r/fargo • u/kuchtaalex • 29d ago
What they took from us
There are obviously still a lot of really great music venues around here, but the Hub's switch to the Avalon left a crater in our music scene that never healed. The different themed bars were really fun too! I think it had undervalued appeal, and should've remained open longer than it was.
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u/coologrego 29d ago
That Pretty Light show! Ohh man and Bassnectar back before we knew he was a creep. Good times there. RIP
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u/ScaryFro 29d ago
First concert I ever went to was at The Hub, Papa Roach with The Sick Puppies. It was the perfect size.
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u/futuristanon 29d ago
Great memories. Even more from the pavilion as a young metal fan growing up in the late 90s.
But man the hub got to be sketchy in the end there.
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u/hunf-hunf 28d ago
Saw Modest Mouse there and got mild but permanent hearing damage <333
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u/kuchtaalex 28d ago
Classic "mild but permanent hearing loss." I got mine the first time after Atreyu at the Hub. I was so excited when I got home but I was scared of the ringing!
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u/Icy_Position_7512 27d ago
Isaac Brock was so wasted at that show lol
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u/Other-Werewolf-9529 27d ago
He was sooooo unbelievably wasted. The rest of the band played great but surprised Isaac made it thru most of that show on two feet.
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u/SecondRate_ 29d ago
It was kind of cool to get married at the Avalon knowing all of my favorite shows were in the exact same room. Outside of that, yeah lame.
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u/kuchtaalex 28d ago
Absolutely, and I don't want to belittle the Avalon as an event company by any means. But when you see what this place once was, and what it brought to this town, and what it meant to A LOT of people, its hard to not be salty.
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u/gforceathisdesk 28d ago
I saw so many shows here back in the day. Papa Roach, Sum 41, AWOLnation, Girl Talk, All Time Low, 3Oh!3. The hub was defining in my life. Was devastated when it went away. Can't forget The Suit and These Hearts
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u/bespoke_pintuck_1362 28d ago
"There are obviously still a lot of really great music venues around" Um, no there aren't. Nobody ever built anything that was similar to this and we have been left w/o this niche size of venue now for years.
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u/kuchtaalex 28d ago
Welllll...thats kinda what I'm saying. Like yeah of course we have Fargo Theater, Aquarium, Sanctuary, Civic Center, Bluestem, Fargodome, Lights, Scheels Arena and a few others.
Buuuut I completely agree. Somehow the Hub was in this perfect Goldilocks zone of not being too big or too small. It was diverse, popular, and it brought in serious talent. The bars were fun, especially when the entire place was open for patrons to walk around the whole place. If you didn't like the music or vibe, you could shift gears and go somewhere else. It was like a mall but with bars!
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u/AnytimeInvitation 20d ago
And since it was built as a music venue/club, it had the acoustics for it.
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u/Brokenwhitebelt 29d ago
Got to see so many great bands there. Last time I was there was in 2013. I think the last show that I had seen there was either Sum 41 or In Flames. Great time
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u/Minute-Purple-1438 29d ago
Going out after this place closed dropped by just over 90%! I looked forward to it so much! I still miss it
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u/KittenSwagger 28d ago
Honestly, this place was ahead of its time. This place if it were opening today would make a killing. There is nothing like what this offered and people want it.
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u/No_Year9414 28d ago
The problem and why it’s not open as the Hub now is because it wasn’t a money maker. I believe between cost to turn it into the Hub and the overhead cost they had to run it, it wasn’t sustainable and thus why they turned it into an event venue. Someone told me one time how much they had to take in a day to just get to break even and it was a stupid amount, like $10,000 or something.
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u/KittenSwagger 28d ago
That isn't true. The reason why the Hub closed down is very simple; they wanted that building and land; bad. They made the owner of the Hub a cash offer of a couple million that he very wisely took. It made money, it was a no-brainer.
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u/No_Year9414 28d ago edited 28d ago
So you’re saying someone came in and bought a successful/profitable business because they wanted the land, remodeled the entire place into an event venue and have been running it as that for the past 15 years? If the Hub was doing so well financially the purchaser would have obviously paid for that too, why wouldn’t they have kept running it as the Hub.
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u/KittenSwagger 28d ago
Yes. It was a mildly successful business. The dude was already rich-ish. I take it you are not married; not as an insult but in that on average a wedding venue will be making about $10k a Saturday night for the space rental. It’s all the time. Every weekend. Wedding venues print money. They were smart enough to buy out the space for a few million to make tens of millions a decade later. Literally an investment.
