Secrets Blog
Dreamland Faces Record Release Show
Musicians Andy McCormick and Karen Majewicz, better known as the acoustic duo Dreamland Faces, may only play the accordion and wood saw (yes, the musical wood saw), but their haunting and emotive live music can move an entire crowd’s worth of listeners. The twosome regularly perform live scores for silent films around town―they’ve now done over 50—and we can’t wait to see and hear Dreamland Faces as the center of attention. 7:30-10:30 PM. $10 advance, $12 door. —Margeaux Devereaux
Cedar Cultural Center, 416 Cedar Ave S, MPLS; thecedar.org
Tickling Giants
Documenting the rise of surgeon-turned-comedian Bassem Youssef as Egypt’s own sort of Jon Stewart—but with a much larger audience and much more ready to censor government—Tickling Giants shows what happens when authoritarian governments without a sense of humor think criticism gets too popular. A piece of near history or near future? Well. Either way you’ll laugh during the film. 7 PM. $15. —Curt Stanski
Lagoon Cinema, 1320 Lagoon Ave, MPLS; landmarktheatres.com
Graveyard Club + Strange Relations + Finesse
Graveyard Club and their polished dreamy dark pop are quickly becoming the darlings of the Twincy music scene, so tonight’s show could be one of the few remaining options to see them in a non-heavily sponsored and hyped block party setting. Added bonus: Prog-pop Triple Rock regulars Strange Relations and hook-laden Finesse open. 8 PM. $5. —Paul Cajun
Triple Rock Social Club, 629 Cedar Ave S, MPLS; triplerocksocialclub.com
On Our Radar: Weekend To The Max
Out of all the correspondence we get, people asking for more lead time on cool events is our readers’ biggest request. (Where to get razor-style motorized chairs is next.) So with that in mind, here’s a quick look at some stuff that’s currently on our radar for this weekend. We’re also going back to our big stack of happenings since folks weren’t crazy about the breakouts.
Friday
Good riddance to The Sunrise Inn in South MPLS, but if you want to say your “good whatevers”, do it now. Get an early peek at the new exhibition The Weather Diaries at the ASI with a party that includes RONiiA, cocktails, fashion talk, and more. Ah dang, it’s the last show ever for Secrets favs Disasteratti at Reverie. The all vinyl, powder on the floor, foot-scootin’ party Hipshaker! is back at Kitty Cat Klub. Get the best of the long-forgotten Oughts at Y2K: That’s WHAT I CALL 2000s hosted by DJ Jonathan Ackerman at honey. It’s a pre-KLITUATION bash at Silk Haze: MicaMay & Keezy Special Guest: Tiiiiiiiiiip at the Nomad.
Saturday
The stacked-with-programming two-day-long Black and Funny Improv Festival kicks off at HUGE Theater. It’s the Second Annual Smoke Signals beer party at Insight Brewing. Speaking of beer, Hops for Hunger 5.0 returns to the Solar Arts Building. Everyone has to see the Asemic Writing: Offline & In the Gallery at the MCBA, and this party with translators and Ghostband is a good option to do so. The North Star Roller Girls pay tribute to The Purple One with their next bout Purple Pain at the Lee & Warner Coliseum. DJ Keezy’s The KLITUATION, one of the biggest dance parties in MPLS + STPL, returns to First Avenue with a ton of special appearances. The Rocky Horror Picture returns to The Uptown Theater‘s midnight madness.
Sunday
Rebel Donuts will pop-up at Anelace Coffee, one of the best coffee spots. Lonesome George Thorogood still cooks and also swings by the State Theater. Celebrate Air Max Day and honor the innovative kicks with a party at Constantine. Name your show at Amsterdam Fartsterdam Slam and you automatically get included in our picks, but UnderCurrentMPLS’s lineup of underground bands is killer, too.
Burger Hunter: The Bulldog Northeast
Week after week, Mike S. impresses us with the depth and breadth of his burger knowledge. Just wait til you see his logo, we cannot wait to debut it. Check out all The Burger Hunter’s meaty exploits at the #GreatAmericanBurgerHunter tag on Instagram.
