Event
Venus Envy
Bucktown Center for the Arts
Saturday, May 1, 6-11 p.m.
Since this issue's What's Happenin' pages focus attention on three female country-music stars and a rock band fronted by a female vocalist, it only made sense to level the playing field with an event that appeals solely to the guys.
Then again, who am I to break up a theme?
On May 1, Davenport's Bucktown Center for the Arts will play host to the sixth-annual Venus Envy Quad Cities, the area festival celebrating female artists and performers in the realms of music, dance, theatre, film, visual arts, and the written and spoken word. The event runs from 6 to 11 p.m., which means if you get to Bucktown right on time and stay 'til the end, you'll almost be able to spend three minutes each appreciating the incredible gifts of Venus Envy's 100-plus artists.
Outside Bucktown, on the Pershing Street Hera Stage, you'll be treated to folk, rock, blues, and world rhythms with such featured talents as drummer Mona Ritemon, vocalist Lojo Russo, and the female ensembles Armonia, On Distant Shores, and Hersong. You'll also have the chance to visit the Venus Envy Marketplace, where artisans will demonstrate their processes, sell their works, and engage attendees in handwriting analyses and tarot-card readings.
Meanwhile, Bucktown's interiors will be all but bursting with activity. Visitors can enjoy three floors of artwork by more than 60 visual artists, while the venue's classrooms will host artist workshops - including a live-model drawing session - and a showcase with area filmmaker Ange Glade. Bucktown's interior Salome Stage will offer a trio of dance demonstrations, belly- and otherwise. And on the Sophia Stage, music, dance, and theatre blend for performance-art pieces that explore, according to the Venus Envy press release, "time as an endless circle, the rhythms of love and life, and the metaphorical and physical functions of a rope." Sounds kinda dull. Knot.
Get it?! "Knot"? Like "not"?!? Ha ha ha ha ha!!! I can't imagine why I wasn't asked to host this event!
In any case, Venus Envy Quad Cities is free of charge - though donations will be accepted at the Bucktown doors - and more information on the event is available by visiting VenusEnvyQC.org.
Music
Miranda Lambert
Adler Theatre
Thursday, May 6, 7:30 p.m.
Country-music sensation Miranda Lambert - who performs at the Adler Theatre on May 6 - first came to national prominence as a finalist on the 2003 season of Nashville Star, and released her platinum-selling, major-label debut CD, Kerosene, in 2005.
Her follow-up CD, 2007's Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, featured three songs that became top-20 singles, and was named Album of the Year at the Academy of Country Music Awards.
The Academy presented Lambert with the same citation for her most recent CD release, 2009's Revolution, and also awarded her trophies for Top Female Vocalist of the Year and, for the song "White Liar," Video of the Year.
Thus far, Lambert has amassed 12 nominations (and five wins) from the Academy of Country Music, six from the Country Music Association, and three Grammy Award nominations. She's only the third female country singer in history to have had three records debut at number one on Billboard's country charts. She's beautiful, gifted, and poised to become an even bigger sensation as the years go on.
Oh yeah, and Lambert also learned how to shoot guns at an early age, was once an avid deer hunter, wrote a hit song titled "Gunpowder & Lead," and, in 2008, was named Esquire magazine's "Terrifying Woman of the Year."
Just mentioning this in case you wondered why I hadn't yet cracked some stupid joke in this piece. I'm not taking any chances.
Lambert's Davenport concert starts and 7:30 p.m., and tickets are available by calling (800)745-3000 or visiting AdlerTheatre.com.
Music
Paramore
i wireless Center
Friday, May 7, 7 p.m.
Playing Moline's i wireless Center on May, the alternative rockers of Paramore sold more than 2 million copies of their 2007 album Riot!, were nominated for a 2008 Grammy Award for "Best New Artist," embarked on a sold-out European tour in 2009, and have the honor of supporting Green Day during the band's stadium-tour stops in Dublin and Paris.
But if you're one of the fans partly responsible for its double-platinum-selling sales, you probably know the Franklin, Tennessee, rockers best from the soundtrack to Twilight, for which Paramore contributed the smash-hit single "Decode."
