Conrad Sverkerson, known to most on the first-name basis of “Conrad,” was a long-time stage manager at First Ave. He passed away September 30, 2025. City Cast Twin Cities host and local musician Sean McPherson wrote this piece sharing memories of Conrad’s respected, hard-working presence and the legacy he leaves throughout the Twin Cities.
One of the scarier professional calls I had to make in my life came in late December of 2001 when I had to call Conrad Sverkerson from First Ave on Christmas weekend. My band was scheduled to be the backing musicians for Atmosphere for a show December 26 at First Avenue. It hadn’t occurred to me that I was going to have to “advance the show.” Advancing the show generally means calling the venue, confirming the load-in time and location, communicating the stage plot and covering all the details that need to be discussed post-signing the contract, pre-the actual performing. I realized I needed to do this on Saturday, December 22, aka super late in the game. Trying to get someone on the phone the weekend before Christmas in any industry is a tall order; in music it’s nearly impossible. But there I was, calling First Avenue’s office on a Saturday, trying to advance a show that any pro would’ve advanced by December 10.
I was no pro: I was three years out of high school and mere months into dropping out of college and pretending I was a professional musician. When I called, Steve McClellan picked up the phone. Steve was the GM of First Ave. At the time, his brand was that of a brash asshole who barked orders and opinions to anyone in his very large listening range 27 hours a day. As I recall, he answered the phone “What.”
I sheepishly told him I needed to advance the show coming up on Wednesday. He whatever-the-opposite-of-sheepishly-is told me that I was an idiot for calling on Saturday and that he couldn’t advance the show anyway. . .I would have to give Conrad a call. McClellan barked it all: Conrad is the stage manager, Conrad is who you need to call. He gave me the number and I stared at the number scared shitless. Even though he said goodbye my soul felt that he hung up on me.
I had played the Mainroom before. The first time was New Year’s Eve going into 1999. But I had always been a part of some larger event. Maybe a Rhymesayers thing, maybe a Groove Garden thing. I had met Conrad. That made me more scared to call him. He had long ass dread locks, he spoke rarely, I had seen him carry out a mic stand to Ben Harper. He had lived a cooler life than me and I felt like he could stare into my soul and know I was just a spoiled kid from Saint Paul who barely knew how to replace my own bass strings. I envisioned calling Conrad and telling him I had to advance the show and him saying “nope, you’re fired from your entire life, die slow Sean!”
I looked at that number for a long ass time and then I took a deep breath and dialed. He answered quickly and sounded like he was in a wind tunnel where two big bands were practicing the same song a half step apart. Over the din I told him that I was calling to advance for Heiruspecs. He asked what instruments we had. He told us what time to get there. He talked out all the other details and we both wrote them down. I was glad for the ordeal to be over. Just as I was ready to say goodbye and remember what it felt like to have an unclenched asshole he said “hey Sean, have a good Christmas alright?” It was human, it was special, it was the start of me getting the sneaking suspicion that Conrad tolerated me. That show we played with Atmosphere turned into a live album that worked out pretty well.
A couple years later Heiruspecs was loading in for a show opening for Anti-Pop Consortium at First Ave and before we even got out of our cars Conrad asked “how long can you play?” It turned out that Anti-Pop got a flat tire in Madison and they were running very late. I just remember looking over at Conrad every five minutes after our scheduled set length was done and him smiling and circling his hand, letting us know to keep on going. I think we played about every song we knew and ended up doing about a ninety minute opening set.
I never got close with Conrad across our years of working together but I always felt a bond with him. I went from being a scared shitless twenty year old trying to advance a show the week of Christmas to being a 43 year old radio host introducing the best new bands a couple years back. Throughout that time, Conrad treated me and my team with respect and care and with a clear north star of making sure that the shows went off without a hitch.
Have a great Christmas, Conrad. Thank you for everything.
Conrad Sverkerson. (Courtesy of First Ave / Darin Kamnetz)
