Located in the heart of Cedar Riverside area, The Cedar Cultural Center started its life as a movie theater in 1948. After operating as a Contemporary Dance Playhouse School, Center Opera, Coffeehouse Extempore, the building’s ownership was transferred to Minnesota STAR, Inc. in 1989, where it became The Cedar Cultural Centre (note: original spelling).

The Cedar is best known for booking Word Music, but they’re also known for arts-related programming, comedy, spoken word, and film. The venue is operated by funding provided by donations by patrons and its staff is entirely made up of volunteers.

There are two bars, located near the entrance and inside the standing room (but often not opened). They serve a variety of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks with snacks.

The sound system is really good, and the way it was originally designed (as a theater), acoustic audio carries really well in the venue - you can literally hear a pin drop. Audience-wise, we’ve previously described its patrons as “NPR-type”, so they are often very respectful to the performers.

There is also an outside mini stage at the Cedar, where they may book free events. It was originally fenced in, but decided to tear down the fence and open the area to the community.

Trivia: For a few years, the Cedar booked very few shows during the summer, because their air conditioning unit didn’t work. The Cedar got donations for the air condition in 2013. 

Music Hall Minneapolis is a multi-level venue in the Warehouse District of Minneapolis, Minnesota. It originally began as The Brick, but after a disastrous start, the operators AEG Live decided to renovated and improved the venue, rebranding the name to Mill City Nights. Mill City Nights closed its doors in 2016, but reopened again as Music Hall Minneapolis.

Currently, all of the Music Hall Minneapolis’ listing post-October 2018 have been moved to other venues in the area, leaving St Lucia’s upcoming Oct 5th show as its last booking.

It’s a good-size venue, filling in nicely between the bigger First Avenue and, much smaller, 7th Street Entry. There is a full bar service in the back, or Nether Bar downstairs, if you prefer to chat.

Depending on the event, the security, provided by AEG, can be very slow, complete with pat-downs and metal detector wands. 

If you’re not from the Minneapolis area, Palmer’s Bar, whose motto is “Sorry We’re Open”, sits between the Cedar Cultural Center and the former Triple Rock Social Club (permanently closed since 2017) in the Cedar-Riverside area. From what I can remember, the Palmer’s Bar reputation was not good according to former W♥M writer, Lara. She called it “the world’s most dangerous bar” on account of some stabbings that happened at the establishment.

Although I’ve never experienced anything like that personally, I know that area can be somewhat shady. For example, I did witness a car hitting a light pole and the driver was running on foot from two police officers… but that had nothing to do with Palmer’s Bar and their reputation for strong drinks.

Thaddeus recently attended Cornbread Harris at Palmer’s Bar (April 6, 2025) and noted, “I realized I was facing the fallacy of convenience with local legend Cornbread Harris, who, like every Sunday from 5-7 pm, performs with no cover at Palmer’s Bar, so I finally made the time to go and see him. Harris, who has been part of rock bands, but mostly specializes in blues and jazz, has been part of the Twin Cities’ music scene for more than 70 years. He was part of The Augie Garcia Quintet, which had Minnesota’s first rock & roll record Hi Yo Silver, in 1955. He’s been the subject of a recent book, Deeper Blues: The Life Songs and Salvation of Cornbread Harris.”

Before I left Minneapolis for Jacksonville, I did stop in at the Palmer’s Bar to say goodbye to Peter. I’m glad to I made the effort, as it’s likely the last time I would be at the famed “world’s most dangerous bar.”

Here’s to you, Mr. Henry Palmer.