Event
Craig Karges: Experience the Extraordinary
Centennial Hall, Augustana College
Saturday, September 11, 8 p.m.
The gentleman in the accompanying photo is self-described "extraordinist" Craig Karges. Based on that picture, you may want to think twice about inviting him to your next dinner party.
Based on his credits and plaudits, though, you may also want to think twice about missing Karges' one-man show, Experience the Extraordinary, being presented at Augustana College's Centennial Hall on September 11.
Part psychic, part illusionist, and all entertainer, Karges has made more than 4,000 professional appearances in the course of his career, performing in 17 different countries and all 50 U.S. states. He's been seen on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Larry King Live, and two of his own hour-long television specials. And his stage shows - in which, as Karges' press materials state, "tables float, minds are read, metal bends, and your imagination is challenged because you won't believe your eyes" - have earned him accolades galore, including a record-setting 18 NACA (National Association for Campus Activities) Campus Entertainment Awards, and a citation as "Mentalist of the Year" from the International Psychic Entertainers Association. (If you're thinking to yourself, "Seriously?", know that CraigKarges.com follows that mention with: "Seriously!")
Karges' Web-site testimonials are no less impressive. Performance Magazine calls Experience the Extraordinary "one of the top five variety/family shows in North America," a distinction he shares with the likes of David Copperfield and Disney on Ice. And Washington University staffer Stacy Pearson, after compiling student evaluations of Karges' show, writes, "Our highest rating is '5,' but you managed to score a '6,' a '10,' and a '5 wtf! omg!'"
So if you want to see wtf the excitement is all about, omg, call the Augustana College box office at (309)794-7306.
Music
Cowboy Mouth
Rock Island Brewing Company
Friday, September 10, 9 p.m.
The New Orleans-based rockers of Cowboy Mouth play the Rock Island Brewing Company on September 10, and I'm not sure which of frontman Fred LeBlanc's descriptions I like better: (1) "Cowboy Mouth is about pretending that you're five years old, naked as a jaybird, and about to turn the hose on your parents, and there's not a damn thing they can do about it," or (2) "If the Neville Brothers and The Clash had a baby, it would be Cowboy Mouth." It would also be a freakin' miracle, but in the case of both quotes, I think LeBlanc's point is well-made.
Led by drummer LeBlanc and guitarist John Thomas Griffith, Cowboy Mouth earns immediate cool points for being named after a moderately obscure, seriously nutty Sam Shepard play. The band's fans, though, know that Cowboy Mouth earns greater points for the high-energy, bayou-flavored rock of such hits as "Jenny Says," "Love of My Life," and "Disconnected," and for the 200-plus annual tour stops that have found the musicians playing to more than 8 million fans over 20 years.
Cowboy Mouth has also performed on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, The Late Show with Craig Kilborn, and Live with Regis & Kelly, yet I'm guessing that the band is best enjoyed live, considering that the music periodical Cake wrote, "On a bad night, they'll tear the roof off the joint, and on a good night, they'll save your soul." Let's hope, for RIBCO's sake, that Cowboy Mouth has a good night. It's been raining a lot this summer.
More on the group can be found at CowboyMouth.com, and more on its RIBCO show - where the musicians share the bill with Bakelight Army - is available by calling (309)793-4060 or visiting RIBCO.com.
Music
Abalone Dots
The Redstone Room
Friday, September 3, 8:30 p.m.
If you composed an alphabetical list of all the music groups that have ever existed, it's possible that Abalone Dots would place at the very top. (Unless, that is, the hyphen gives a-ha the advantage.) It's also possible that if you composed a list of the greatest current folk and bluegrass groups, Abalone Dots would rank way up there.
Consider this, from the AbaloneDots.com Web site: "Abalone Dots fick en fantastisk respons för debutalbumet From a Safe Distance som släpptes 2007. Nu reser de mellan Nashville och Stockholm för att skriva nya l?tar och turnerar p? b?da sidorna Atlanten." *
Oh, did I mention that the band is Swedish?
