Colin J. Anderson

USA Day 7 part 1: Wall of 1,000 stars… if only I had time to get to a gig…

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USA 2016 part 10: Thursday 17th November @ Minneapolis

Well, Minneapolis is full of surprises. In the land of 10,000 lakes I found a Wall of 1,000 Stars – and impressive it was too. As readers will know music has been an important part of my life since a teenager – pretty much since 1970. Soul, jazz, blues, funk, reggae, rock, ambient, soca, punk.. the list goes on. This wall of a multitude of stars – I wasn’t going to stand around counting them – was a real trip down memory lane for me, with names from the world of music that I know and love and some I had almost forgotten.

This is a shot of me taken by my hosts, having found one of my all-time favourite musicians – and the t-shirt I was wearing was appropriate too!

Many of my favourites are on these walls: A Tribe Called Quest, Arrested Development, Gil Scott Heron, Dr.John, Suzanne Vega, John Lee Hooker and so on. As you will see in the photographs all these silver stars have played at this venue and all offer something for (almost) everyone. There is only one gold star, and that is reserved for the most famous local boy, psychedelic funkster Prince.

I was very pleased to see the wall of stars and would dearly loved to have sat in the bar for a while or even got tickets for a gig – any gig – but circumstances would not allow. A place I absolutely must visit if I am ever able to make it back to the USA anytime.

For those who might want to visit – and you’d need a bloody good reason not to – here it is on Apple Maps – I’ve circled the venue in yellow; it is on the junction of First Avenue & 7th. Street.

How many of these have YOU seen live…

All images are reduced in size and quality and only a selection is shown here. Taken on Sony A6 with 15-35mm Zeiss/Sony lens. Contact me if you would like copies of originals.