First Avenue Collapse
Three people were hospitalized Wednesday night after a portion of the ceiling at Minneapolis's legendary First Avenue music club collapsed during a live show. The venue made famous by, amongst many things, Prince's Purple Rain was riddled with debris and evacuated following the collapse.
The incident took place at roughly 10 p.m. Wednesday during a Theory of a Deadman concert, and was captured on video by a number of concert-goers. The local Minneapolis Star Tribune reports that a 30 foot by 30 foot section of the ceiling collapsed. "A large portion of the ceiling fell and took out water pipes with it,” First Avenue's general manager Nate Kranz told the paper. "We have no idea why or how it happened. We won’t know anything about this until tomorrow. It was a terrible surprise." Over 1,000 people were evacuated from the venue following the collapse.
Quite predictably, First Avenue has cancelled concerts for Thursday and Friday evenings, and has posted messages to its twitter page expressing regret for the incident, and care for those injured. "Our thoughts and hearts are with those who were injured. Thank you for all of your support!" the club posted. Watch video of the ceiling collapse below and take heart--we're sure the shows will go on.
