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| City Guide - Minneapolis-St Paul - Nightlife | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Nightlife Minneapolis and St Paul enjoy a lively nightlife scene, with plenty of live music. The Twin Cities are on the touring circuit for many big-name bands and solo artists, and several local musicians have risen to fame, most notably The Artist Formerly Known as Prince. Blues and jazz are particularly big here, but everything from rock to reggae can be found most nights of the week. Cover charges for music venues are often free or inexpensive (absolute maximum US$10). Downtown Minneapolis is a centre for nightlife, but popular bars and music clubs are located throughout the metropolitan area. The legal drinking age is 21 years. Bars must stop serving alcohol at 0100, but they are allowed to remain open until 0300. Bars: Sports bars with numerous TV monitors for watching sporting events are hot in the Twin Cities, and some of the biggest and most popular include America's Original Sports Bar, in the Mall of America, and Champp's, 100 North Sixth Street, Minneapolis (and six other locations). Another is Loon Café, 500 First Avenue North, Minneapolis, whose large windows are also great for surveying the downtown scene. More upmarket Minneapolis watering holes include The Loring Bar, 1624 Harmon Place, overlooking Loring Park, The Lounge, 411 Second Avenue North, and City Billiards, 25 North Fourth Street, a smart billiards hall. Johnny's Bar, 2251 West University Avenue, St Paul, Gluek's, 16 North Sixth Street, Minneapolis, and William's Uptown Pub & Peanut Bar, 2911 Hennepin Avenue, Minneapolis, are among the local favourites for knocking back a beer. Clubs: Tropix Beach Club, 400 Third Avenue North, Minneapolis, has a large dance floor complete with a sea cruiser boat, while Gay 90s, 408 Hennepin Avenue, is a massive multi-room mixed and gay club, popular for its great house music, piano bar and drag shows. The Quest and South Beach dance clubs in Minneapolis' Warehouse District stay open until 0300. Casinos: Mystic Lake Casino and Hotel, 2400 Mystic Lake Boulevard, Prior Lake (tel: (612) 445 9000 or (800) 262 7799), is the closest casino to the Twin Cities, with 2800 slot machines, 100 blackjack tables and high stakes bingo. Treasure Island Resort & Casino, 5734 Sturgeon Lake Road, Red Wing (tel: (800) 222 7077) is about 35 minutes from the airport. They are both open 24 hours. Live music: Made famous in the film Purple Rain, First Avenue, 701 First Avenue, Minneapolis, is the city's largest live music venue, booking top touring bands and artists. Another top venue, The Cabooze, 917 Cedar Avenue, Minneapolis, has a huge dance floor and a nightly double bill of blues, rock and reggae artists. The Blues Saloon, 601 Western Avenue, St Paul, packs in a crowd for local and national blues bands, Thursday to Monday. The Dakota, 1021 East Bandana Boulevard, St Paul, is the leading jazz club in the Twin Cities, where local and national artists perform in a renovated railroad building. An all-round favourite is Fine Line Music Café, 318 First Avenue North, Minnepolis, featuring blues, jazz, folk, rock and gospel music. Comedy: Knuckleheads, a large venue located at the Mall of America, hosts national comedy acts, as does the venerable Acme Comedy Company, 708 North First Street, Minneapolis, which also offers dinner packages. Dudley Riggs' Brave New Workshop Theatre (tel: (612) 332 6620), 2605 Hennepin Avenue, Minneapolis, is the country's longest running satirical comedy theatre and also hold improv nights. |
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