Delivering a blend of local history, environmental issues, education, entertainment, and fresh air, Davenport's River Action continues its series of outdoor presentations in the annual Channel Cat Talks and Riverine Walks – weekly "Explore the River Series" programs that, from July 7 through August 1, will address such topics as ferry boats, pollinators, Silvis' Hero Street, and noted area jazz legend Bix Beiderbecke.
Making its eagerly awaited July 9 through 11 return, the Walcott Truckers Jamboree at the Iowa 80 Truck Stop will, in its 46th year, showcase more than 175 exhibits, displays, games, cookouts, fireworks, local and national country and rock musicians, and even a beauty contest for trucks in a celebration of America's big rigs and those who drive them.
Founded by Chicago-based comic Orly KG in 2022, and utilizing a mighty showcase of hilarious comics from its growing roster of more than 80 standup who are also mothers, the Bad Momz of Comedy tour comes to Iowa and Illinois, this collection of gifted funnywomen performing at Davenport's Rhythm City Casino Resort Event Center on July 10 and Galesburg's Orpheum Theatre on July 11.
Hailed by Texas Monthly for his edgy jokes' "blithe, understated lack of self-consciousness ... that elevate them beyond mere gross-out gags," actor, writer, and featured Saturday Night Live cast member Andrew Dismukes headlines a July 12 show at Davenport's Raccoon Motel, his film credits including the upcoming Super Troopers 3 and Call Me Brother, the latter of which earned him a Special Jury Award for Performance at the Florida Film Festival.
With guests of the German American Heritage Center invited to explore the powerful stories, struggles, and triumphs that shaped the fight for equality in our community, the fascinating traveling exhibition Davenport Civil Rights Movement will be on display at the Davenport venue from July 1 through 21.
The news earlier this month that the Illinois AFL-CIO has “deferred” all decisions on legislative and statewide endorsements in the upcoming fall election generated quite a bit of headlines.
In response to a question last week from my associate Isabel Miller, Governor JB Pritzker said he didn’t think a group of progressive legislators could pass their progressive revenue bills through both chambers by the end of the spring session.
Governor JB Pritzker last week squarely placed the responsibility for passing a Bears stadium bill on the team itself, and had some unsolicited lobbying advice for the Bears as he attempted to brush off his own session attendance issues.
Six days before the last day of the spring state legislative session, Senator Bill Cunningham, D-Chicago, gave me two big reasons why it was so difficult to push a Bears stadium bill across the finish line. Cunningham, as you know, is the chief sponsor of the Senate’s Bears bill.
The 21st century is silly with a vast wealth of data for doing reliable research. Using advanced computer technology to access troves of rich data relative to climate, as well as volumes of historic climate data, we should be able to accurately draw useful conclusions on climate change. So where's the beef?
At Rock Island's Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse from July 8 through September 5, family audiences are invited to follow the yellow brick road toward a magical stage treat in the theatre's new production of The Wizard of Oz, a delightful stage adaptation of the L. Frank Baum tale boasting the beloved musical score from the MGM film and unforgettable songs including "If I Only Had a Brain," "Ding Dong, the Witch Is Dead," and, of course, the iconic "Over the Rainbow."
With its author Joe Simonelli praised by the Asbury Park Press as a playwright who "really knows his characters" and "writes in a way which really gets to people," the ethereal comedy Heaven Help Me enjoys a July 9 through 19 run at Geneseo's Richmond Hill Barn Theatre, Bloomberg Radio's Joe Franklin adding to the praise by calling the show "a touching comedy/fantasy that displays both wit and charm."
A boisterous, hilarious, critically acclaimed adaptation of Nickelodeon’s long-running animated children’s sitcom SpongeBob Squarepants, The SpongeBob Musical enjoys a July 10 through 19 engagement at Moline's Prospect Park Auditorium, the show's Quad City Music Guild presentation sure to demonstrate why this family treat earned 12 Tony Award nominations including Best Musical, and why the New York Times deemed it "a ginormous giggle of a show."
With Broadway World praising the play as "a heartwarming and truly inspiring tale," author Catherine Bush's Grandma Gatewood Took a Walk makes its Quad Cities debut at Moline's Black Box Theatre July 10 through 18, Family Beautiful adding to the praise by calling the show "thoughtful without being precious, inspiring without being saccharine, and serious without forgetting to be human."
Winner of three 2009 Tony Awards and the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the wildly acclaimed Broadway hit Next to Normal receives a Blue Devil Productions "alumni staging" at Davenport Central High School from July 10 through 12, the New York Times raving that this ecstatically praised pop/rock musical “throbs with an emotional intensity” and “is steeped in an inescapable, aching compassion for people crippled by pain.”
