Minneapolis’s Iconic Club, First Avenue Finally Reopens

First Avenue, the iconic club and bar in downtown Minneapolis, brought to national acclaim by Prince and recognized as one of the best live music venues in America by Rolling Stone, returns after 477 days of being shuttered and silenced. The First Avenue Mainroom will reopen on July 16 and 17 with back-to-back Pride parties hosted by Flip Phone. On July 2 and 3, the Suburbs will perform two sold-out shows at the 7th Street Entry.

For fans of grabbing a bite to eat as a pre-game or as an intermission/afterparty for shows, next door restaurant The Depot will resume operations serving food and drinks starting July 1. The Depot’s hours will be from Wednesday through Saturday from 4 p.m. to 11 p.m. and will open at 11 a.m. for home games by the Minnesota Twins and Minnesota Lynx.

Photo by Marlin Levison/Star Tribune via Getty Images

First Avenue’s other venue ownerships have set their reopening plans in motion. On the Minneapolis side, the Fine Line Music Cafe will resume operations on Friday, July 23, when Nur-D, Finding Novyon, Jakeem, and Alex take the stage, followed by a performance by Your Smith on Saturday, July 24.

On the Saint Paul side of things, the Turf Club reopens its doors on Wednesday, July 7 with a performance by Electric Six, followed by two sold-out nights with Dessa. Further down the calendar, The Fitzgerald Theater will reopen to the masses on August 5 and the Palace Theater will resume shows starting September 10.

Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images

During the past year and a half, First Avenue has been anything but dormant. First Avenue teamed up with 3,000 independent music venues as part of the National Independent Venues Association (NIVA) and worked tirelessly on lobbying efforts and petitions to get what is known as the Save Our Stages Act passed as part of the most recent COVID-19 relief package, authored by senators John Cornyn and Amy Klobuchar. The Save Our Stages act provides music venues similar to First Avenue with a $15 billion lifeline in the form of Shuttered Avenue Operations Grants (SVOG).

View the full calendar of shows for First Avenue and its associated venues here.

• A Running List of Restaurants and Bars Reopening in Minneapolis and St. Paul [ETC]
• The Best Rock Venues in the America [Rolling Stone]
• First Avenue - Your Downtown Danceteria Since 1970 History [FirstAve]