Let It Be Records in Minneapolis is closing

fuck, now i've got no place to go on lunch break to get CDs downtown.

*and by "it" we mean Rob Thomas solo CDs priced at 19.99

At least I can say that my last purchase there was Arular on double LP (and a Trojan comp of kung fu reggae), so that and a beat-up Stooges t-shirt and a pretty good chunk of my record collection will be memories enough, I guess. I'm not as devastated as I was when the Cheapo on Snelling had to close temporarily due to a fire (that was some serious withdrawal-symptom shit there), but I am not going to be able to head into Downtown Minneapolis without feeling weirdly empty. I don't want to picture what they're going to put in its place.

MPLS redevelopment makes me glad to live in St. Paul, where inaction is the rule of thumb, at least in the good parts.

Feh. One more step in the obliteration of Nicollet mall having any worth whatsoever.

*and by "it" we mean Rob Thomas solo CDs priced at 19.99

-- M@tt He1geson (matt@game[remove]informer.com), April 22nd, 2005.

Haha, the Sam Goody in my old town (New Brunswick, NJ) actually shut down because no one ever went in. My friends and I had the idea to stage a protest in which we carried signs complaining that they should have closed sooner.

This really, really sucks because I have this crystallized, half-formed image of the Twin Cities in my mind from countless weekend jaunts during my high school years that bears almost no reality to what's actually happening there now. News likes this chips away at my little golden palace of nostalgia and makes me wish I'd spent some of that money on random CD singles on plane tickets home before all of my high school touchstones went away.

Is there anything left in Nicollet Mall?

I am going to miss Key's Cafe just a little bit more.

key's is out as well? jesus christ, i have no reason to stay downtown when i fly in to visit my family.

do i just not understand the significance of condo's and lofts? as a comparison, the only people who seem to have them out here are the trustafarians from allentown/york.

...oh, but i live in the chocolate factory...

seriously, wtf.

They just opened a Panera Bread.

Yeah, Keys and Sawatdee on Nicollet are both going along with Let it Be. But the damned scientologists get to keep their space. I don't understand how they intend to build such a tall stack of condos (~550 ft. high, last I heard?!) on such a narrow plot of land.

FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK

FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK

FUUUUUUCK.

yes.

Crisis averted.

let it be was slightly overrated i think, but still, this is very sad. i just bought one of those moroder reissues there! when i had to bus thru downtown i'd stop by absently, but the DT geography makes it tough for destination-shopping; i was always surprised it was still afloat, like "wow lotta thrivent financial dudes pickin up that animal collective vinyl over lunch..."

i'm partial to chiang mai anyway, sorry dan!

No offense to Sawatdee, but there are several Thai restuarants in Mpls/St.Paul that kick it's ass....True Thai on Franklin school Sawatdee....I've read read ups of a few others that sound good in the City Pages.

True Thai is hot. but what is the story with the 75 y/o white woman that the staff all call "mama"?

Wha? I never saw that! Now I want to go there tonight...it's hard to get a table there sometimes though....

you mean how much your penis has shrunk over the past half decade, you worthless fucking wanker. what the fuck are you talking about!?!
is your so called "good friend" in good standing with LIB? why don't you ask him and his creditors. explain how the store has "shrunk over the past decade". are you in touch with the international distributors and how much business LIB does with them? are you keeping a running tally of LIB's square footage and how that relates to their daily profits? go fuck yourself, you worthless hack.

haha are you the Mafia?

But I remember one of the guys working there got really pissy with me when I asked out of simple curiosity why Minneapolis had so many shows that start really early - like 5 o 6 pm as opposed to the 9 or 10 I've seen in so many other cities. He seemed to take this personally, as if I was accusing him of being non-rocking or otherwise lacking for living in a place where rock shows had to start so early. I thought it was quite funny that he got so bent out of shape about it.

I'm going to Minneapolis for the first time this weekend - any good rekkid stores I should hit? What sites for the total rockist are worth visiting? Will I party with Grant Hart, Tommy Stinson and Prince in a run-down bar?

If you want decent odds on Grant, go to the Turf Club.

and, you don't really want to hang w/grant hart.

