Most recently, the revered downtown Minneapolis music club snatched up the Fine Line just down the street, adding it to a collection of music venues that includes the Turf Club, the 7th St. Entry, and the First Avenue Mainroom itself.

Now First Ave is subsuming the Fitzgerald Theater into its entertainment empire. They’re taking the historic St. Paul venue off the hands of Minnesota Public Radio, which has owned and operated the joint since 1980. Some people say it's the eighth best place to see live music in the Twin Cities.

There are no details available about the deal, which is yet to be finalized, so there’s not much more for me to say here. I guess I could pad this story out by mentioning that First Avenue also jointly operates the Palace Theatre with the city of St. Paul and books gobs of shows at places like Amsterdam, the Cedar, the State, and the Orpheum. If you’re seeing a band tonight, chances are good First Ave had something to do with them coming to town.

Also, I think they should change the spelling to “theatre” just to keep everyone on their toes.

