehley there in I think 87 with Y & T.....was so cool to see Ace that close, great memories!

Never been to Minneapolis, or the state but I like this documentary

That was so good.

i think First Ave... should be renamed to Prince Ave.. but anyway is not oly prince its for all musicinas globally so First Ave.... great music history of global culture

life was easy no mobiles no high tech bullshit...music and good tempo

by far the greatest place of music history

Times Square in New York used to be cool too .

My favorite place to see a band, I've seen so many great shows here from American head charge , to down, superjoint ritual, hank3 four or 5 times, tyler childers , whitey Morgan

oh NO NO YEAH.
means:
yeah kinda,...you have to.

My absolute favorite venue that I didn't discover until my mid 30s !!

My favorite part of all this is the loyalty that the employees have and this isn't a place that makes you feel over the hill after the age of 25.

Amazing doccie! My love and respect to everyone who gave so much blood, sweat, tears and love to make the venue work, stay open and give good music a space to develop and display. So many of my favourite bands played there

Prince would be turning over in his grave to see them cancel HIS FRIEND Dave Chappelle. Even when his concert was SOLD OUT. They've rightfully lost a lot of support for that ridiculous decision

Nicely done!

Knowing the world PBS is in and has been in it makes this documentary that much more powerful and better when I didn't think it could of been cooler then the production it already is.

I remember how much fun I had on my first tour and being able to perform at this legendary venue!

Oh no! What happened to this place?! To bad.

Owners are spineless pathetic human beings catering to people who live their lives as pathetic humans addicted to being victims

It’s owned by woke management now . Hope BLM burns it down

I remember hearing they didn't let Black people come in there. They never let anyone of the Bands come in there. Prince never had a chance to play in those clubs.

Hey! there's a picture of SAMHAIN in this, kool.

That's my Uncle Jack Meyers, this was my playground from age 15!

My mother LOVED Fingerhut!

Lol it’s funny how disrespectful they are when talking about Prince making it popular