Record Stores:

Treehouse (formerly the legendary Oar Folkjokeapus, still run by the same dude but they had to change the name)

Roadrunner Records

Hymie's

but they had to change the name

What! Why? (One of the best obscure MST3K jokes ever referred to it.)

basically, the place has always been run by mark tr3hus, since the old school punk daze etc etc...but the store was originally started by an old hippie dude (hence the name, natch), who stayed on as the silent partner and half-owner s/tr3hus....so i guess eventually he wanted to buy out the hippie guy but the hippie guy wanted like $20Gs or something just for the NAME, so he said fuck it i'll just change the name....or something to this affect, that's what i remember hearing back when it changed...it's been treehouse for quite awhile now...it's exactly the same store still though.

btw saw this in a review of a recent grant hart show, funny:

Grant Hart's return to the Turf Club last Saturday was a bit of a rocky affair. Hart yelled at audience members, abruptly left the stage at one point and then returned to play Lee Dorsey's New Orleans nugget "Ya Ya." The weirdest thing was that it was the third time of the night he played the song.

M@tt, were you there the night that he threatened to break the Hopefull's guitar player's fingers?

hymie's is a traet!!

i suppose we're duty bound to mention the electric fetus, but truth be told i've never really enjoyed shopping there.

M@tt, were you there the night that he threatened to break the Hopefull's guitar player's fingers?

-- John Justen, Wednesday, August 8, 2007 4:53 PM (11 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

hahaha no! that sounds good though...i went to the one at the city pages's 25th anniversary where he talked about how he was "into misogyny lately"...then he said "i'm just kidding, i would never do material about hurting women"...then he promptly played "Diane".

then he said something vaguely racist and said "oh settle down" then he turned to the only black guy in the audience (tony from kruddl3r) and said "oh hey it's cool, right t0ny? it's all pink on the inside"

See, I really like Mark, but I hate shopping at Treehouse. Sorry dude.

Hymie's is awesome, and the local music section is full of GEMS if you look through it regularly. I found "Credit In Heaven" - Suburbs in mint condition there for $2.99 about a year ago.

xpost: Yeah, Miller was throwing some "suprise showcase" crap on a night they booked at the Turf at last minute (without talking to Ryan, who had already booked Grant), so they just casually told him they'd bumped him to the Clown Lounge. His response was that he had no problem letting the Hopefuls take his place on the main stage, as long as the guitar player didn't mind playing with all his fingers broken in a very "I'm dead fucking serious" sort of tone.

They let him play on the main stage.

See, I really like Mark, but I hate shopping at Treehouse.

haha i actually feel kind of the opposite actually.

okay i remember that whole deal that was the beer sponsored show w/the hopefuls, yeah that sounded like a big mess, in that case i would have been mad and pissed too, i thought he was just going loco on the hopefuls for no reason.

When I got a bunch of CD's stolen by a junkie friend of mine, Mark was the only guy who gave a shit, gave me all the stuff back, and then had a long heart-to-heart with me encouraging me to make a police report to help the guy get forced into treatment.

Rock and roll landmarks in the Twin Cities (not sure why I've never come up with this list before):

