I am now an official Minnesotan – not only born here but finally have gone to First Avenue! Thanks so much to the Current for the invite and tickets for their 15^th Anniversary bash. I got to see a bunch of bands including 26 BATS!, MaLLy, Seratones, The Bad Man, and Grammy-nominated Black Pumas. It was beyond amazing!

best moments ever

I especially loved the Bad Man set. They were youthful and energetic. I was dancing non-stop! The lead singer, Peter Memorich, threw out t-shirts towards the end of their set. He pointed back towards me and threw the shirt way back past the sound booth. Well, my dad could have broken my chair when he tried to catch the shirt and caught himself on my communication device, but didn’t. The shirt deflected off of him and landed in the chair behind my mom. A woman picked it up and gave it to me. The band’s producer who happened to be standing near us, also gave me a t-shirt. For Peter, to take the time to come and say hi after they were done playing – that was simply awesome! One of my most awesome moments of the night – thanks for reaching out Peter and David!

I’m not going to say much more about the rest of the bands – they were all awesome. I’m still swaying, dancing, and singing the next day! Go to the Current’s website and watch each of the bands. Recap and photos: The Current’s 15th Anniversary Party

Thanks to the Current for introducing me to so much new music and to local music. And thanks again to Mary Lucia and Luke Taylor, for finding and interviewing me last year about local music venues and accessibility. Talking Accessibility @ The Current

And, now on to the…

accessibility report @ First Ave

The most difficult part of wheelchair accessibility after having a snowstorm the previous night and bitter cold that day, was parking. The lot next to First Avenue hadn’t been plowed very well and the accessible parking hadn’t been plowed at all. Paths hadn’t been cleared between the lot and the sidewalks. My wheelchair got stuck as we tried to plow through the snow to get from the lot to the sidewalk. Thanks to the folks who stopped and helped get me unstuck. It takes about 5 or 6 people to get heavy power chairs unstuck, btw.

Once we got in to First Ave, it was, can I say again louder this time – AMAZING! Accessible reserved seating was right behind the sound booth. I could see the stage really well and it was fun watching the sound guys! After 26 BATS! we went over to the merch tables to buy some stuff and then we went up front on the side of the stage to watch MaLLy. It was fun to move around and check out First Ave from some different areas. I could have stayed up front for the entire show, but decided it might be hard to leave if I needed to, since it was a sold out show and it was going to get even more crowded. It’s difficult for anyone to move through really crowded spaces, and nearly impossible to move around in a wheelchair.

Can’t wait to go back and see bands at First Ave – it was a great experience (except for the winter weather/parking part).

Seriously, take the time to listen to each of these bands on the Current’s website. Next time any of them are playing near you – GO check them out!