Opening in 1968 as the Whole Coffeehouse, what is now known as the Whole Music Club at the University of Minnesota was born.
Nestled in the basement of the Coffman Memorial Union, the historic all-ages venue has hosted countless legendary musicians and bands among the sea of up-and-coming artists who have taken the stage there over the decades.
Hippies flocked to The Whole in the 1970s to see rising songwriters who would later become famous, such as Tom Waits, Bonnie Raitt and Townes Van Zandt, to name a few.
John Bream, a music critic and reporter for the Star Tribune since the mid-1970s and a former staffer at The Minnesota Daily, remembers the Whole from the early 1970s. Although it’s labeled as a coffee shop, Bream said the place is more than that.
“The Whole wasn’t like a little cafe gig, it was more of a showcase club gig,” Bream said. “It was quite a prestigious place in the early 1970s.”
Bream said the venue is an attractive place for students to see live music and said it’s comparable to seeing a band at a bar, except without the need to be of drinking age.
“First Avenue was around back then in the early ’70s, but I couldn’t get in as a college student,” Bream said. “You get to see some high-quality up-and-coming musicians or long-established names that may be past their prime but still have historical significance while you’re in college without having to pay high prices.”
Bream said the Whole is an important part of the Twin Cities music scene.
“If you look at the list of people who played there in that era, it’s a very impressive list,” Bream said.
Tom Waits played at The Whole repeatedly in the 1970s as his career soared, before becoming unusually experimental in the 1980s with notable records such as ‘Rain Dogs’.
Sue Johnson, a 65-year-old woman from Apollo Beach, Florida, saw Tom Waits perform at The Whole while attending high school in Anoka, Minnesota.
“This guy comes out looking like an upright piano and the spotlights. He blew me away,” Johnson said. “It was really one of those moments where it just changes you. It really made me play and sing more.”
In addition to seeing Tom Waits live, Johnson often attends concerts at The Whole.
“There were so many good musicians down at the Whole Coffeehouse at that time in the ’70s,” Johnson said. “If anyone could get to the whole cafe, they would huddle together and have a cup of hot apple cider and sit around these great musicians, and it was so intimate.”
In 1983, the name of the establishment was officially changed from “Coffeehouse” to “Music Club”. Around this time, Whole Music Club shifted from hiring mostly singer-songwriters to hiring punk and local acts, including Minnesota greats like The Replacements and Hüsker Dü.
The Whole continued to adapt to the times in the 1990s as it played host to alternative rock bands. One group they hosted was particularly notable. In 1992, before the band achieved massive commercial success with their 1994 album Dookie, Green Day played at The Whole with tickets costing just $4 for students.
Astrid Wood, a second-year computer science major at the university, has attended concerts at the Whole but wishes they would host more shows there. She describes the Whole as a unique space on campus with a punk rock vibe.
“They have a bunch of framed posters of famous people in the hallway on the way there. It felt great to be able to see that visually everywhere,” Wood said.
Whether you’re there for a show or just passing through Coffman midweek, it’s worth taking a moment to walk through the Whole and enjoy the unique historical value of the venue conveniently located on campus.
