Does anyone know if 1st Ave has a collection of Prince stuff from the heyday? Are they sitting on a motherload of memorabilia waiting to drop a brilliant retrospective on us someday?

If not, what do you think is the definitive collection outside of Paisley Park? You know, one we might actually see one day.

That would be

Mars23 said:

No.

Memorabilia? Probably not.

I would bet that they have tons of audio and video footage from pre-1985.

That 1st Ave tape of the live purple rain show that was the basis of a lot of the record is incredible!!!
I wonder why on earth that has never seen the light of day other than on youtube once in a while till it gets deleted.

That has got to be of the coolest Prince concert ever caught on film! Absolutely incredible!!!
[Edited 5/20/08 13:21pm]

If I remember correctly, they use to display some of the stuff that ended up across the street at that giant eye sore known as The Hard Rock Cafe.
[Edited 5/20/08 13:39pm]

double post edit
[Edited 5/20/08 13:29pm]

I doubt it. If there was, Billy Sparks would've sold it all by now to highest bidder on eBay.
To him, this is all just a bidness.

Do people realize that Prince has only played First Avenue 13 times total.(Not counting the filming of Purple Rain)

TRUTH69 said:

I think some people think that he played there weekly, like in the movie.

But since the movie was shot there it isn't unrealistic for people to think that they might have memorabilia displayed. Like I said earlier, I think the stuff across the street at Hard Rock used to be on display at First Ave.

You really don't see ANY prince related references in First Ave. The Hard Rock cafe has some cool prince stuff. I am not sure where it comes from but there is a handwritten fan letter and his reply on display. I will try to take a pic and put it up here. Its cool to check his handwriting. Kind of sloppy but expressive. I cannot recall the date but I have a cool video (a single camera on a fixed tripod) of prince doing a rehearsal that is supposed to be in the basement of first ave. I also have a long audio of him on piano that is labelled from the smaller 7th Street running through some ideas. I guess there may be some other similar stuff out there but long out of the hands of anyone current at First Ave. Happy Birthday Prince.

U know it would be very cool if there was say his name or a nickname or anything say graffiti that prince etched into the walls or somewhere.. i mean im sure that its been re painted many times etc. but juss maybe theres a certain place that still has something like that left behind.

The only place in first ave i never checked out was the indoor parking lot. There used to be an indoor entrance on the 7th st side and if any prince graphitti lived on it may be in there.

asmara said:

It would be physically impossible for anyone to play in the basement. There has never been any Prince memorabilia up except they put up some old flyers during the 2 JOTY shows at Target center. I did however find a 'Love God' guitar pick when we cleaned out underneath the stage.