DJ TRL's Circus inaugural night in the Turf Club's Clown Lounge

DJ TRL in action, photographed by massdistraction (please note the rhyme).

Despite being one of the coziest, most inviting spaces in the Twin Cities (and, based on how many people are still unaware of its very existence, one of the best kept secrets), the basement lounge of the Turf Club is a low ceilinged, warmly lit place to nip away for some quiet face time when the show upstairs becomes a bit too much to handle on a Thursday night.

But who says the Clown Lounge should be relegated to the couples and cliques who want to talk privately? Tonight, DJ TRL (Tom Loftus of Modern Radio and Triple Rock 241 fame) begins his weekly DJ night, entitled Circus (Gimme Noise was voting for "Clown Syndrome" but were wisely shouted down). Every Thursday for the forseeable future, TRL will be down in the Clown Lounge, spinning wax and leading a pre-weekend dance party.

For those who think Too Much Love has the market cornered on hipster dance nights, poke your head in First Avenue during its throes and try to count the underage against the grownups. It's a sorry ratio, and anyway, isn't it more fun and satisfying to dance among friendly faces, and not in the obsidian oubliette that is the First Avenue Main Room?

The event is free, there is a tidy little bar in the lounge, and the booths aren't going anywhere. So if you still just want to sit, catch a breath and have a chat, the options are endless. If nothing else, it's the perfect excuse to get your booty warmed-up for a weekend of debauchery of all kinds (entendre fully intended). Here's hoping the Clown Lounge doesn't become one of those places about which people say "I used to go there before it got so popular."

21+. 10:00 P.M. Free. Turf Club, 1601 University Avenue, Saint Paul.