Need an excuse to shake your booty in a big room? Well, here’s a great one: The Val Air Ballroom will be hosting a benefit concert against muscular dystrophy Thursday evening that will be jam-packed with shakeable tunes.

Ska 4 Life will include The Small Mediums at Large, Grubby Ernie, The Skullcaps and The Toasters. Tickets are $9, and the show will begin at 8 p.m. To get to the Des Moines venue, take I-235 south and exit on 63rd Street. Head south to 301 Ashworth.

A little note for Bob Dylan and/or Paul Simon fans. The well-seasoned musicians will be uniting for the first time ever to perform throughout the United States and Canada. Dates near Ames include: Minneapolis on July 2, Chicago on July 9 and St. Louis on July 10, according to MTV News.

Upcoming Releases

The frontman for Blues Traveler has ventured away from the band with a knapsack full of his own material. John Popper announced that he will begin recording his first solo record, according to an A&M Records press release. Have no fear, the side project doesn’t mean Blues Traveler is going to break up.

In other Popper news, the singer popped his head into an upcoming film titled, “For the Time Being.” As you may recall, he has a few one-liners in such movies as “Private Parts,” “Blues Brothers 2000” and “Kingpin,” but according to Popper, he will be doing something besides eating donuts, smoking and drinking coffee.

Hide your credit cards, consumers. The Insane Clown Posse is releasing a truckload of profitable goodies along with its fifth release to cash in on some extra merchandising. (Of course, this is not the first time for a musical group to gather funds from dolls, etc. You may recall Ozzy Osbourne’s recent venture into the action figure industry).

“The Amazing Jeckel Brothers” will be in stores on May 25, according to an Island press release. Prior to the album’s unveiling, a comic book series produced by Chaos! Comics will begin its first installment on May 19.

Seven-inch versions of Shaggy 2 Dope and Violent James will be on the shelves on May 21st. The “Play With Me” action figures are sure to please the most devoted I.C.P. fans.

As if the album, comic book series and action figures weren’t enough, I.C.P. plans to release a full-length video, appropriately titled “Big Money Hustlas,” this July.