Photo via Twitter
The ceiling of Minneapolis’ iconic First Avenue music venue fell down on concertgoers Wednesday evening. At approximately 10 p.m., a 30-by-30 chunk of the ceiling gave way, falling on the crowd and sending three individuals to the hospital.
According to on-scene reports, Canadian rock outfit Theory of a Deadman was entering its fourth song when the band members jumped off stage. At the back of the venue, above the DJ booth, the ceiling had collapsed and a few water pipes were damaged, gushing water onto the scene. The venue staff evacuated quickly, and by all accounts, efficiently, before firefighters arrived on scene to shut down the water and secure the area.
First Avenue has housed everyone from Tina Turner to Jessie J, and is intimately connected to Prince. The Purple Performer has played there many times, even filming the club scenes from Purple Rain in the venue. Miguel was scheduled to perform there on Saturday for a sold-out show, which will likely have to be moved or rescheduled.
Ironically, the venue had just installed a new lighting structure near the stage just a few weeks prior. Though it wasn’t in the area of the collapse, inspectors had come through and looked the whole venue over before the addition. No explanation has yet been determined for the incident, though more inspectors are expected on site today.
Below, see some more images and video of the collapsing ceiling and evacuation.
https://twitter.com/CodyZiemke42/status/631672194486038528/photo/1
