Back in the day…

There is a concert venue in downtown Minneapolis called “First Avenue”.  Attached to it is a much less assuming venue called “7th Street Entry”.  I was just sitting here trying to tally an approximate number of hours spent between these two spots and I just can’t.

It has to be hundreds, if not thousands of hours.

When I moved to Minneapolis to go to college I quickly figured out that all age concerts were great entertainment, and the more shows you went to, the more free tickets you could acquire.  First Ave made/makes a practice of handing them to you as you walk in the door.  I went to shows for bands I’d never heard of, bands I couldn’t remember if I liked, bands I knew I liked, bands I knew I loved, local artists, national artists, bands from all over the world.  I went to everything that I could drag people to go to with me… and sometimes I went alone.  After turning 21, I expanded my concert going horizons to include the 21 and over shows.  I also learned that First Avenue nearly always kept 100 tickets or so to sell at the door for those who didn’t find out about shows until they were sold out.  I’ve stood in line for bands and nearly always gotten in.

I loved the music, the excitement, the people watching, the dancing, the dark nasty smokey sweaty crappiness of it all.  I loved 2fers on premium on tap.  I loved that on a minutes notice I could have something fun to do.  I loved the anticipation of reading The City Pages and seeing what bands were coming and clammering for tickets.

It seems that my concert going has faded quite a bit in the last couple of years.  Staying in my hometown makes getting there on short notice more of an issue.  I work evenings now, so add in the rushing downtown factor.  We all seem to be busier these days as our obligations and responsibilities build up. 

I keep thinking I should dig out my ice cream pail of concert ticket stubs and write a book of sorts…

but then I think of how much work that would be and do something else.

My something else for today?

I’m playing hookie from work, driving up to Minneapolis from my dad’s house and standing in line for last minute Hold Steady tickets at First Avenue.

So if you’re driving down 7th Street towards First Ave…. drop off a sandwich and some soda. I’ll be there.

 

Says me.