Another trip north to the big city of Minneapolis. We're going to a cool club called First Avenue. This is my first time at First Avenue. On the outside, it's pretty unassuming. The iPad ads are bigger than the place itself. It got its name from the fact that it's on... First Avenue.

Across the street is O'Donovan's Irish Pub. I wasn't planning on going there but the statement about naked waitresses flirting with ME had a pretty strong pull.

On the other side of the intersection people disembarked from this strange contraption called a Pedal Pub. Apparently it is powered by a brewed type of bio-fuel. If I were to use one of these things, it would have to pull along a port-a-potty.

Black, boots, and cell phones are in with the younger set.

One of the First Avenue staff sat on the sidewalk and guarded the place. We begged and pleaded with him to let us in, but he would only say "No, no, not by the hair on my chinny chin chin."

A few stars have played here. Some are so famous that even I've heard of them!

But I digress. This is what we're here for.

We finally made it inside. After going the high-tech route of ordering tickets online and printing them out so we wouldn't have to mess with will-call, the computer refused them and the system had to be rebooted. Instead of making us wait, they kindly waived us on in.

Since we were the first in line, the place was pretty empty. This bar was decorated with strings of lights.

In the corner was a little shop selling Yann paraphernalia. It was run by a really nice guy from Scotland who put up with me telling him: "Oh, I've been to Glasgow. We loved Edinburgh. Have you been to Sandy Bell's? We drove to Inverness and..... blah blah blah"

A well-stocked cooler glowed in the subdued lighting.

The restroom was bright in the early evening light. At least they covered up the lower part of the windows so I didn't feel quite so out in the open.

Levers were pulled and knobs were twiddled.

Upstairs was a very modern bar.

From the front stage I looked back.

One of the members of the band worked with the staff on the hundreds of controls.

Behind the screen the instruments waited patiently.

The well-lit stairs were decorated.

Hmmmm... maybe it's time to get up front and settle down for the show.

People were starting to congeal at the edge of the stage. It looks like they're at church—going up to the front rail and kneeling to take communion.

First up was a band called Felix. English singer-songwriter Lucinda Chua joined with two members of Tiersen's band. Her song "Blessing" is featured in a superb short film by Andrew Telling.

Chua's airy voice was carried along with her gentle chords on the piano.

After Felix finished we tried to wait patiently while a stage hand tested the instruments and setup. Finally Yann and his band of music makers came out and went to work.....

This is the end, my friend. After an encore the music was over. Glaring lights came on and the crowd—never to be together again for all of eternity—suddenly broke up and evaporated.

Besides memories and photographs, we will have a new CD to listen to.

Out into the real world. The big friendly iPad lit up the evening.

The pub and its waitresses still exerted their pull, so I read the fine print. The sign says "The NAKED truth about our WAITRESSES is that they only FLIRT WITH YOU to get a better tip." Damn! One should always read the fine print. Or, maybe not.

We walked past the Target Center as the friendly Pete the Pup wagged his neon tail.

Unusual structures lined up in the plaza. I waited for flames to come shooting out of them.

Target Field—home of the Minnesota Twins.

Baseball great Rod Carew stood frozen while getting ready for the pitch.

Back in the bright stairwell at the parking ramp we hoped we'd remember where the car was parked.