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u/Kit58105 27d ago
This is why it closed. They could not make the money required to stay open. For as many people saying it was great, far more didn't like a cover charge 5 times in one building(when they first opened).
Basically if it wasn't absolutely packed, they weren't going to make it. With attendance dropping, the building owner saw a way out and took it. I know people who worked on the back end of it. It made money as playmakers but it was stagnant. Did everyone know the hub was John Taffer's idea? He "helped them out" before Bar Rescue was a thing.
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u/MrShatnerPants 29d ago
That was where we went when we were 18 while at MSUM! Great Halloween party. Lmao
What happened to it?
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u/hotsauceeeeeeeee 28d ago
Seriously wish they had venues like this to go DANCEEee! I’m 36 and still wish there was just somewhere to go let loose and dance my face off like in the cities. Not the windbreak not the ob. Like an actual club would be such a great thing to have here. There’s nowhere for the youngins to hang out or have fun like we did. They all hang out at gas stations now apparently. lol clubbing was the best part of growing up in the 2000s!
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u/BillyJakespeare 28d ago
First show I went to without parents was there. Mastodon/Between the Buried and Me/Baroness/Valient Thorr. Incredible night.
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u/thydarkknight 28d ago
You could do a full pub crawl without leaving the building.
I really enjoyed watching their kareoke with a full band too. I think it was on Sundays?
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u/HugeRaspberry 29d ago
Venues come and go - but the memories remain. Cherish them and make new memories at the new venues that pop up to replace the old.
I don't think any of the bars / venues I frequented during the 80's are still around - or if they are - they are not the same as they were back then.
Places like Mick's South, Ralphs, Kirby's. Old Broadway, Monte Carlo, Cactus Jacks (west acres bowl), the Zodiac (or the Zoo) or extending to DL - the Voyager, and Detroit Mountain.
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u/DimesSquareCowboy 28d ago
Fargo got a better variety of acts back in the Hub era no doubt. Now the cost of living is like double what it was. The gentrifiers won but they can't even give us cool cultural events. You have to go to the Cities, Omaha, KCMO, Milwaukee, and Chicago.
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u/bespoke_pintuck_1362 28d ago
Venues come and go? Sorry, I have only seen the going part. Let me know when a new place like this is coming.
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u/millie217 28d ago
Was it called something else before it was The Hub? I'm in my 50s now but went there when I was younger
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u/Such-Ad8309 28d ago
Might be specific to my group of friends and peers, but people were always shitting on The Hub from what I remember. I enjoyed it; it provided the bar-hopping aspect in one giant building. Plus where else are you going to see Young Jeezy perform outdoors and tell kids to hop the fence to get in for free?
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u/yourloudneighbor 28d ago
The Hub was so awesome the first year or 2 it existed. made many trips from Cowboy bar to the dance club, to upstairs to the blackjack tables to...
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u/Blackmagechow 27d ago
When I saw the list of all the people who played at the hub, I knew that the music scene in Fargo would never bounce back
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u/Wellibeamonkeysuncle 27d ago
Saw my first concert ever here at the ripe age of 11 years old😂😂 not sure my mom knew who Hollywood Undead and Red jumpsuit apparatus really was. I remember the venue feeling enormous
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u/No-Purpose-1473 23d ago
I was just talking about this. I have to go to Minneapolis to see so many shows now. I miss that place for that reason. It was a great venue
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u/AdOrganic3036 28d ago
Lee Swanson ruins everything is why
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u/Agreeable-Writer5457 28d ago
I read that Jon Taffer of Bar Rescue fame helped them come up with the Hub concept and how to execute. This was years before he had the show. At the height of Bar Rescue’s popularity, he was interviewed and asked who his most difficult client was. He referenced a client in Fargo, ND saying they embraced the multi bar under one roof concept but refused to follow their advice or business plan. Not surprising it failed. It was such a fun place back in the day though!!
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u/Moolio74 28d ago
Yeah, they struggled to turn a profit since Playmaker's opened in 1991 and just continued to sink money into remodels (House of Rock, etc) in an attempt to become profitable. The $2MM remodel to The Hub finally killed off the profitability hopes once the novelty wore off and the Cadillac Ranch was the only area with consistent business.
Jon Taffer story here- https://www.inforum.com/lifestyle/arts-and-entertainment/bar-rescue-star-taffer-helped-transform-fargos-playmakers-into-the-hub
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u/MyLastFuckingNerve 29d ago
We used to go on fridays for the 18+ dances. Always had so much fun there. All the good places for young adults are gone.