If you’re under 21, what are your plans for tonight? A “90210” rerun? Renting a couple movies? How about forgetting the at-home drinking fest, grabbing a few friends and tooling down to Des Moines? 311 will be rockin’ the Love Shack tonight at 9 p.m.

311 have built themselves a sort of legendary status since the band’s inception five years ago. And with all of the Omaha residents who attend ISU, everyone seems to have his or her own tale about going to high school with the band.

But the real story is that three of the guys, Nick Hexum on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, Chad Sexton on percussion and Timothy Mahoney on guitar, went to Westside High School and graduated in 1988. P-Nut, the bassist, and SA Martinez, who works the turntables and assists in vocals, went to Bryan High School. Martinez graduated in ’88, and P-Nut, the baby of the group, graduated four years later.

The Westsiders melded into a band called Unity after they waved goodbye to high school. A couple years later, they hooked up with P-Nut and Martinez to form the funky, in-yo’-face reggae for which 311 is known. But the Midwest is not exactly a hotbed of music industry activity, at least as far as record companies are concerned. A move to the west coast provided the springboard and focus the fledgling band needed.

“Once we had done everything we could in Nebraska, we moved to LA to get bigger,” Hexum said. “We all had part-time jobs, so we quit them to focus on the music; we wanted total dedication. We spent a whole summer just rehearsing. We recorded in the fall of 1992 and then toured. We’ve kept it on the road.”

Since the cross-country trek, 311 met with some pretty immediate success and publicity for Music, their first album, released in 1993. Their subsequent albums, 1994’s Grassroots and their brand-spankin’-new 311, rely more on touring.

“Right off the bat, we were on heavy rotation on a lot of important stations (in LA). Since then, a lot of it has been through touring. We needed to get our name out through the radio. That was the whole basis of the name Grassroots; we depended on word of mouth from our fans.”

The band tries to pay back their young fans as best they can, aside from free beer; 311 staunchly demands their prospective venues to allow all ages of fans to come to their shows.

“The people that are most dedicated to 311 are usually gonna be in the 17- to 22-year-old range,” Hexum said. “We like to have people of all ages at our shows; we don’t like to exclude what are usually the most fanatical crowds.

“We’re not a bar band,” he continued. “We don’t play well to people drinking; we don’t need alcohol in the venue. We had to basically demand (all-ages venues) after our first year out, because promoters and bar owners would prefer to make as much money at the bar as they can. You gotta stand up for younger people.”

Live concerts are the lifeblood of these Midwestern boys. Their albums are basically shunned by MTV and most radio, so fans can’t just fiddle with the remote control and see the latest 311 video or flip on the stereo to hear the newest single on the radio. They have ventured down the path least taken, and monstrous success has taken its time in coming.

“Basically, we think of things in the long term,” Hexum explained. “Yeah, if we wanted to have quick success, we would play punky-pop or grunge rock. It would’ve been quicker to get in if we had played other music, but instead we’ve formed our own niche. It’s a harder route, but it’s more rewarding in the long run.

“A lot of the mainstream media doesn’t get it. Maybe it’s because they’re too old. I don’t know.”

Dag will open at 5 p.m. for 311 at The Love Shack, located at 625 E. Court Ave. Tickets are $10 or $12 at the door. For more information call the Shack at (515) 280-1067.