There are rock clubs, and there is First Avenue. The converted 1937 Greyhound depot in downtown Minneapolis — its brick walls studded with silver stars naming every act that earned one — is where Prince filmed Purple Rain and built the Minneapolis Sound that conquered the 1980s.
The club nearly died in 2004 and the city rallied to save it; today its mainroom, the intimate 7th St Entry (where Hüsker Dü, The Replacements and Soul Asylum cut their teeth) and The Depot Tavern next door keep Minneapolis’s live-music heartbeat thumping nightly. Prince’s star — painted gold after his death in 2016 — glows above the marquee.
Every touring band calls it a pilgrimage. Every Minneapolis music fan calls it church. First Avenue is the rare landmark that still throws the best party in town.