And if I've learned anything from my Twilight-worshiping godchild - who is probably already in line for tickets to the June 30 premiere of Eclipse - it's that Twilight devotees lo-o-o-ove their minutiae. For them, I present this mini-primer on Paramore lead singer Hayley Williams and her quartet of gifted bandmates. Wanna get in the group's good graces? Bone up on your indie music, Biblical references, and DVDs of The Office!
| Nickname | Favorite Bands | Most Recent Book Read | Favorite Quote / Phrase | Fun Fact | |
| Hayley Nichole Williams | H-Bomb | Saves the Day, mewithoutyou, Slick Shoes | Coraline, by Neil Gaiman | "Let`s throw away the hate and rock tonight." | "I only eat one thing on thing at a time, sometimes in a clockwise fashion on my plate." |
| Taylor Benjamin York | Tay | At the Drive-in, Air, Failure | The Bible | "Keeps`n it real." | "I like to have fun." |
| Joshua Neil Farro | Josh | Death Cab for Cutie, Jimmy Eat World, Radiohead | Soul Cravings, by Erwin McManus | "I am the vine; you are the branches." (John 15:5) | "I am three-quarters Italian." |
| Zachary Wayne Farro | Z | Sunny Day Real Estate, Sigur R?s, Mew | Walking on Water, by Madeleine L`Engle | "No problems, only solutions." | "I am amazing at bowling." |
| Jeremy Clayton Davis | Worm | Deftones, Thrice, Paper Route | Unchained, Tiare Tuairau | "That`s what she said." | "I never sleep." |
Paramore plays the Moline venue with openers Relient K and Fun; for tickets, call (800)745-3000 or visit iwirelessCenter.com.
Music
Taylor Swift and Kellie Pickler
i wireless Center
Saturday, May 8, 7:30 p.m.
Dear Taylor,
Today was a fairytale - the best day!
I just read that you and Kellie Pickler are appearing at the i wireless Center on May 8, and I can barely breathe! In fact, feel fearless about saying you belong with me! I want to jump then fall, and open the other side of the door to half of my heart - after all, two is better than one!
Playing our song today with 15 teardrops on my guitar, I felt untouchable and breathless - crazier than I was last Christmas! I know I should've said, "No, she's a superstar and a true American girl, and you're invisible." But I knew the way I loved you, and while I'm no Tim McGraw, I know our love story can be as beautiful as a white horse on a silent night. I'm only me when I'm with you!
I hope you're not sorry I wrote. If so, tell me why! I can change!
Forever and always,
Mike
P.S. If you're not interested, I wonder if you'd set me up with Kellie. With her red high heels, that small town girl is makin' me fall in love again!
For tickets to Taylor Swift's Moline concert with special guest Kellie Pickler, call (800)745-3000 or visit iwirelessCenter.com.
What Else Is Happenin'... ?
MUSIC
Friday, April 30 - Shawn Phillips. Folk-rock musician in concert, with an opening set by Ellis Kell. The Redstone Room (129 Main Street, Davenport). 8 p.m. $20. For tickets and information, call (563)326-1333 or visit RedstoneRoom.com.
Friday, April 30 - The Contours featuring Sylvester Potts. Chart-topping soul singers in concert. Quad-Cities Waterfront Convention Center (1777 Isle Parkway, Bettendorf). 7:30 p.m. $10-15. For tickets and information, call (800)843-4753 or visit Bettendorf.IsleOfCapriCasinos.
Thursday, May 6 - Little Bobby & the Storm. North Dakota-based blues musicians, in a concert sponsored by the Mississippi Valley Blues Society. Rascals Rock Memorabilia Bar (1414 15th Street, Moline). 6 p.m. $5-7. For information, call (563)322-5837 or visit MVBS.org.
Friday May 7 - The Holmes Brothers. Gospel-style R&B performers, in a concert sponsored by the Mississippi Valley Blues Society. The Capitol Theatre (330 West Third Street, Davenport). 8 p.m. $10-15. For tickets and information, call (563)326-8820 or visit TheCapDavenport.com.
Saturday, May 8 - Jukebox Memories. Rock 'n' roll hits from the '50s to the '70s, with Jimmy Gilmer, Mitch Ryder, Joey Molland, and the Shackshakers. The Capitol Theatre (330 West Third Street, Davenport). 7:30 p.m. $25-30. For tickets and information, call (563)326-8820 or visit TheCapDavenport.com.
Monday, May 10, and Tuesday, May 11 - The Lettermen. Legendary pop singers in concert. Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse (1828 Third Avenue, Rock Island). Monday and Tuesday - 11:45 a.m. doors, noon lunch, 1 p.m. performance, $48.36; Monday - 5:45 p.m. doors, 6 p.m. buffet dinner, 7:15 p.m. performance, $54.60. For tickets and information, call (309)786-7733 extension 2, or visit Circa21.com.
THEATRE
Friday, April 30, through Sunday, May 9 - 'night, Mother. A New Ground Theatre presentation of Marsha Norman's Pulitzer Prize-winning drama. Village Theatre (2113 East 11th Street, Village of East Davenport). Fridays, Saturdays, and Tuesday - 7:30 p.m., Sundays - 2:30 p.m. $12-15. For tickets and information, call (563)326-7529 or visit NewGroundTheatre.org.
