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First Avenue and 7th St Entry (locally known as The Mainroom and The Entry) are two music venues housed in the same landmark building in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota. The names are derived from the building's location: the corner of First Avenue and 7th Street in downtown Minneapolis. The building is marked by 531 stars on its exterior along the First Avenue and Seventh Street sides commemorating past venue performers.〔(''Entertainment: First Avenue'' ); January 17, 2008 article; Minneapolis Star Tribune; retrieved February 05, 2013.〕 ==History== The building opened in 1937 as a Greyhound bus station. It was noted for its art deco style and amenities of air conditioning, shower rooms, and public telephones. The floor inside was a checkered terrazzo, while the sidewalk was made of shiny blue bricks with white trim.〔(''First Avenue History'' ); First Ave on-line.〕 The transformation from a closed Greyhound depot into a concert venue was the dream of local concert promoters, Skip Goucher and Tom Fineberg. Their dream was to open a funky, no frills nightclub in the former downtown Minneapolis bus station. But they lacked the funds, as well as the liquor license, to make that dream come true. Thus they looked for backers, and they found them in Allen Fingerhut, Danny Stevens and Wilson Simon. Unfortunately, once Fingerhut, Stevens and Simon entered the scene, Goucher and Fineberg's dream was transformed into a fancy, purple-shag carpeting club with little in common with the funky bus depot club of their dreams. And the two of them eventually got aced out by those holding the purse strings. Danny Stevens (who owned the class-A liquor license from the Hotel Hastings) and Allan Fingerhut opened the doors on April 3, 1970 to showcase a two set evening with Joe Cocker's Mad Dogs and Englishmen. In July 1972, the venue was renamed "Uncle Sam's", becoming part of a national franchise of the American Events Company. Fingerhut and Stevens were joined on a new management team in 1979 by Steve McClellan, Dan Lessard and Jack Meyers, the club's financial manager, changing the club's name to just "Sam's". With disco making way for progressive rock, the club got another name change on New Year's Eve in 1981, when it became "First Avenue."〔Noran, Rebecca (2000). ''First Avenue & 7th Street Entry: Your Downtown 'Danceteria' Since 1970''. Minneapolis: First Avenue & 7th Street Entry. pp. 15-20.〕 The name change to First Avenue did not affect the club's growing popularity. During the 80s, local artist Prince helped put it at the forefront of music venues in Minneapolis. Prince made it his main stage, the place for him to try out new material, and used it as the set for many scenes in his movie, ''Purple Rain''.〔 The club had already been mentioned in ''Newsweek'' (1986). When the club turned twenty in the 90s, it started to get national recognition—with mentions in magazines such as ''Rolling Stone'' and ''Time''. Around this time, there was an increased interest in DJs and house music; and the VIP lounge on the second level was unveiled, featuring DJ music and personalities. The club was shut down by Fingerhut in late fall of 2004 for financial reasons, causing a wave of protest from music fans. The issues were quickly resolved (the judge presiding in the bankruptcy case noted, "I gather there is some urgency about this"), and the club was reopened by new partners Meyers, McClellan, and Byron Frank (a longtime business manager), with shows resuming after only one week's closure. Mayor R.T. Rybak of Minneapolis promised to do a stage dive at the first show after reopening, but ended up dropping the idea when he discovered that the show would feature the heavy metal band Gwar. Rybak had crowd surfed at a "Rock for Democracy" event at the venue earlier in the year. McClellan ended his 32-year stint at First Avenue in 2005,〔("The First Avenue Massacre - What Steve McClellan's Pink Slip Said" ); by Jim Walsh; City Pages article.〕 and formed a non-profit company, the Diverse Emerging Music Organization (or DEMO).〔(''Diverse Emerging Music Organization'' ); organizational website.〕 After McClellan's departure as General Manager, Jack Meyers was appointed to the position and continued until 2009, when Nathan Kranz took over.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 url=http://www.first-avenue.com/history/today )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「First Avenue (nightclub)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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