In a previous life, Joe Harvard was an archeologist. In a sense, he still is; it's just that he's digging through the bones of Velvet Underground, having written a smart little book about the band that has the same name as its first album, "The Velvet Underground and Nico," an edgy effort undiminished by time. You might be expecting a book release party, and you will be getting that and more. Tonight at the Lizard Lounge is something called "An Evening in Velvet: A Tribute to the Velvet Underground." It begins with belly dancer Zareena and continues with Katie and David Champagne (ex-Treat Her Right) of the bluegrass-tinted Heygoods, who will include some Velvets material. Then it's the Kendall Brothers, Bob and Skeggie, who will play an all-Velvets mini-set. The big banana is Velveeta, which Go! must say is a pretty neat name for this cover band. Harvard, a guitarist who also cofounded Fort Apache Studios, will take the stage with Velveeta, joined by Champagne, John Rosato, Asa Brebner, Marco Giovino, ex-Stompers singer Sal Baglio, the Pernice Brothers' Bob Pernice, Joe Fagan, and Jerome Deupree, among others. They'll blast through songs by the Velvet Underground and the Modern Lovers (direct descendants of the VU and much-loved in these parts). Tickets are $7; show starts at 9:30 p.m.

1667 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, 617-547-1228.