Lauded by the Charleston City Paper as its "Singer/Songwriter of the Year," and praised for "deftly blending an array of influences that nod toward crooning pop-rock in the vein of Chris Isaak or Roy Orbison, the theatrical roots-rock excess of Bruce Springsteen, and the dark post-punk romanticism of Echo & the Bunnymen," Johnny Delaware performs a solo concert at Davenport's Raccoon Motel on July 6, the artist also famed for his tenures with the alt-rockers of Susto and The Artisanals.
Touring in support of her debut album Neon Lullaby that Music Arena Gh praised for its "sprawling themes of defiance, motherhood, and queer identity," singer/songwriter Rachel Swain headlines a July 8 concert at Davenport's Raccoon Motel, Music Arena Gh adding that the Americana artist's first full-length recording is "a deeply honest testament to her own survival,"
Hailed by Tomorrow's Verse for “unique and soulful songs that don’t often lean on bluegrass clichés – or any clichés, for that matter,” the lauded roots and bluegrass ensemble Pert Near Sandstone co-headlines a July 9 concert at Maquoketa's Codfish Hollow Barn alongside the talents of Arkansauce, whose 2023 release Ode to Wonder, according to Americana Highways, ""provides listeners of bluegrass with revelry, wonder, and whimsy on 11 distinctive insightful songs,"
Touring in supporting of his September release Signs, the artist's ninth studio album dating back to 2007, country-pop superstar Luke Bryan brings his national tour to Moline's Vibrant Arena at the MARK on July 10, the longtime American Idol judge also one of the world's best-selling singers, with more than 75 million records sold to date.
With their latest album Leopard Skin hailed by The Rockpit as "a hook-filled, melody-drenched delight" and "perfectly mixed and balanced from start to finish," the hard rockers and glam-metal musicians of L.A. Guns return to East Moline venue The Rust Belt on July 10, the latest recording in their career of four decades plus also lauded by CGCM Rock Radio as "a wild ride and quite possibly the most diverse album of their career."
Given how bored I've been at so many cinematic superhero origin stories over the decades, I feel silly for actually feeling and writing this. But I really wish director Craig Gillespie's Supergirl had merely been a superhero origin story.
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, July 2: Discussion of Supergirl and Jackass: Best & Last; previews of Young Washington and the extended-footage Backrooms; a preview and scoop review of Minions & Monsters; and a reminder that Jaws is playing on the Last Picture House rooftop this weekend. Speilberg's finest thriller with Red, White, & Boom fireworks as backdrop?! Now that's a birthday party.
Thirty-one years after the franchise's debut, Disney/Pixar's latest animated comedy adventure is unusual in at least one regard: It's the first Toy Story that might be more fun to think about, and argue about, than actually watch.
Steven Spielberg's Disclosure Day is many things:but most of all, it's an excellent self-test determining just how jaded you've become.
In celebration of America’s 250th birthday, Davenport's Figge Art Museum is hosting American Art talks throughout the month of July, and on Thursday the 9th, guests are invited to the John Deere Auditorium to hear from Chicago artist Sarah Ann Weber, whose work Their Perfume Lost is featured in the A Golden Age for Whom? exhibition currently on view in the Mary Waterman Gildehaus Community Gallery.
In celebration of America’s 250th birthday, Davenport's Figge Art Museum is hosting American Art talks throughout the month of July, and on Thursday the 16th, guests are invited to hear from artist Connie Roberts of the new exhibition Connie & Michael Roberts: Portrait of America, Connie noted for bridging the realms of fine art and folk art, and for tackling many subjects with sharp wit and restrained humor.
Four Chicago-based artists will present concurrent solo exhibitions across the galleries of Dubuque's Voices Studios through July 31, with the collective Quiet Intersections exhibit a multi-faceted experience that reveals how individual artistic voices can converge, diverge, and share creative space.
Telling the story of Raven, an important trickster figure in Tlingit culture who transformed the world by bringing light to people via the stars, moon, and sun, Preston Singletary: Raven and the Box of Daylight will be viewable at Davenport's Figge Art Museum through August 2, with the tale of Raven releasing or "stealing" the daylight one of the most iconic stories of the Tlingit people of Southeast Alaska.
With the latest Quad City Arts Center exhibition taking on a very specific theme, and a seasonally appropriate one at that, a pair of Midwestern artists currently have beautiful works displayed in Bicycle Worlds, the Rock Island venue treating patrons, through August 7, to bike photography by Ken Urban and bike illustrations by Jeff C. Williams.
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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