I am very sorry (not) for those of you who were expecting a blog post about staffing – working on that for next week or maybe the week after. Sometimes, I just need to have a little fun!

Hi everyone. One of the awesome things about my new place, is that it’s closer to music venues that I like going to or wanted to check out. One of those places, is the Turf Club on University Avenue in St. Paul. Now, just a 10-minute drive from my apartment.

Here it is, your latest music and venue accessibility review.

The Music – Amazing!

I went to the Districts show on 3/16 and had an amazing time. There were two warm-ups that I loved. The first was Vanillaroma – super fun and one of the musicians came and asked me to sign his ukulele after their set. One of the great things about seeing musicians at smaller venues, is that you actually have a chance to meet them and just be up close. Very cool! You can follow Vanillaroma on Twitter, Instagram and Bandcamp.

Francis of Delirium was fun. I mean, really ridiculously fun! The duo is from Luxembourg and I can’t stop singing and dancing to the debut single, “Quit F***ing Around.” – my new favorite song! Go see this band! You can find out where they’ll be and links to social on the Francis of Delirium website  

I only stayed for the first part of the Districts set because it got too loud with my hearing aids and I’m dealing with some health issues and I was hurting. They were also fun and I do want to try to see them again next time they’re in town because what I saw was great. Find out more about the tour on The Districts website.

Turf Club Accessibility Review

My dad and I got there early because we didn’t know how crowded it would be. I wanted to get a spot where I could see and didn’t feel like I’d be too jostled around in the crowd. Reminder that I’m super tall and have really long arms with uncontrolled movement – so need a little space around me. This was a last-minute decision so we got tickets at the door and didn’t call ahead to check on wheelchair accessibility or accessible seating – sometimes I just like to wing it and have had good experiences with venues that First Avenue owns/operates! Turf Club for the main upstairs space worked pretty well for me. I do recommend getting there early to make sure you find a spot that works. They do have a downstairs Clown Lounge that my parents got to see Buffalo Nichols at a month or so ago and that is definitely not wheelchair accessible since there’s no elevator.

The biggest accessibility challenge for shows at the Turf Club I think would be parking. There is a business parking lot behind the building and we didn’t see any designated accessible parking in that lot. My dad lucked out getting a spot on the end where we could drop my wheelchair lift. Then I just needed to get through the alley. This may be difficult during the winter if there’s snow.

I will definitely be heading back to the Turf Club to hear more live music soon!

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