On June 22, 2004, Management team Steve McClellan and Jack Meyers were fired by letter from California by Allan Fingerhut. “Fired” may not be the exactly correct term, McClellan clarified; he and Meyers, as 2M, had a Management Agreement with the Committee that Allan decided to terminate. (SM) Steve got the news during the Patti Smith concert that night, packed his things, and left.
The news of Steve McClellan’s departure ripped through the Twin Cities music scene. (MPR)
Chris Osgood:
Steve leaving First Avenue is really no worse than if the Art Institute burned down, or if the Walker blew up. McClellan took a non-profit approach in an intensely for-profit cutthroat world. As a result, he introduced audiences to music and bands they might not normally come across…. He was able to recognize and nurture talent early on, and give it a garden to grow in. (MPR)
MPR’s Chris Roberts tried to explain Fingerhut’s motives:
Most every night at First Avenue, a customer shift change occurs at around 9:30 or 10:00. That’s when the rock, world music, or hip hop concert ends and the club becomes a cavernous, dingy discotheque. Tonight, as danceable rock music booms out through the speakers, the dance floor is pretty much empty. It’ll be Chris Olson’s job to fill it regularly. Olson, former Director of Operations for the club is now the new General Manager. [CR wrote that Olson had been an employee for 10 years.]
Allan Fingerhut says the club has to broaden its audience. There’s talk of establishing air guitar, lip synch, and Karaoke style competitions, as well as playing much more danceable recorded music. [At the rumor that the firings were a precursor to selling the club,] Fingerhut scoffed at the idea. “It’s like selling my, well, it’s my second born baby… What am I going to do? If I can’t be creative with First Avenue I’m going to die…. Steve has done a great job. I have absolutely nothing to complain about with Steve. It’s a non-profit business, First Avenue. But it has to be self-reliant for another 35 years, to last. I don’t care if I make money or not. I just want it to continue.”
Fingerhut freely admits his position on First Avenue’s future may be wrong. He says he would have preferred to stay behind the scenes, but the fact the club was sinking forced him to come out of the shadows and make a decision.