Fire at The Fine Line Causes Cancellation of Link Wray at Fine Line Music Café on 2/17/03

Fire at the Fine Line - Photo by David de Young

Fire at the Fine Line Monday Night

I went to the Fine Line tonight to see a show by Link Wray, the man credited with the invention of the power chord. (Pete Townshend once said if it weren't for Link Wray he never would have picked up a guitar.) But Link Wray's show never happened, and what did happen gave me more than I bargained for as an amateur journalist.

Details on the extent of the fire at the Fine Line will, I'm sure, follow in the mainstream press. All I can say for now is that at approximately 7:05 p.m. just as openers Seattle's Jet City Fix were finishing their opening set, the ceiling of the club caught fire. One music fan who was inside the club who witnessed the event said a pyrotechnic had gone off improperly, setting fire to the ceiling. At the very moment the fire broke out I was standing in the doorway of the club just about to step inside.

From what I could see, all patrons, staff and musicians appear to have exited the club without injury and the Fine Line staff did a great job of getting people to exit the building in a calm and orderly fashion.

Dave Wolfe, whose band the Vibrochamps were scheduled to play later in the evening was concerned about his gear; his band had already packed in for their set. And according to a WCCO news report there was water damage to some of the bands' instruments as well as the fire and water damage to the club itself.

There was a bit of humor a short time later as a Fine Line waitress walked among the crowd of evacuees across the street good-naturedly trying to collect on her open bar tabs.

But this was a sad event for the Minneapolis music community, as the Fine Line, host to so many great concerts lately, will now be closed for an unspecified period for repairs. Just tomorrow, in the third in a series of musical tribute concerts, local bands were to have paid tribute to Minneapolis favorites the Replacements.

Update:

In a press release Tuesday morning, The Fine Line staff indicated all shows for February are now cancelled. They wished to thank everyone for their support and calls of concern regarding the fire. Phone service at the club is expected to be operational Tuesday.

Below are a few of the pictures I was able to take before we were asked by police to leave the area. Click any image below for a larger version.

Patrons exit the club.

The Fire Department arrives on the scene minutes later.

Two firefighters on the roof of the club. Smoke could be scene coming through the top of the building.

First Avenue between 3rd and 4th St 20 minutes later. The police asked all onlookers to leave the scene as they blocked off the street.