more (hopeful?) news about first ave's current situation, from the star tribune:

First Avenue outlook bright, blurry
Chris Riemenschneider, Star Tribune
November 4, 2004 AVE1104


New rays of hope were found Wednesday after the darkening of First Avenue nightclub a day earlier.

The attorney in charge of the assets and debts of the famous Minneapolis music venue -- which closed Tuesday under a bankruptcy filing -- said the club could reopen within a week.

Whether that happens next week or early next year, though, the club's prospective operators remained confident they could keep live music on the corner of First Avenue and 7th Street in Minneapolis.

Meanwhile, former employees and other music professionals were working to guarantee that concerts on the First Avenue calendar will land at other venues around town.

Ex-managers Steve McClellan and Jack Meyer -- hoping to take over the venue -- sorted paperwork Wednesday on insurance and liquor licenses needed to reopen the club.

"We had the ball rolling well before [the bankruptcy filing]," said LeeAnn Weimar, a former club employee and publicist hired by McClellan and Meyer.

New keys to the club and all assets that belonged to the Committee Inc. -- the company that used to run First Avenue -- are now in the hands of a bankruptcy trust.

On Tuesday, First Avenue's founder, Allan Fingerhut, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy after battling with the club's landlords over about $200,000 in unpaid real-estate taxes and rent. Two of the landlords are McClellan and Meyer, whom Fingerhut fired in June.

John Stroebner, the lawyer in charge of the bankruptcy trust, is meeting with attorneys for McClellan and Meyer on Friday. He said a deal could be made to hand over equipment and other assets of the club, but it would have to be approved by a judge.

"I think everyone is interested in moving as quickly as possible on this," Stroebner said.

Stroebner said there are "creative ways" in which the liquor license used at the club before the bankruptcy could be shifted to the new operators. Otherwise, getting a new liquor license would take several months.

Minneapolis licensing inspector Ken Ziegler said it will still take a few months, because the old liquor license expired with the bankruptcy.

After Ziegler's analysis, the Minneapolis City Council would have to approve a new license. At least one person at City Hall took note.

"It is unfortunate Minneapolis lost a downtown music landmark," said Council Member Natalie Johnson Lee, who represents the area where the club is located. "I'm hoping someone or some group can breathe new life into that corner and still maintain a diverse format."

Nationally, the club's closure raised concern from the concert industry but did not come as too big of a shock.

"Nightclubs always live on the edge, and sometimes they fall off," said Frank Riley, a California booking agent who represents local bands such as the Jayhawks as well as Boston's Jonathan Richman.

Richman's First Avenue show Wednesday was hurriedly relocated to the Cedar Cultural Center in Minneapolis. "This won't hurt the club's reputation long-term. There are still good people involved with it."

Among the people Riley mentioned was Nate Kranz, an employee who lost his job Tuesday but was working from home to help relocate concerts.

"We're taking it a show at a time, and will keep doing it as long as we have to," Kranz said.

Minneapolis rapper Brother Ali, who had his first headlining performance at First Avenue two months ago, did not know what would happen with a Nov. 16 gig he had scheduled there. He said he was more concerned about what will happen to the club.

"I think a lot of what makes Minneapolis unique and special is wrapped up in that club," he said. "Losing it would be catastrophic to this city."

Information on relocated concerts can be found at http://www.startribune.com/music

Chris Riemenschneider is at chrisr@startribune.com.

P.S. First!

hopefully things will be all worked out soon, cuz i refuse to spend new year's eve anywhere else 'round here. i went to first ave's new year's party last year and had a blast...bein on the mainroom dance floor at midnight is a wunnerful thing.

FunkMistress said:

btw, yeah you shoulda taken that big-assed corona bottle with ya.

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

Scotty, beam me there!

And I didn't take my chance to moon Minnie from the last stall...

FunkMistress said:

i still have that pic of you by the last stall...i'll send it to you in the mail this weekend.

