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First Ave Removes Historic Stars From Facade Yep. Prince And The Revolution, The Time, George Clinton, Sly Stone, Tiny Tim and all your favorites that have played First Avenue over the years are having their silver and black stars whitewashed over.
The plan is to repaint the exterior walls and replace certain stars. Many of them will be gone forever, as they are going to put fewer stars back up and some will be filled by newer acts.
Here's the deal: You can vote/add your two cents as to what you would like to see makes the cut by going to First Ave's site: http://www.first-avenue.c...venue-star
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First Avenue repainting stars, asking for input from fans
http://blogs.citypages.co...nue_re.php
First Avenue is in the midst of a few different renovations this summer, with their new restaurant, the Depot, slated to open next week, a new women's bathroom in the Entry (!), and the exterior wall getting a bit of a facelift. We received a few panicked emails over the weekend asking if the famed stars on First Ave's exterior were going away for good, but we've received assurance from marketing and promotions director Machen Davis that the stars will be back soon -- with new additions.
With the addition of the new stars, "I believe some of the stars are going to fade out," Machen says.
If prince.org were to be made idiot proof, someone would just invent a better idiot. | |
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Look at all those punk greats!!!
The Misfits The Exploited The Cramps The Buzzcocks GG Allin Mojo Nixon and Skid Roper The Pixies
I'd hate to see any of them to go!!!
I guess I never knew how awesome a place this was. I only thought Prince and his people played there. What a historic place!!! Making love and music are the only things worth fighting for. |
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I saw the Pixies there a few times. Plus The Breeders, The Goo Goo Dolls, fIREHOSE, Dinosaur Jr, Buffalo Tom, Bow Wow Wow, Bob Mould, Grant Hart, Vic Chesnutt, Social Distortion, Th Faith Healers, The Suburbs and lots of other great local and national bands. Regrettably, I missed Nirvana If prince.org were to be made idiot proof, someone would just invent a better idiot. | |
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Seriously though, why doesn't this place get the credit it so well deserves? It looks to be just as good as CBGB's. Making love and music are the only things worth fighting for. |
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Hmm, as long as Prince & The Revolution & The Time are replaced, I'm cool with that ... I love First Ave. Peace ... & Stay Funky ...
~* The only love there is, is the love "we" make *~ www.facebook.com/purplefunklover |
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You have to admire the brave souls who saw and smelled a GG Allin gig. | |
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replaced as in still there right??
Love God. Love Music. Love Life. | |
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Geez I know change is inevitibable, but sometimes it sucks. | |
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Do most of the folks who live in, or are from Minnesota feel it should be their decision? Just asking. I would have never made the trip to Minneapolis in April '87 (it snowed!) to see First Avenue and Paisley Park if not for Prince and The Revolution and The Time. The picture in the thread looks exactly like I remember; thank goodness I took my own way back when...
when i went to minni that was the first place I went to see, inside looks like a crack house..kindly told the guy that worked there I was in the wrong place. But agreed, they shouldnt repaint it.[Edited 6/4/10 19:28pm] | |
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Kinda sad-they definitely need to leave some of these acts/stars up | |
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Damn! WTF r they doin that for?
Oh well.... "Bring friends, bring your children and bring foot spray 'cause it's gon' be funky." ~ Prince
A kiss on the lips, is betta than a knife in the back ~ Sheila E Darkness isn't the absence of light, it's the absence of U ~ Prince | |
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Um, some folks might be misunderstanding. They are essentially removing them all, and putting up 400 of them again. "New Power slide...." |
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If prince.org were to be made idiot proof, someone would just invent a better idiot. | |
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...but true.
And... RIP CBGBs. If prince.org were to be made idiot proof, someone would just invent a better idiot. | |
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We do have a say in what stars should be replaced. To be honest, I believe all the stars were earned and should be replaced, but I guess they want fewer and newer acts on the walls. The place has historic landmark status, but I guess this "rejuvenation" has been rubber stamped.
