Daniel Corrigan is First Avenue's assistant facilities manager, unofficial tour guide, occasional stagehand, sometimes security guard and official photographer.
With his camera in hand, he's been smashed in the head by Iggy Pop's microphone, stuck in an elevator with the Replacements and scrunched in a van with Babes in Toyland. All in the name of capturing the decisive moment for an album cover, promo photo or story in some publication.
After more than three decades behind a camera, Corrigan, 58, has published an attractive, comprehensive book of more than 500 photos, "Heyday: 35 Years of Music in Minneapolis," which covers everyone from U2 and Michael Jackson to Dessa and Hippo Campus (with text by Danny Sigelman).
Nowadays, Corrigan shoots about six to 10 concerts a month for First Avenue. Before that, he shot regularly for City Pages and the Minnesota Daily at the University of Minnesota, where he got his start. Like an airport tarmac worker, he always wears large headphones at concerts because his ears got blasted at an AC/DC gig back in the day.
For the book, the Minneapolis photographer credits Josh Leventhal of the Minnesota Historical Society Press for choosing the images from tens of thousands of negatives and digital files. In fact, Corrigan hadn't even seen some of the photos until they were published.
"My career is fraught with mistakes that went well," he says.
We've gathered a few of his favorite mistakes and asked Corrigan to tell the stories behind the images. Click through the photo gallery above for the story behind each photo.
Twitter: @JonBream • 612-673-1719
