Photo by Stacy Schwartz

According to our own cover story, Bobby "Rock Eagle" Drake (above) was an auto mechanic at Brookside Amoco in St. Louis Park just before he joined the Hold Steady in 2005. Since then, Drake's fortunes have changed -- drastically. Later this year, he and some of his New York pals in other bands, including Spoon, w/o., and the Wanted are opening a bar in the Greenpoint neighborhood of Brooklyn.

Why is this of relevance? Well, they've decided to name the place Lake Street. As in that street you were probably on at some point today already. As in the one detailed in Lifter Puller's "Lake Street is for Lovers." That one.

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The Hold Steady at First Avenue, 11/24/12
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Photo by Erik Hess

Killer Mike at Fine Line

It's hard to believe with the reputation it now holds that there was a time when the Twin Cities wasn't booking too many hip-hop acts. Once we were still flyover country to many of the national touring acts, and the local underground scene had yet to rise to prominence and prove the power of homegrown rap talent on a large scale. Nowadays one can catch a rap show basically any night of the week -- from the major acts that now consider Minnesota a destination to the burgeoning local movements that are only getting better with time. 

Gimme Noise gathered together a list of the best places in town to catch hip-hop shows. Keep an eye on these venues if you want to take part in the Twin Cities' thriving scene.

See Also:
Top 10 Twin Cities hipster bars featuring local live music
Top 10 best places to grab a drink before a show at First Avenue
Top 10 Twin Cities dance venues
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Photo by Dave Eckblad

You're a dance maniac. A cocktail special and conversational atmosphere aren't enough to attract your patronage. You're the type that needs the exhilaration of flashing lights, hair-raising sound, and an adequate space to show off those moves. While this beat-chasing schedule might sound exhausting to normal people, the real work for a socialized species like yours comes with keeping up with the weekly changing landscape of Twin Cities nightlife. But turn down that squelching bass for a second and listen up!

Gimme Noise did all the heavy lifting for you so all that's left to be done is to fetch that headband out of the dryer and go freak out at the local discos. Here are our top 10 places to go dancing in the Twin Cities.

See Also:
Top 10 Twin Cities hipster bars featuring local live music
Top 10 best places to grab a drink before a show at First Avenue
Top 15 best underrated Twin Cities hipster bars

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Here's Hum on 120 Minutes from the '90s

The '90s officially came to a close a little bit more than 13 years ago, but their profound and strange cultural touchstones are not forgotten. Most importantly, the music lives on with the help of DJ Jake Rudh, who celebrates the 12th anniversary of his hip dance party Transmission with a night of '90s indie/alt-rock classics tonight at First Avenue.

Titled Common People, after the masterful Pulp hit, the night should bring back a load of memories of an era right before the internet took off, and before MTV totally gave up. Gimme Noise asked Rudh to dig up his favorite artifacts from the '90s, which are gathered below.

See Also:
Transmission announces '90s-themed 12th birthday party at First Avenue
11 little-known Transmission facts on its 11th anniversary
Jake Rudh and Transmission get a shout out from original MTV VJ Martha Quinn
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Young Jeezy
Epic, Minneapolis
Friday, December 7, 2012

Like some cruel joke from mother nature, how ironic was that we had our first major snowfall the same night the so-called "Snowman," also known as Young Jeezy, stepped foot into town.
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screenshot from "Friends in Minneapolis" video

All you need to know about L.A. Nik: black nail polish, silver jewelry, self-promoting business card.

SEE ALSO:
- L.A. Nik explains Letterman connection, drops "Friends in Minneapolis" single
- Mayor Rybak offers perfect rejoinder to L.A. Nik on Facebook

When Gimme Noise introduced you to downtown personality L.A. Nik's new single, "Friends in Minneapolis," at the end of June, Nik mentioned he was working on a follow-up video. The wait is over: he released the "music" "video" this week, both in quotes because the "music" is more of a growly shout, and the "video" is a bar mitzvah-style photo montage of Nik hamming it up around town.

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Photo by Erin Smith; MyTradingCards.com

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Photo by Dave Eckblad

It's hard to imagine a weekend at First Avenue without Too Much Love at this point. Soviet Panda has dedicated hundreds of Saturday nights to the young and the restless of Minneapolis since the event's incarnation in 2007.  That's five years, folks. And in dance night years, it's a lifetime.
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Photo by B Fresh Photography

​Oh, The Brick. You'd have to be living under or smacked by one to have missed the not-so-positive press and unflattering first impressions about downtown's newest music venue this week.

On Monday, The Brick hosted Jane's Addiction as their inaugural show and many customers waited outside in a serious downpour (and watched the band on TV monitors in the basement) due to a very oversold venue.

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​Sometimes being fashionably late can totally backfire. It was a typical Friday night in downtown Minneapolis. The line to First Avenue's Record Room was already flirting with 7th Street in length, and the party was already rocking inside. The music was pumping so hard the stars were about to jump off the wall. It was just before midnight, and Get Cryphy was already long sold-out and in full boss mode. Bummer. Looks like I have to wait til next month. 
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