A celebration of the individuals and organizations that best represent the spirit of true river action in regard to our mighty Mississippi, River Action's Fish & Fire Fundraiser Dinner enters its 24th year with an April 30 event at Bettendorf's Quad-Cities Waterfront Convention Center, the evening's events including a social hour, silent auction, plated dinner and dessert, live auction, and the presentation of the annual Eddy Awards.
Appearing locally with familiar traveling companions such as Peanut, José Jalapeño, Bubba J., and Url, a youth forever preoccupied with his mobile device, comedian and ventriloquist Jeff Dunham brings his national "Artificial Intelligence" tour to Davenport's Rhythm City Casino Resort Event Center on May 7, the artist having performed live in front of more than 7.7 million people across 1,500-plus shows between June of 2007 and June of 2024.
On May 8, the LeClaire Community Library will be locking its doors and turning down the lights for face painting, snacks, crafts, a sing-along, and more in the KPop Demon Hunters After-Hours Party, with area youths invited to join Huntrix or the Saja Boys in hunting down demons hiding in the library – and in the dark.
A beloved film and television star whose comedy Solo Mio was a recent indie hit, Emmy Award-nominated Kevin James brings his national “Eat the Frog” standup tour to Davenport's Adler Theatre on May 9, his famed credits including the movie slapsticks Paul Blart: Mall Cop and Grown Ups, and his TV work boasting Kevin Can Wait and 207 episodes of The King of Queens.
An eagerly awaited springtime touring event rides, jumps, and spins into the Vibrant Arena at the MARK on May 9 as the Moline venue hosts two presentations of Monster Jam 2026, the amphitheater event that brings a new level of high-flying, four-wheel excitement to the entire family with racing, two-wheel skills, donuts, and freestyle competitions.
“We’re almost there” on a Bears stadium bill, Representative Kam Buckner, D-Chicago, told some sports radio hosts on a Friday morning before the House returned to Springfield for three days of session last week. “We’re very close.”
In a mid-March poll, 68 percent of likely Illinois voters said they would support legislation to “regulate data centers to minimize their impact on our utility bills, climate, and water while still allowing them to be built.” But while 21 percent percemt opposed the legislation, more than half of those opponents (56 percent) said they did so because they “oppose allowing data centers to be built at all.” That means 80 percent either want guardrails or oppose any new construction.
State government revenues were up $1.571 billion at the end of the third quarter, according to the most recent report from the legislature’s bipartisan, bicameral Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability. The almost $1.6 billion in new revenues is an increase of 4.2 percent. The state budget was crafted last year with an expectation that revenues would rise just 2.3% for the full fiscal year, so that’s pretty darned good news.
Massachusetts-based Federal U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy suspended Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.'s (RFK Jr.) reduction of the CDC's Childhood Schedule of Vaccines from 17 to 11, including both Hepatitis A and B; Influenza; Rotavirus; Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV); and Meningococcal vaccines – all absurd inoculations that have no more conclusive science behind them than most of the other vaccines populating the Childhood Schedule on behalf of Big Pharma.
As published back in March about one of the Reader's longest and most dedicated team members who passed in Februray, Jay Strickland's Celebration of Life was held April 4, 2026 at the Reader offices in downtown Davenport, Iowa. Below we publish Jay's younger brother Eric's eulogy he shared with us on Saturday.
A Broadway hit praised by Variety for its "off-the-wall humor, endless visuals and aural delights, [and] tuneful music and wicked lyrics," the stage-musical version of Beetlejuice enjoys an April 28 through 30 run at Davenport's Adler Theatre, this ticklish adaptation of the Oscar-winning Tim Burton smash also hailed by Entertainment Weekly as "a feast for the eyes and the soul."
From April 29 through June 27, audiences are invited to cheer a rousing “L'chaim!” when Rock Island's Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse presents the eagerly awaited return of Fiddler on the Roof, a new staging of the beloved theatrical masterpiece from Tony winner Joseph Stein and Pulitzer Prize winners Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick.
Winner of five 2006 Tony Awards and described by Variety magazine as “superior, smartly crafted pastiche,” the joyous musical-comedy spoof The Drowsy Chaperone will be staged at the Coralville Center for the Performing Arts May 1 through 10.
Kitty: Jeramie Coleman’s charm was a wonderful contrast to Antonio Stone’s severity. Watching the two of them clash so fiercely was riveting.
Mischa: For sure. And there was a third actor, Dwayne Hodges, who provided a big contrast to both Stone and Coleman, but delivered an equally compelling performance.
A Year with Frog & Toad is overflowing with cheer and color, boasts splendid production values and an energetic cast, and I declare it delightful for all ages.
Hailed by AllMusic as "shoegaze revivalists from Texas who play it pretty straight, but aren't afraid to add extra noise to the mix," the Texas-based noise-pop and alternative-rock artists of Ringo Deathstarr bring their current tour to Davenport's Raccoon Motel on April 30, their most recent, self-titled album lauded by Post-Trash as a work that "condenses everything special about the shoegaze purveyors into one complete package."
