First Avenue

Conrad Sverkerson is a legendary figure at First Avenue. Conspicuous for his dreadlocks (although more recently sporting a Jewfro), the iconic rock club’s stage manager has spent more than two decades making sure shows go off without a hitch.
Now there’s a movement afoot (or at least one blog post) to land Sverkerson a job at [...]

Minneapolis’ First Avenue appears to have canceled an Oct. 4 concert by controversial Jamaican reggae artist Buju Banton after the Minnesota Independent inquired about the appearance. Banton, whose lyrics have advocated killing gay men — both with submachine guns and by pouring acid on them — has had a handful of shows canceled by venues after pressure from the public.

Whenever Dessa, perhaps best known as part of the Minneapolis-based hip-hop crew Doomtree, finishes a big project, she cuts her hair and makes a donation to Locks of Love, an organization that makes hairpieces for kids dealing with long-term medical problems. Given how big 2008 was for Dessa and Doomtree, this writer, emcee and singer probably ought to be bald: Doomtree released its first “official” record featuring the entire crew, the group’s December “Blowout” at First Avenue was just that, and — the reason her hair was recently lopped off — Dessa completed a book of essays and poems. I caught up with her via e-mail to see what kind of year she hopes 2009 will be.

Hundreds of police (and dozens of media personnel) greeted concert-goers as they left the Rage Against the Machine concert at the Target Center in Minneapolis. No violence or property damage was observed, but 102 people were arrested for “blocking traffic.”
Police blocked vehicle traffic on 1st Avenue in front of the Target Center and many Rage [...]