--"Sounds Good to Me," an awesome free, years-old exhibit at the Minnesota History Center/Minnesota Historical Society in St. Paul, which as it happens only lasts through October 14; 651.259.3000. Learn about Augie Garcia, the Trashmen, Prince, punk, and tons of other local rock and roll lore. While you're there, pick up the otherwise hard-to-get CD/booklet of Latino music in Minnesota, which is pretty cool.
--First Avenue/7th St. Entry, legendary Minneapolis club opened in 1970 as the Depot, much of local rock history passed through here. Get your picture taken in front of the painted stars with band names outside. And fuck the Hard Rock Cafe across the street.
--Fifth Element, the Rhymesayers' record store, with headquarters directly upstairs. Your chances are about one in three of running into the label's most famous rappers here. Then get a slice at Galooney's down the street.
--Treehouse Records, formerly Oarfolk, the center of the '80s rock scene and beyond.
--Intermedia Arts: further down Lyndale, and with an amazing public graffiti wall from the recent B-Girl Be festival
--Muddy Waters, cafe at 24th and Lyndale (a.k.a. center of universe), namedropped by Slug and near both Fifth Element and Treehouse. Terrible coffee I've drank a thousand times. Also on Lyndale: Arise! Bookstore, site of many informal "backyard" shows on a summer night, and a guitar store in between that has sold to the greats over the years. Other neighborhood staples: Cafetto, the Wedge Co-op, the Red Dragon bar, the C.C. Club, Bob's Java Hut, the Country bar on Lyndale (that the name? they have karaoke and are near Lake), Dulano's (if you love bluegrass, and if it's still there...) and...
--Extreme Noise Records. Punk headquarters on Lake Street not too south of Lyndale. If you like basement punk shows, here's where to get flyers. Volunteer-run for years.
--Further down Lake: El Nuevo Rodeo: The great Spanish-speaking pop palace. There are a lot of international record stores on the way on Lake Street.
--In Nicollet Village, closer to downtown Minneapolis: Check out Vital Vinyl: Thee dance music emporium, and where to ask about good DJ nights such as at...
--Jetset, the coolest little dance club in the Warehouse District. Hopefully catch E-Tones in action.
--Grumpy's Downtown; best jukebox in town, the rocker hipster hangout of choice, owned by AmRep/Halo of Flies legen Tom Hazelmyer
--also Grumpy's Nordeast (half the music scene has moved to Northeast; check out the 331 Club and Psycho Suzie's, another great jukebox)
--Hymie's still has its charms
--Roadrunner, too
--Also check out the new Eclipse Records in St. Paul; they plan to start holding all-ages shows soon
--Turf Club, legendary '00s St. Paul club remodeled to look even better, with Big V's right down the street. Is Mark Mallman playing this weekend? Also in the Frogtown neighborhood: Urban Lights Records. Eclipse is not too far down the street, either. Stop at Porky's on University on the way.
--Dinkytown: Where Dylan got started (is that exhibit at the U of M gone?). A lot has changed: Al's breakfast is about the only '60s landmark still around, but the Varsity Theater, a movie theater at the time, is now a nice music venue. The Dinkytowner is also a cool music club/bar/eatery, while the Loring Pasta Bar has a hot salsa/reggaeton Friday and Saturday. If you're driving back downtown, Ground Zero has great fetish/goth nights.
--back downtown: Gay '90s is a house music landmark, but also a hip-hop one. Foundation has live hip hop. If you're looking for bigger and fancier dance clubs, it's all here.
--off the beaten path: Pi over in the Seward neighborhood is about the coolest lesbian club ever, and they have shows sometimes too. The DJ, Nautti Boy (sp?), also happens to be one of the foremost gay rap producers in the country.
--St. Paul metal landmark: Station 4 (used to be 4th St. Station, and Ryan's). They have all kinds of rock now, but this place has seen awesome hard rock over the years, and still gets a crowd of old-metal regulars at the bar.
--the West Side neighborhood of St. Paul: Take Robert street from downtown and you're in the heart of Mexican Minnesota, where local rock began with Augie Garcia
--the North Side, West Broadway: The heart of black Minnesota in countless ways, where local hip hop and Prince began: There are a couple good mixtape-oriented record stores, Digital City Music and another one near the intersection where you find Bean Scene (great open mic) and El-Amin's Fish House across the street. Visit Juxtaposition Arts, where graffiti and high art are taught to neighborhood kids.
--Loring Park movies and music (if you stay through Monday)

good list pete...i'd add:

Triple Rock Social Club - owned by some Dillinger Four dudes (I think still?) good shows punk,indie, and otherwise...bar side has great jukebox and food

Comprehensive and accurate. Probably ought to throw the 400 Bar and The Triangle Bar in there for histories sake if you're a Soul Asylum/Koerner Ray and Glover fan. Also, the Triple Rock and it's Dillinger Four tie-in is a worthy new contender.

xpost

x-post

Yes! Of course. I mentally blocked the whole West Bank: Gotta go to the 400 Bar, owned by former Replacements road manager Bill Sullivan. Around the corner is the Hard Times Cafe and KFAI Studios. Also worth checking out on the West Bank, and all along Cedar: The Cabooze (near the light rail station), the Nomad World Pub, the Triple Rock, and the Red Sea--all have live music. While you're down there, might as well go take in the closest available view of the fallen 35W bridge, which is by the Holiday Inn.

Yeah, Erik from D4 still owns the place.

the 400 Bar is such a miserable place to be though, IMO....did the Red Sea ever fire that dude that locked up his daughter in a cage or whatever? I thought all the punk shows and stuff started boycotting that place after that...

i dunno, i have a bad opinion of the 400 bar though maybe I'm biased because of how poorly we were treated there when we played.

The problem w/the 400 isn't Bill, but his brother (the legendary grumpy bartender/bouncer). Bill is an OK (if somewhat scattered and hapless) dude.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure the Red Sea guy got axed.

yeah bill's the one that manages bright eyes now right?

this dude was pretty tall, bigger dude w/a stocking cap on.

John, do I know this junkie friend of yours?

J0shu4 H411?