They could have decided to make the stars smaller, or closer together, but they want them larger and less of them. I say poppycock. If prince.org were to be made idiot proof, someone would just invent a better idiot. | |
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The crack house description is on the money. If prince.org were to be made idiot proof, someone would just invent a better idiot. | |
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Was it not Prince and the Revolution along with the success of Purple Rain that made that club a fortune?! Big disrespect to eliminate your main and biggest meal ticket. | |
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We walked past to find all the stars and even the sign gone! Got a photo so we can remember it but wanted more shots of this great venue. It did need some cosmetic work though so was needed. Just hope the stars start going back up b4 we go home http://www.myspace.com/savage1999uk
Welcome2 the Dawn Experience http://www.thedawnexperie...ferrerid=4 | |
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My point exactly ... Peace ... & Stay Funky ...
~* The only love there is, is the love "we" make *~ www.facebook.com/purplefunklover |
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I agree Squirrel. Stars painted for special people at their moment in time, now gone with the stroke of a brush. You can replace them, but its new paint on a different day, with some stars gone forever. It may be necessary, but it still sucks. Guess my estrogen level is off. | |
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i used to know half the origina lineup of the exploited, big john duncan and gary mackenzie. they used to drink in my local, and gary used to live in the street where i worked and big john (who was gay) used to date one of my neighbours who was another similarly sized guy. big john was touring with nirvana on that last tour. he went from roadie to extra guitarist. he was also in goodbye mr mckenzie with shirley manson from garbage, who used to drink in the same bar and was a good friend with someone i worked with, who used to work with her when shirley worked in a clothes shop. to see a scottish punk band painted on first avenues walls was weird
that reminds me of the time i was outside first ave and some girls pointed out evan dando from the lemonheads knocking around on the other side of the street. they were great live, if shambolic at times
it's a shame they painted over this, it's quite a historic thing they've removed. i wonder why they didn't go round the corner instead
some of the names might not have been so familiar to some people, but they form a great snapshot of musical history. none of them were that unknown. there's tons of great bootlegs of shows from first avenue from various bands
it's the inside of the place that needed done up, especially the entry. the place looks like it hadn't seen a paint can since the 70s, but it was steeped in atmosphere. hopefully they don't change it too much and loose that
i have a great photo i took of first ave when i just stuck my hand out a car window at the traffic lights and took a snapshot, back in the days before folks had digital cameras and used disposable cardboard ones instead, i have a few of the stars too | |
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Mine too. If prince.org were to be made idiot proof, someone would just invent a better idiot. | |
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Awesome anecdote. I loved the Exploited when the were more punk. Sex And Violence is a punk anthem. I saw the Lemonheads at First Avenue too.
Bringing this all back around, Big John Duncan was also in Blood Uncles, whose Libertine LP was produced by Bob Mould (ex-Husker Du and First Avenue mainstay) and there was a cover version of Prince's Let's Go Crazy on the Libertine album. Prince: 3 degrees from The Exploited. If prince.org were to be made idiot proof, someone would just invent a better idiot. | |
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I do an 80's show called "The hott 80's" on Flashbackradio.com. Just last week I played "In the news" from Husker Du as my "Alternative track". Are they from Minneapolis? I wasn't aware of that. I also play "Heyride to Hell" around Halloween time Making love and music are the only things worth fighting for. |
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Oh, hell - I have to hear your show. Yes, Husker Du was a Minneapolis (actually, St. Paul) band. Did you mean "Turn On The News" from Zen Arcade? Great song. Absolutely one of my favorite bands of all time.
I'll look into your show for sure. If prince.org were to be made idiot proof, someone would just invent a better idiot. | |
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I'm sorry, yes, "Turn on the news".
This week on the show, in a segment I call "now and then", I'm playing "Cause and effect" and "When doves cry".
