First Avenue: Rock down Memory Lane

Last night, my friend Rachel and I went to First Avenue for Radio K's "Best Bands of 2009" show featuring the Leisure Birds, No Bird Sing, Peter Wolf Crier, Red Pens, Twilight Hours, Slapping Purses and Moonstone. Rachel hadn't been able to check out much of the local music since being back and I figured this would be a good way to wet her feet.

First Avenue is by far one of my favorite music venues across America (thus far). I'm sure it's because it holds a ton of nostalgia for me, but I really do love it. As I sat there watching the bands last night, I started reminiscing about all the memories attributed to this space. My first show I ever attended there was to see Bad Religion at age 15 (which oddly enough, I end up later in life becoming friends with) and since then have seen every genre of music there.

An outstanding memory there was when the Vans Warped Tour were at the Metrodome parking lot, Eminem/Dr. Dre/Snoop Dogg were at the Target Center and Biz Markie/Tribe Called Quest were at First Avenue -- they were ALL in town on the same day. I started my day out at the Vans Warped Tour and ended up at First Avenue later that afternoon. The show was sold out at First Avenue and my girlfriend's guest list only included themselves, so as I was walking away, a man (who turned out to be Biz Markie's manager) took pity on me and gave me a VIP pass! No joke. Long story short, that was a day spent swapping dance moves with a newly formed group called the Black Eyed Peas (long before Fergie joined) upstairs in the back room (which had just opened), smoking pot and swizzlin' some Hennessy with Snoop Dogg and seeing Biz Markie sing "She's Just a Friend". All the bands in town ended up at First Avenue that day and yours truly got to hang out gangsta style with them.

A few other memory highlights of First Ave. include: using my fake ID that said I was 37 (when I was 18) for an entire year there, getting into my first bar fight and promptly being thrown out immediately for it, guzzling down the free + cheap champagne bottle they give you for your birthday, wearing a blue saran wrap homemade dress to Danceteria, smoking tons of mary jane in the ladies bathroom, having huge pieces of dust fall onto you during really loud shows and spending New Year's Eve 1999 there with Prince's (our hometown hero!) "1999" blasting us into a new millennium.

Here's to First Avenue -- thanks for a lifetime worth of memories!!