Touring in support of their most recent studio album Servitude, which TheRazorsEdge.rocks deemed "a conveyor belt of unbridled badassery," the death-metal artists of The Black Dahlia Murder headline a May 1 concert event at Davenport's Capitol Theatre, Yardbarker's Jeff Mezyido having included the band in 2025's list of "the greatest metal acts that formed in the 2000s."
Touring in support of their September release I Feel the Everblaxk Festering Within Me, a Billboard-charting hit that made the top five in Germany, the deathcore musicians of Lorna Shore headline a May 2 concert event at East Moline venue The Rust Belt, the group composed of lead guitarist Adam De Micco, drummer Austin Archey, rhythm guitarist Andrew O'Connor, vocalist Will Ramos, and bassist Michael Yager.
With a number of lauded independent musicians performing one special concert event on May 2, Rock Island's Rozz-Tox venue and OUTLETProgramme will treat music lovers to outstanding instrumentals and vocals in the Saturday-evening pairing of the Yea Big/Dann/Nakarani Trio and Ishmael Ali, the latter performing as a duo with Bill Harris.
With his most recent release Silently, the Mind Breaks hailed by No Depression as an "unsettling yet invigorating album" that blends "banjo, acoustic guitar, and kick drum with gritty, determined vocals," folk, blues, and alt-country singer/songwriter William Elliott Whitmore returns to Maquoketa's Codfish Hollow Barn for a season-opening concert on May 2, the artist's latest also inspiring Everything Is Noise to state that the artist "sings with a gravitas indictive of the very best blues and folk singers."
There's a line, or rather a lyric, that fully encapsulates what Michael is about, and it's found in Jackson's 1983 smash “Billie Jean”: “And be careful of what you do / 'Cause the lie becomes the truth.”
Going to the cineplex or staying in and streaming this weekend? Every Thursday morning at 8:15 a.m. you can listen to Mike Schulz dish on recent movie releases & talk smack about Hollywood celebs on Planet 93.9 FM with the fabulous Dave & Darren in the Morning team of Dave Levora and Darren Pitra. The morning crew previews upcoming releases, too. Or you can check the Reader Web site and listen to their latest conversation by the warm glow of your electronic device. Never miss a pithy comment from these three scintillating pundits again
Thursday, April 30: Discussion of Michael, I Swear, and Over Your Dead Body; previews of The Devil Wears Prada 2, Animal Farm, Deep Water, and Hokum; and Dave threatening to throw a fit if the Hutts don't speak properly in The Mandalorian & Grogu, which opens in three weeks. This may not be the last time we hear of this.
Probably like a lot of you, upon hearing the title of the latest horror flick to hit cineplexes, my immediate question was “Who the hell is Lee Cronin?!”
It's the absolute right time for director/co-writer Daniel Goldhaber's new Faces of Death, a tight, scary, unexpectedly crafty meta-commentary built on the notion that we can no longer instinctively believe anything we're shown on-screen. On any screen.
With the event inviting visitors to reflect on themes central to the artist's practice – including the joyful celebration of LGBTQ identity, acknowledgment of ongoing challenges to the community’s rights, and the enduring impact of the AIDS epidemic – a special Art History Talk on the works of Felix Gonzalez-Torres will be held at Davenport's Figge Art Museum on April 30, the program held in conjunction with the venue's current housing of the exhibit "Untitled" (L.A.).
Nearly 200 works by gifted student artists will be on display at Rock Island's Quad City Arts Center through April 30 in the expansive 49th-Annual High School Art Invitational, a glorious celebration of local talent featuring the Quad Cities’ most promising artists expressing themselves through paintings, drawings, sculpture, paper, recycled materials, and film.
Colorful, playful, and delightfully goofy works will be on display at the Quad City Arts International Airport Gallery from April 29 through June 29, with the shared exhibition Butcher, Hymes, & Murtha showcasing new illustrations on shaped wood by Aaron Butcher and examples of fiber art by MaryKay Hymes and Diane Murtha.
A trio of gifted Midwest photographers, one of them based in the Quad Cities, will have their latest works featured at Rock Island's Quad City Arts Center from May 8 through June 19, with the Huang, Jackson, & Terry exhibition showcasing the talents of the Peoria-based Qingjun Huang and Natalie Jackson, as well as those of Davenport's Matthew Terry.
An eagerly awaited springtime event taking place over Mother's Day weekend in Davenport's spacious Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds, the Beaux Arts 2026 Spring Fair will treat visitors to an outdoor celebration of visual arts and fine crafts on May 9 and 10,, with the annual event featuring food, live music, children's activities, and works for sale by dozens of artists and Midwestern vendors.
You'll get both the current official narrative challenge and What's Happenin' in the Quad Cities.
(Did you know we publish a new Real Astrology and RCR Crossword every week?)
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