[Edited 6/5/10 22:32pm] Making love and music are the only things worth fighting for. |
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i didn't know any of the exploiteds music though. the street where i worked was half full of punk/goth stores and when i worked there it was more a leftover from the real punk/goth years, rather than the later mid-late 90s "trendy" goth/numetal/greenday period. the company i worked for got a load of gear that was lying about a sales reps garage and had a load of stuff from the london "boy" store and had some original 70"s t shirts, including one of the classic "2 cowboy cocks" t shirts. i raided it for some of the best stuff. gary's flat/apartment used to be literally 2 door downs from the companies head office where i worked, and he was friends of someone i employed to help me in the office, so got to know him better. he was working as a roadie for other bands, him and someone else that used to knock around the street. i later worked in the record store (which was a cool one very much like the one in high fidelity, we played stuff with swearing as it was mostly students who shopped there) and one of the guys left to go roadie on tour with him as the money was supposed to be good at the time. presumably that's how big john got into roadie-ing
i knew big john was in the three johns and a few other bands. i saw one of his last bands but they were like an unlistenable wall of noise in some self indulgent noise fest. to put you in the picture about him, i remember one time walking home and bumping into someone i met, who was walking down the same street with big john, who i only really knew so much as to say hi, rather than chat too so much. anyways john was telling a story of how he went to get a pair of jeans and took two into the changing rooms and shoplifted by putting one pair on under his own jeans when he came out, so that shows you the financial state he was in. this was after the nirvana time. i was told by people who knew him better that he took it really badly when kurt killed himself. one other funny story involves another orger and the local bar. we were sitting on a sofa but left to go to another bar as it was a bit boring, and we came back a bit later and big john and his boyfriend were sitting on the sofa we were on, so she goes up to them (drunk of course) and starts having a go at them for "stealing our seats". each one of them being about 3 times her size! but they both looked on bemused, like a pair of bears getting pestered by a flea
incidentally that same bar was where i met shirley manson properly when her and the person i worked with were out for a few drinks with some other folks. this was shortly before garbage started. you had no idea she was gonna be a star. for a long time the last time i saw her was literally sitting on a "park" bench on a street, in a place where pretty much only alcoholics sit and drink. i saw her last year walking near my office, she was sitting outside a bar at one of the tables outside. i wasn't sure if it was her or not as i hadn't seen her in so long, but when i got further down i saw a poster advertising an exhibition she was doing about famous scots. she used to work in a shop called miss selfridge which was next door to a store my bosses wife ran before she married him
when was it you saw the lemonheads? i saw them in the 90s before they split up. it was a student union in glasgow, tiny place, so small that i was literally standing behind the sound desk which was in the back corner. i saw evan entering and say hi to a few people. he was suffering from food poisioning (so he said - not smack eh?) and apologised for the show, but it sounded great. it was a good period for live music and proper playing
husker du have/had a star on first avenue, i remember that one. i don't know the music but we used to sell a lot of it in the store i worked in, as it was mostly non chart stuff, a mix of indie, rnb, jazz, hip hop and dance music mainly. just not cheesy teeny shit. we make our niche doing stuff that the big chains didn't cover well, and avoided selling stuff they would discount, ie. britney type stuff, as there was no money in it. actually now i saw that i remember the first garbage single that came in, which was in a full metal record cover, a limited 7" single. i remember being told that we had more than most stores, but still only about 20 copies, and each copy cost much more to make than we were buying it for, and we sold at the usual £1.99 price. we were bemused by this, it was before garbage became popular, we were used to the same old same old artists who kept on trying and getting nowhere, and who would want a record by the keyboard player from goodbye my mackenzie, a local girl to us. it's weird how she became so big, and ended up on terminator | |
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If prince.org were to be made idiot proof, someone would just invent a better idiot. | |
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I guess posting a direct link would be a bad idea then. 
I'll check it out DJ.
Wow. You've rubbed elbows with some interesting folks. Very cool. You also reminded me to watch High Fidelity again - great flick.
If I remember correctly, I saw the Lemonheads open for Dinosaur Jr or a solo J Mascis in the mid 1990s. If prince.org were to be made idiot proof, someone would just invent a better idiot. | |
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