Coping it sweet in Northeast, MPLS on a random weekday might find you pondering your lunch time happy place. Low and behold I found mine at The Bulldog Northeast. Now you should have at the very least heard of this place or hopefully had a drink or something here. It’s got cred. Menu is Burger-forward and we’re into it. So I went with the Peanut Butter and Bacon burger which should be called the Knife and Fork burger. We will get to that later . . . Let’s start with the beef. The grind is brisket, sirloin, and chuck. Golf clap. The pack is firm. Chef knows medium and flavor of the beef is dialed. It’s topped with a Surly spiced peanut butter that is now and forever part of my fam. Is anyone listening???!! Bottle that shit! STAT! Sorry I get carried away. Next up on the burger is an apple-wood bacon that works beautifully on this super concoction. This whole thing is kind of a breakfastie hangover super crave town munchies ensemble. When you need to flat-out crush, this is it folks. Now they put a fried egg on it with a little Wood’s maple syrup. The runny egg always adds nice flavor to meat. Instagram Stories were made for this. But with these specific ingredients the egg is really the Pope Francis. Brings it all together and almost can’t live without. A keystone if you won’t. That brings us to the bun. The croissant. A noble choice but it just can’t hold up. Sweet and buttery and perfy choice to pair with these ingredients, but if your looking to hold this burger you might have a messy ordeal on your hands. Hence the Knife and Fork burger. Love the flavor of this ride. Sweet, full bodied and bold. It’s not hiding nor covering up. Just satisfying the soul.
Scorecard: Flavor: 8.7 Presentation: 7 Originality: 10
Bulldog Northeast, 401 E Hennepin Ave, MPLS; thebulldognortheast.com
Twincy Cheat Sheet: All The Cheats Fit To Print
It’s almost impossible to keep up with the arts and the culture and the entertainment and food and drink and the people and the places here in MPLS + STPL, so we’ve put together this list of stuff that we’re using as talking points this week and sharing them with you to pretend like they’re you’re own.
Who: Andrew McCarthy
You know Andrew McCarthy as the dreamy actor from “Pretty in Pink” and “Weekend at Bernie’s”. We know him as the editor-at-large at National Geographic Traveler who has also written for The New York Times, and other big deal publications. (We also love him in “Mannequin”.) Regardless of how you know McCarthy, there’s a 100% chance his Talk of the Stacks appearance at Hennepin Central Library on April 12th will fill up minutes after the doors open.
What: The New York Times hypes up The Riveter
Speaking of must attend readings—did you catch the conversation with author Jung Yun and the editors of The Riveter last Friday? It was one of those very cool, very informational events that reflects the modus of the locally made longform women’s magazine, and it’s that same vein that the Times picked up on for their profile on the emergence of new canny women’s publications.
When: Edible Book Festival visits the Minneapolis Institute of Art
The Riveter is great, dreamy McCarthy’s writing it great, but you can’t eat them—or can you? The upcoming Edible Book Festival at Mia is like a gingerbread house competition but instead of houses the entries are edible books or even better book-food puns. There’s cake and coffee at intermission, thank goodness.
Where: The Clown Lounge at the Turf Club
What a great spot for a free listening party for The Suicide Commandos new Time Bomb album, a record that both comes 42 years after the first gig from the local punk/garage rock pioneers and is only their second ever full length studio outing. It’s such a big deal that the fabled Twin/Tone records popped back into existence to put it out. Get there early on May 5th to get in.
Why (Of Course!): Art Shanties come to MPLS next year.
One of our favorite parts of the year so far was making the quick trip out to scenic White Bear Lake on a February weekend to pop in and out of the little art shacks on the ice (and eventually shore, thanks climate change). The organizing organization just announced that you can have the same fun without spending that little big on gas: The Art Shanties will move closer to most of their artists in MPLS and set up on Lake Harriet.
Elizabeth Cook
We love a lot of attitude in our classic country singers, especially when they have deceptively darlin’ voices. And listening to Nashville’s Elizabeth Cook do “It Takes Balls To Be A Woman“, you hear all the same sweetness mixed with moxy of icons like Loretta and Dolly. Thanks to her work ethic as a SiriusXM Outlaw Country hostess and Grand Ole Opry regular, Cook’s not only comparable to those lady legends, but has put her on the same stages, too. It’s going to be extra special to catch her at the Dakota. 7 PM. $35-27. —Isla Volk
Dakota Jazz Club & Restaurant, 1010 Nicollet Ave, MPLS; dakotacooks.com