The AMP is a youth center and music venue in Minot, North Dakota

Minot, North Dakota

Minot is a city located in north central North Dakota in the United States. It is most widely known for the Air Force base located approximately 15 miles north of the city. With a population of 40,888 at the 2010 census, Minot is the fourth largest city in the state...

. Established in October 2003 by Billy Luetzen, the AMP provides a place for local youth to hang out, and on most weekends stages a concert. The AMP has hosted a number of acts with a wide range of music. Generally concerts have a lot of punk rock

Punk rock

Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...

, but also a number of indie

Indie rock

Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...

 and acoustic acts play there. The AMP has also organized film and theatre events on occasion.

The AMP has generated a national reputation for its atmosphere; it's rather rare for there to be an all-ages venue and hangout in any city, and especially rare for one to accept such a wide range of talent.

This makes the AMP stand in contrast with its spiritual predecessor, the Liberty Social Tavern.

History

In September 2003, following the closure of the Liberty, a group of people met at the Minot Public Library to discuss the future of live performance in the city. This Artists, Musicians, and Performers group led by Billy Luetzen quickly found a suitable location for a new venue with an owner willing to allow preemptible use of the building for virtually no cost; an abandoned fur and leather factory in northeast Minot.

The building, at 412 3rd St NW, was renovated over the course of a month, and the first concerts were held in October 2003.

In July 2004 the AMP was forced to close its first location when the building owner found a renter. The AMP organized events at the Taube Museum of Art and the Minot Public Library over the summer of 2004.There was considerable controversy over a show held in September 2004, a film festival put on by a travelling group espousing borderline criminal activities.The manager of the Dakota Square Mall asked the president of Minot State University

Minot State University

Minot State University is a four-year institution of higher learning in Minot, North Dakota. Founded in 1913 as a normal school, Minot State University is the third-largest university in North Dakota, offering undergraduate and graduate degree programs.Minot State University was founded in 1913...

 to cancel the show, which was then scheduled to take place at the Aleshire Theatre on campus. Following a row with several professors over censorship concerns the show was reinstated, but by that time a room at the Public Library had already been rented and fliers advertising the show at the Library, and the show took place there.

Soon thereafter, the building of a closed downtown curio and scrapbook shop was offered to Luetzen, and on 30 October 2004 the AMP held its first concert at a location downtown, at 106 South Main Street. In February 2006, the owner sold the building to developers, and the AMP was forced to return to finding venues for shows on an ad-hoc basis.

Notable acts that have played at the AMP

• burnthe8track
  Burnthe8track
  burnthe8track is a punk rock band from Winnipeg, Manitoba. The group formed in 2001 and has toured extensively in over 30 countries through the United States, Canada, and Europe. The band's debut album was The Ocean...
  
  
• The Robot Ate Me
  The Robot Ate Me
  The Robot Ate Me is an experimental indie rock band formed by Ryland Bouchard in 2002 which has been through many distinct phases incorporating aspects of folk, jazz, psychedelia and avant-garde rock. Their critically acclaimed albums alternated between accessible pop and obscure musical art projects...
  
  
• Southerly
  Southerly (band)
  Southerly is a United States musical act, a solo project of Krist Kreuger. The Madison, Wisconsin native started the project in 2001, releasing an EP, but put it on hiatus to focus on building his own independent booking agency, The Crow Agency...
  
  
• Sycamore Smith
  Sycamore Smith
  Sycamore Smith is the stage name of Marc Smith, a musician from Marquette, Michigan. Smith, formerly of The Muldoons, has toured the United States with his comic brand of folk music, complete with derby hat, guitar, and gold-plated resonator kazoo....
  
  
• The White Foliage
  The White Foliage
  The White Foliage is an independent rock band from North Dakota. Its founding members, Charles Gokey and Marie J. Parker, met at a band camp in July 2001, while in high school. Although the two lived 500 km apart, in Fargo, North Dakota and Williston, North Dakota, respectively, the two...
  
  
• Defiance Ohio

External links

• The AMP website