Secrets of the City Has Relaunched!

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Secrets of the City is a homegrown daily tip sheet that specializes in cool, creative, and under-the-radar events happening at those smaller venues in and around MPLS + STPL. Book launches! Special beer releases! Dance nights! Can’t miss club shows! If something should be on your social calendar, we’ll delivery it right to your inbox — every day.

Along with our event picks, we’ll have new tips, tricks, and useful info for those of you who like to keep tabs on what’s going on in the Twin Cities.

And to make our intel even more helpful, we’ve just redesigned our Secrets of the City site and newsletter to be mobile-focused, so you can stay informed whereever, whenever.

Here’s a sample of what we’re including in today’s selected events for THURSDAY, OCT. 9:

Social Science: Undead
Spooky Scary, Kooky Hairy! The Science Museum of Minnesota aims to creep out its adult audience at this month’s installment of Social Science. Grab a cocktail before you learn how to mummify a chicken and taxidermy a squirrel, feast on (or at least look up close at) some real human brains, and hear more about the connections between rabies and zombies! All while drinking! 6pm. $12-$17.

Class of ’85
We just had to share this event because you’re either going to absolutely love it or think it’s b-a-n-a-n-a-s. Class of ’85 is a new Broadway-style production from Collide Theatrical starting tonight at the Southern Theater. The show combines dance theater, vocal performance, and a live band(!) to tell an ’80s-inspired high school story of conflicting social cliques that — nd we’re just guessing here — ends with the characters learning they aren’t so different after all. Intrigued? Check out the trailer. Oct. 9-19. $32 / $42.

Buildings and Fury Things
You heard it here first: local trios, Buildings and Fury Things are two of the best grunge-rock — nay, just two of the best — bands in MPLS + STPL right now. (Exhibit A: Fury Things’ cover set as grunge heroes Hole at the Girl Germs tribute night a few months ago. Exhibit B: Any of the two to three shows a week that either Buildings or Fury Things regularly slay.) They’re both playing at the Hexagon Bar tonight with the awesome Boston-based rock band Pile and also-awesome locals Catbath. Just a lot of awesome. 10pm. Free.

We know there’s much, much more to do on the weekends, so Secrets of the City adds in extra hot spot recommendations at the end of the week.

Here’s a sample of what we’re including in today’s selected events for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday:

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Sub-Culture Photography at The Abstracted Gallery
Local photog, promoter, and punk-scene mainstay Adam DeGross obsessively chronicles underground punk and metal (and sometimes even Ke$ha) shows in MPLS + STPL. Last year a book of his work was published and this weekend The Abstracted Gallery showcases some of his pics, with Paddy of the legendary Dillinger Four spinning records. Friday & Saturday, 5pm. Free.

Pints and Pints of Weekend Beer Parties
When the temps start dropping like the leaves from the trees, it’s beer drinking weather. And this weekend is going to be heaven for beer drinkers. Harvest Beer Festival at the American Swedish Institute! Indeed Brewing’s Third Annual Hullabaloo parking-lot mini-festival. Excelsior Brewing’s Oktoberfest! Fair State Brewing’s Co-Optoberfest! Northgate Brewing’s Opening Party! Drink up, and for Pete’s sake plan a safe ride between these events and your home!

Slaps!
You’ve been practicing your twerking in front of the computer, we just know it. Slaps!!! A Great Big Dance Party at Honey with booty bouncing beats from DJ King Otto is the perfect place to show off your hyphy moves to your boyfriends and girlfriends in public. Saturday. 10pm. $5.

2014 Sundance Film Festival Short Film Tour: Double Feature
The Bryant Lake Bowl hosts a double show of short films featured at this year’s Sundance Festival. The first section shown collects eight animated shorts, and the second showcases a diverse array of full (but yes, short) films. It’s like the Sundance in bite-sized viewing bits. Also with drinks, because it’s in the BLB cabaret! Sunday. 6:30pm. $8.

We also include up to two dozen extra selections in our More Weekend Happenings!

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BUT WAIT THERE’S MORE

In addition to our daily event picks, we also adding wide variety of entertaining and actionable intel to better help you use the cities!

Local Intel Like:

#TBT, Twincy Style
Every Thursday we dig deep into the Twincy archives and discover just what we were all up to back in the day. It’s our answer to the cute baby pictures (and embarrassing yearbook photos) that everyone’s posting. This week we’re going back to 1990. Did you know Target Center opened Oct. 13 that year? (Seems like it’s been haunting that stretch of downtown forever.) Who knew that 24 years later, the Lynx would be that eyesore’s only redeeming quality. …

TAKING BETS: NEW TAPROOM?
How many hours do you guys think it will be until the next taproom opens? We’re going with 48 to 72 from when this post hits, and it will probably be within a two-mile radius of another taproom. Send us your bet and we’ll post it to the website; winner gets a beer from us at the new taproom.

THE USUAL: MARVEL BAR
Everyone’s got their favorite Twincy haunt, and everyone’s got their go-to order at their favorite Twincy haunt. Every Wednesday we’re sharing our usuals with you, so you can go try them out.

You probably heard from a number of sources that Bachelor Farmer and Askov Finlayson are expanding, so we wanted to use the news as an opportunity to talk about Marvel Bar’s punch. Yes, we had a sort of mixed response to the restaurant and retail shop news. But we absolutely love Marvel Bar. It’s really cool without trying too hard. The space is unique and amazing; the booths are cozy; the drinks are delicious and give you a great bang for the buck. It’s just great. And every time we go, we get at least one of the weekly punch. The mixologists use the changing recipes to test out their creativity and sense of fun, and they make a bunch of it, so it’s cheap. You can even order a giant serving bowl full. So carve out some time to go to (or go back to) Marvel Bar for the punch, especially during the week or right at opening on the weekend. And ladies, pro tip: Marvel’s women’s bathroom is stocked with free tampons. Name brand, too—no Up & Up ‘pons here! Classy.

And we even have our favorite, THE 3 EMOJI REVIEW

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All this and more — updated daily — at the new SecretsoftheCity.com!