If last week's undersized gig by arena rockers the Killers at First Avenue seemed like a big deal, then how about an appearance by Rock & Roll Hall of Famers the Pretenders in the smaller room next door?
Chrissie Hynde and her crew have booked a special album-promotional and birthday gig at 7th St. Entry on Sept. 7. Tickets go on sale Friday at 10 a.m. via AXS.com, and the price is fairly middle-of-the-road: just $60. You can bet they'll sell out fast.
Hynde will turn 72 the day of the Minneapolis show, which her band is squeezing in on an off night between tour dates as Guns N' Roses' opening act. "Relentless," the first Pretenders album in three years, lands a week after the Minneapolis date, led by the now-circulating single "Let the Sun Come In."
Hynde is now the sole original member of the group following the exit of drummer Martin Chambers. When she and her Akron, Ohio-reared band first performed in Minneapolis in April 1980, they already had enough buzz off their debut album and the singles "Kid" and "Brass in Pocket" to fill the First Ave Mainroom (then named Sam's), right around the time 7th St. Entry opened. So this will presumably be the smallest gig the Pretenders have ever played in the Twin Cities.
