It's not exactly as big as making the Forbes "Most Livable Cities" list – or even the "Most Bicycle-Friendly Cities" list, which Mayor R.T. Rybak likes to tout – but Minneapolis did earn a nice little nod from the chambers-of-commerce-affiliated site Livability.com as one of the "10 Cities With the Best Music Scenes Outside of Nashville, NYC and L.A." In fact, we're No. 2 on the list of mid-size cities just behind Athens, Ga., where R.E.M. made its mark 30-plus years ago and then… well, we're not sure what has happened since (just kidding; don't beat me up tonight, Kevin Barnes). Omaha and Madison also made the cut at Nos. 5 and 8, respectively.
In its report on Minneapolis -- which unspokenly includes St. Paul (see: nod to the SPCO) -- the site says, "[The] music scene usually gets respect with the words 'The Replacements,' 'Prince' or 'Husker Du' – all artists hailing from here. And there are many accolades and rave reviews from artists and fans, to boot." It goes on to list a No.8 ranking as one of "America's Best Music Scenes" in Travel & Leisure magazine, as well as Rolling Stone's inclusion of both the Electric Fetus and Hymie's in its recent top-25 record-store tally. First Ave, the Fine Line, Varsity Theater also get shout-outs. It's a pretty elementary look at things, but at least we got in over Omaha.
