Twin Cities Venue Guide (Minneapolis/St Paul)
Capacity comparison:
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Photo courtesy of Google Maps
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THE CEDAR CULTURAL CENTER
AKA: The Cedar, The Cedar Cultural Centre
Capacity: 625 (Standing), 450 (Seated)
Years active: 1989 – Present
Website: thecedar.org
Email: info@thecedar.org
Phone: 612-338-2674
Address: 416 Cedar Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN, 55454
Located in the heart of Cedar Riverside area, The Cedar Cultural Center started its life as a movie theater in 1948. After operating as a Contemporary Dance Playhouse School, Center Opera, Coffeehouse Extempore, the building’s ownership was transferred to Minnesota STAR, Inc. in 1989, where it became The Cedar Cultural Centre (note: original spelling).
The Cedar is best known for booking Word Music, but they’re also known for arts-related programming, comedy, spoken word, and film. The venue is operated by funding provided by donations by patrons and its staff is entirely made up of volunteers.
There are two bars, located near the entrance and inside the standing room (but often not opened). They serve a variety of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks with snacks.
The sound system is really good, and the way it was originally designed (as a theater), acoustic audio carries really well in the venue Рyou can literally hear a pin drop. Audience-wise, we’ve previously described its patrons as “NPR-type”, so they are often very respectful to the performers.
There is also an outside mini stage at the Cedar, where they may book free events. It was originally fenced in, but decided to tear down the fence and open the area to the community.
Trivia: For a few years, the Cedar booked very few shows during the summer, because their air conditioning unit didn’t work. The Cedar got donations for the air condition in 2013.
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IRREGULAR: THE WOMAN’S CLUB OF MINNEAPOLIS
AKA: Woman’s Club, Assembly of the Woman’s Club, The Woman’s Club Assembly
Capacity: 630
Years active: 1928 – Present
Website: womansclub.org
Email:
frontdesk@womansclub.org
Phone: 612-813-5300
Address: 410 Oak Grove St, Minneapolis, MN 55403
The Woman’s Club was founded in 1907, and the building was created in 1928. This historic club rarely book music concerts, but when they do, it’s usually in support for women musicians.
As of this writing, there are no upcoming music concerts.
They have a dining service (closed on Monday, Brunch Buffet only on Sunday), which requires reservation.
Currently, the Woman’s Club is focusing on granting scholarship to benefit women and children:
Education is another of our deep commitments. We continue to operate the historic Ard Godfrey House in Chute Square, which was our bicentennial gift to the city. We have a robust education program, including a circulating library and stimulating talks for our members and guests on a broad variety of topics and issues.
We are many things to our members and guests — a friend, a respite, a force for good, a place for belonging. The Woman's Club of Minneapolis welcomes you, women and men. Come join us.
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MUSIC HALL MINNEAPOLIS
AKA: Minneapolis Music Hall, MPLS Music Hall
Capacity: 1,200
Years active: 01 Sep 2017 – 05 Oct 2018
Website: musichallmpls.com
Email: MusicHallMinneapolis@gmail.com
Address: 111 N 5th St Minneapolis, MN 55403
Previously known as:
Music Hall Minneapolis is a multi-level venue in the Warehouse District of Minneapolis, Minnesota. It originally began as The Brick, but after a disastrous start, the operators AEG Live decided to renovated and improved the venue, rebranding the name to Mill City Nights. Mill City Nights closed its doors in 2016, but reopened again as Music Hall Minneapolis.
Currently, all of the Music Hall Minneapolis’ listing post-October 2018 have been moved to other venues in the area, leaving St Lucia’s upcoming Oct 5th show as its last booking.
It’s a good-size venue, filling in nicely between the bigger First Avenue and, much smaller, 7th Street Entry. There is a full bar service in the back, or Nether Bar downstairs, if you prefer to chat.
Depending on the event, the security, provided by AEG, can be very slow, complete with pat-downs and metal detector wands.
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PERMANENTLY CLOSED: 400 BAR
AKA: The 400
Capacity: 275
Years active: 1940 – Dec 2012
Address: 400 Cedar S, Minneapolis
Also known as
The original “400 Bar” began its life in the 40s, with its first music booking around 1978 Рevery Wednesday night. It didn’t have a proper stage, but it was popular enough that the 400 started adding regular Saturday night gigs and eventually a stage a year after.
Eventually, under the management of Bill Binenstock, they bought out the neighboring clothing store and essentially tripling the size of the venue from 75 to 275 in 1993. If you’ve ever been to the 400 Bar, you may notice a divide between the long thin bar on the left and a dance floor/stage on your right.
Bill Sullivan (and eventually Tom Sullivan) took over the 400 Bar in the fall of 1996, with a grand re-opening in January 1997 with headliner Joe Henry. The Sullivans eventually sold the building, ending the historic 400 Bar venue in December 2012.
However, that’s not really the end of the story. In June 2014, they re-opened briefly at the Mall of America as Midwest Music Museum, with the promise of the 400 Bar to also re-open. The bar never materialized, as they were evicted in September 2014.
In September 2018, it was announced that co-owner Tom Sullivan passed away at the age of 62.