Solar powered cars and the Ames music scene usually don’t have much in common – but things will change on Thursday night when three bands rock the Maintenance Shop to raise money for the Team PrISUM solar car project.

Among the bands playing the show is Poison Control Center, founded by Patrick Fleming, co-founder of Ames label BiFi Records and member of local indie power pop outfit Pookey Bleum.

“It’s kind of a mix between ’60s garage bands and ’60s girls groups,” Fleming says of his side project.

This is not the first benefit show for BiFi acts, as Fleming says they encourage all of their bands to do benefits – including two other benefits in surrounding cities this weekend.

“It’s an opportunity to play and they’re usually for good causes,” he says.

Also playing the show will be local alternative rock group Karma Lab, and Pookey Bleum is rumored to be under the name of Spooky Doom playing ’80s covers.

“That’s a secret though, I guess, I don’t know what’s going on with that,” Fleming says.

The solar car project is entering its final stages, but has involved over two years of work and hundreds of hours since the fall of 1999.

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” says Valerie Sandefur, outreach coordinator for the project, of the amount of work gone into the venture. “It’s incredible.”

Sandefur says there are 30 core students constantly working on the project, but the number of people on the team varies and there are usually more people helping out as the team is open to anybody who can put forth as much as they are willing and can afford.

“I’d say I put in 40 hours a week and I only do business stuff,” Sandefur says. “We have a mechanical team that constantly circulates, so there is always somebody working on something during the day.”

As the finishing touches are being added to the car, Sandefur says the last couple weekends have been pretty hectic.

“We’ve been putting in 48 hours, we had a couple all-nighters,” Sandefur says. “It’s definitely one of those projects that has its moments when that’s all we think about. But it’s very exciting.”

All the profits from tonight’s show will go to fund race expenses for the American Solar Challenge – a race this summer from Chicago to Los Angeles.

After the race, the car, which Sandefur describes as looking pretty sharp, will be used for outreach and education for the next two years. The car will be taken to various events to teach people about solar energy.

The sun won’t be shining in the M-Shop, but the music will be radiant and luminous.