Local

An important stepping stone for reinstating all ages at Boheme during the weekends is taking place this Friday night.

The World Beat Dance Night that once occurred every weekend as an all-ages event was ordered by Ames Police to be strictly 21 and over last year. While it still remains successful, a large part of the market isn’t being served.

Owner Peter Sherman says that providing all ages events is important and estimates that 60 to 70 percent of the student population is under the age of 21.

Fortunately for the underage dancers, a solution has been found to allow them entrance into Boheme during the weekend under certain circumstances.

“Anyone over 18 may be admitted during the weekends when there is a nonprofit group fund raising at the venue,” Sherman said.

“Student organizations, international organizations, fraternities, sororities or any organization that is nonprofit can participate,” he said, “but the group that sponsors the fund raising must find at least six adults to refrain from drinking that night and act as monitors of underage drinking.”

But this doesn’t mean that the chosen six can’t have a good time. They can still enjoy the dancing and socializing that the night has to offer, and Sherman is kind enough to offer them free coffee and other non-alcoholic beverages.

The sponsoring group gets to collect 20 percent of the revenue from the door. The only major catch for Boheme is that it can not advertise the event.

The first go at reinstating an under-21 World Beat Dance Night occurs this Friday as the Russia Speaking Student Association (R.S.S.A.) begins fund raising at 9:30 p.m.

Regional

If you are in search of something to spunk up your spring, the recently announced Flaming Lips tour is sure to do the trick.

After a successful tour last summer with Robyn Hitchcock and Sebadoh, the Oklahoma City natives are putting their multimedia performance back on the road.

Such antics as video projections, a live video camera and head phones for audience members intensified the experience during last summer’s tour and will return for the spring gigs.

The tour is in support of last year’s release, “The Soft Bulletin,” which recently won album of the year honors from the British music magazine, New Musical Express.

A pre-tour warm-up gig has been scheduled at the Cubby Bear in Chicago’s Wrigleyville neighborhood this Saturday, according to Billboard. While dates have yet to be confirmed, the tour will officially begin on March 7 in Champaign, Ill.

Looper, a band formed with Stuart David, former bassist of Belle & Sebastian, will open for all of the tour dates.

Look for Looper’s second album, “The Geometrid,” on May 9 on the Sub Pop label.

Other scheduled performances outside of their tour include a couple of stops in Europe. The Flaming Lips will appear with Built To Spill at the U.K. record label City Slang’s 10th anniversary concert on May 12 in London.

From June 29 through July 2, they will appear with Pearl Jam, Gomez and a few other bands at the Roskilde Festival in Copenhagen.

National

“And Then Everything Turned Itself Inside-Out,” Yo La Tengo’s latest work, has just been released. YLT also has a split double 7-inch coming out soon on their own label, Egon Records, titled “Other Dimensions in Music.”

The tracks on the vinyl recording are: “Excaliber 2001 (part one),” “Excaliber 2001 (part two),” “Now 2000 (part one),” “Now 2000 (part two),” according to its Web site.

A live version of “Sugarcube” appeared late last year on Matador Records’ 10th Anniversary release, “Everything is Nice.”

Further adding to their discography, some of the band’s music was heard at the Sundance Film Festival. YLT provided the soundtrack for “Pigeon Within,” an animated short film that played at the festival last month, said a spokesperson for the band’s label, Matador Records.

Filmmaker for the flick, Emily Hubley, is the sister of Yo La Tengo drummer Georgia Hubley.

The featured song “Danelectro 3,” was recorded during sessions for “And Then Everything Turned Itself Inside-Out.”

Another noteworthy tune, “Pigeon Within,” focuses on an encounter between a young woman and her guardian angel.

To get a live taste of Yo La Tengo’s latest work check it out during their current tour.

On Saturday, March 4, Yo La Tengo will be at the Metro in Chicago. Other nearby stops include a performance at the Bottleneck in Lawrence, Kan., on April 1, and a show at First Avenue in Minneapolis on April 3.