First Avenue ceiling collapses; several hurt

The Minneapolis club First Avenue is undergoing repairs after a section of the ceiling collapsed during a show last night, sending three people to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Fellow attendee Jennifer Johnson said a second, much larger section of the ceiling came down shortly thereafter, leading parts of the audience to start screaming.

The Star Tribune reports the collapse occurred around 10:15 p.m.as the band Theory of a Deadman was performing.

The lay off branch tweeted that in fact team members evacuated First Avenue, a downwards venue, and were usually building checks delayed Wednesday night time.

First Avenue is known for helping launch the most successful album for Prince, a Minneapolis-born musician and global star. The venue staff evacuated quickly, and by all accounts, efficiently, before firefighters arrived on scene to shut down the water and secure the area. What we know is that a piece of the plaster ceiling … came separated from the beams that attached it to the roof.

A source said the “reverberation of music” caused a leak in the pipes in the ceiling, and the tiles fell down after becoming saturated with water.

He says that also pulled down the building’s sprinkler pipe. Inspectors will require evaluation of the building and remaining ceiling system.

“The red emergency lights had been going on and I figured it was a fight”, Timander said. But as of now we’re optimistic that once we have that ceiling down we’ll be able to reopen quickly. The fate of a sold-out show by R&B singer Miguel set for Saturday is unclear.