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

Mail from Dansa!

Do you know why this happened to First Ave.? Because no one goes there. No one cares. Steve the booking agent is an ass, and they stopped letting Prince play there in the 90's.

I'm sure they would LOOOOOVE P to play there now.

1st Ave.....who cares.

chookalana said:

i still do not understand why folks on this board (or any other p-related board, for that matter), whether they live in mpls or not, think that prince should/would/could save first avenue. contrary to popular belief, prince IS NOT first ave. plus, the place didn't close because of nobody attending, it got closed because of sheer negligence, thanx to mr. fingerhut.


dunno if you'll say that if the place were to never open back up again and all of downtown mpls turns totally over to ultra-lounges, sports bars, clear channel-run venues and the like. it's attitudes and comments such as these that bother me the most. like it or not, first ave. cannot be denied--it's got too much history behind it (minus prince) to jeer "who cares?" about it. it's one of a dying breed.

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

I'm NOT saying Prince WAS 1st Ave., I never said that. Do you have a reading problem that causes you to add words to a sentence? I was refering to the fact that 1st Ave. would not let Prince play there in the mid-ninties, when Prince was not so popular. He wanted to play an unannounced show there, and they said no. Plus Steve was lipping off about how Prince was not the A-list star to do those unannounced shows anymore.

First ave. is in it's predicament because of Steve and mainly Steve.

My attitude is mine, DO NOT tell me what I should or should not think about anything. Who do you think you are? God?

1st Ave. is a dying breed alright, let it stay dead.

Peace.

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

As my dear mother used to say - 'Your history is in your head, not in bricks and mortar'.

However, i do hope that things are resolved sucessfull for all those who care about the place.

PRNelson said:

the two are more or less intertwined...it ain't really one or the other.

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

'Cept that the tax man or whoever it may be can't take your memories of a place and the times enjoyed there.

PRNelson said:

shit, in this day and age, be damned if you can so much as hold on to a mental keepsake...

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

It's one of the few things we have that nobody can take from us. I think thats what my mother meant. At least you got to experience the place, many didn't. It'd be nice to start a thread where people can share their memories of their visits to 1st Ave. i'd take history from the mind i.e peoples recollections. As opposed to buying an arm off of a chair from the club on ebay!
[Edited 11/4/04 10:57am]

PRNelson said:

true...and i won't be surprised if someone starts puttin up their first ave. artifacts on ebay, too. good idea on the thread about first ave. memories, cuz i have a couple of 'em...

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

Share 'em! That would be real good. Just great stories not concerned with the politics of the place at the mo.

p.s. if you come across any 1st ave chair arms then org note me. I'll pay top price!

chookalana said:

I have never heard that P story before, and it may be true but I'm sure there's more to it. Who knows what P's demands would've been at that time to play a show. Knowing him, he could've been asking to do a one-off on a night with an already scheduled event. Also, since he was still doing 'secret' gigs at Glam Slam, why would he have been wanting to play the Ave?

Beyond that, a number of other artists who've been around a long time have immense respect for First Ave and the integrity of its booking staff and management. A number of testimonials could be found in a previous City Pages article about the venue. A short list of veteren acts that I know of including Robyn Hitchcock, Billy Bragg, Soul Coughing (M Doughty) will do anything they can to ONLY play first ave in MPLS.

I will admit the club lost their way in the recent years as being the hot CLUB in town. This, I believe is one of the things leading to the current financial situations. But, as a LIVE venue, First Ave can not be beat. Actually, even outside of MPLS, I have been in very few general admission venues that are as open and accessible as First Ave.

Lastly, as one of the only clubs in Mpls who do not book through clear channel, they are a beacon of hope in the local music industry.

You can certainly have your own opinion about First Ave. But, you also have a million other craptastic venues to visit in the area, so First Ave surviving shouldn't be of any concern to you even though you apparently dislike it so.