Friday, April 30, through Sunday, May 8 - The Seagull. Anton Chekhov's classic tragicomedy of unrequited love and the theatre. Potter Hall, Bergendoff Hall of Fine Arts, Augustana College (3701 Seventh Street, Rock Island). Fridays and Saturdays - 7:30 p.m., Sundays - 1:30 p.m. $10-12. For tickets, call (309)794-7306.
Saturday, May 1, through Sunday, May 9 - The Adventure of Aesop & His Fables. One-act comedy adventure produced by Davenport Junior Theatre. Davenport Junior Theatre (2822 Eastern Avenue, Davenport). Saturdays - 2 and 7 p.m., Sundays - 2 p.m. $5 at the door. For information, call (563)326-7862 or visit DavenportJuniorTheatre.com.
Wednesday, May 5 - The Relativity of Albert Einstein. One-man exploration of the physicist and philosopher, performed by Duffy Hudson, of the recent Edgar Allan Poe production In the Shadow of the Raven. Moline Public Library (3210 41st Street, Moline). 7 p.m. Free. For information, call (309)524-2470 or visit MolineLibrary.com.
Friday, May 7, through Sunday, May 16 - Any Number Can Die. Mystery/comedy by Fred Carmichael, set in a remote island mansion. Playcrafters Barn Theatre (4950 35th Avenue, Moline). Fridays and Saturdays - 7:30 p.m., Sundays - 3 p.m. $10. For tickets and information, call (309)762-0330 or visit Playcrafters.com.
MOVIES
Thursday, May 6 - No, Kidding! Me, Too! Documentary by Emmy Award-winning actor and mental-health advocate Joe Pantoliano, with a filmmaker Q&A following. A presentation by the Vera French Foundation. The Capitol Theatre (330 West Third Street, Davenport). 6:30 p.m. $5-10. For tickets and information, call (563)326-8820 or visit TheCapDavenport.com.
ART
Friday, May 7 - Gallery Hop! Biannual event featuring artworks - on display and for purchase in 25 downtown locations - by more than 200 visual and performance artists. The District of Rock Island. 5-9 p.m. Free. For information, call (309)788-6311 or visit RIDistrict.com.
Saturday, May 8, and Sunday, May 9 - Beaux Arts Fair. Biannual event featuring works by artisans from seven states, musical entertainment, children's activities, food vendors, and more. Downtown Davenport on Second Street between Harrison and Main. Saturday - 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Sunday - 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Free. For information, e-mail BeauxArtsFair@gmail.com or visit BeauxArtsFair.com.
COMEDY
Thursday, May 6 - Jeanne Robertson. Comedienne presents "Never Bungee Jump Naked & Other Life Lessons" at the sixth-annual "Celebrate a Special Woman" Signature Event, sponsored by the Women's Connection. Quad-Cities Waterfront Convention Center (1777 Isle Parkway, Bettendorf). 5:30 p.m. $30-35. Reserve by Monday, May 3. For information, call Colleen Rafferty at (309)631-0167 or visit AskTWC.com.
Friday, May 7 - Rich Little in Jimmy Stewart: A Humorous Look at His Life. An original comedic tribute written by and starring the famed impersonator. Quad-Cities Waterfront Convention Center (1777 Isle Parkway, Bettendorf). 7:30 p.m. $35-45. For tickets and information, call (800)843-4753 or visit Bettendorf.IsleOfCapriCasinos.
EVENTS
Thursday, April 29 - Quad Cities Computer Society Monthly Meeting. With a presentation by Abby Stokes, author of the computer handbook Is This Thing On? Tri-City Jewish Center (2715 30th Street, Rock Island). 7 p.m. Free and open to the public. For information, visit QCS.org.
Saturday, May 1 - Derby Day. Annual fundraiser benefiting youth music education, sponsored by the Quad City Symphony Orchestra, and featuring a dinner buffet, a live auction, a raffle, and plenty of mint juleps. Rock Island Arsenal Golf Club (1838 Gillespie, Arsenal Island, Rock Island). 4 p.m. $50. For information and reservations, call (563)322-7276 or visit QCSymphony.com.
Saturday, May 8 - Quad City Book Fair. Authors display and sell their books in an event hosted by the Midwest Writing Center, featuring keynote speaker Max Allan Collins, children's book author Jill Esbaum, and David R. Collins' Literary Achievement Award winner Connie Corcoran Wilson. River Music Experience (129 Main Street, Davenport). 10 a.m. Free. For information, call (563)324-1410 or visit MidwestWritingCenter.org.