Yet if you're perturbed by the notion of a quartet of female musicians from Sweden performing distinctively American bluegrass sounds, you'll likely be won over on September 3, when the Swedish Grammy Award-winning ensemble brings its distinctive harmonies and considerable stage charisma to Davenport's Redstone Room. Abalone Dots showcases a quartet of young musicians - 22-year-old Rebecka Hjukström, 24-year-olds Elin Mörk and Sophia Hogman, and 25-year-old Louise Holmer - and the women's impressive vocals and musicianship led Today's Country magazine to call the group "everything that modern bluegrass is about," and "one of the best modern bluegrass bands that America hasn't quite yet embraced as one of their own."
Want to help reverse that? For information on, and tickets to, Abalone Dots' Redstone Room concert, call (563)326-1333 or visit RedstoneRoom.com.
* "Abalone Dots had a fantastic response to their debut album From a Safe Distance, which released in 2007. Now they travel between Nashville and Stockholm to write new songs and tour on both sides of the Atlantic." Thank God for the Google-translation function, huh?
Exhibit
Mercedes Matter: A Retrospective Exhibition
Figge Art Museum
Saturday, September 4, through Sunday, January 2
Mercedes Matter. Yes, Porsches and Lexuses do, too, but we're talking about art now.
To be specific, we're talking about one of the most prolific and influential artists of the 20th Century, as Figge Art Museum visitors will discover in the venue's new exhibit, Mercedes Matter: A Retrospective Exhibition. On display from September 4 through January 2, the Figge's is the first major museum exhibition devoted solely to the Abstract Expressionist artist who passed away in 2001, and will include samplings of Matter's paintings through 2000, beginning with her early artistic attempts as a nine-year-old in 1922.
The daughter of modernist painter Arthur Beecher Carles (a student of Henri Matisse), Matter was not only a significant force in art, but in education, having taught at such prestigious institutions as the Philadelphia College of Art and New York University, and having founded the New York School of Drawing, Painting, & Sculpture in 1964. She and photographer/graphic-designer husband Herbert Matter were also close friends and collaborators with such art-world legends as Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner, and in the 1950s, Mercedes became the first female artist accepted into the elite New York organization The Artists' Club, a group of progressive artists, critics, and poets associated with the New York Studio School.
As for Matter's paintings, they're described on the Figge's Web site as "characterized by vigorous angular marks and geometricized rhythms," and it's also stated that "many of her pieces represent a unique fusion of advanced gestural abstraction and a sensitive perceptual observation of landscape and still-life motifs." In order to feel less guilty about squandering my youth, I'm praying that Matter wasn't thinking about all that as a nine-year-old.
For more information on Mercedes Matter: A Retrospective Exhibition, call (563)326-7804 or visit FiggeArt.org.
Music
Riverfront Pops
LeClaire Park
Saturday, September 11, 6:30 p.m.
Saturday, September 11, brings with it the Quad City Symphony Orchestra's annual Riverfront Pops concert in Davenport's LeClaire Park, and will, as ever, close with a stirring orchestral version of "The 1812 Overture" and a glorious fireworks display.
Yet it's a fair bet that you'll never have experienced a Riverfront Pops quite like this one, as 2010's concert in the park will also showcase the talents of Bravo Broadway!, a trio of Great White Way veterans - Stepanie J. Block, Hugh Panaro, and Lisa Vroman - who will deliver some of musical theatre's most beloved tunes while backed by the symphony's outstanding musicians and led by gifted conductor Mark Russell Smith.
The Quad City Symphony Orchestra will perform no-doubt-rousing highlights from the scores to West Side Story, Candide, Jesus Christ Superstar, and numerous others. But they'll also accompany Bravo Broadway's crooners to beloved songs from such smash hits as Candide, Hairspray, and Mamma Mia!, as well as the eight legendary show tunes listed below.
How well do you know the sources of said tunes? Try matching these Riverfront Pops songs with the musicals that made them famous.
1) Cabaret
2) Cats
3) Chicago
4) Funny Girl
5) Gypsy
6) The Lion King
7) Phantom of the Opera
8) Wicked
A) "All I Need Is the Girl"
B) "All That Jazz"
C) "The Circle of Life"
D) "Defying Gravity"
E) "Don't Rain on My Parade"
F) "Memory"
G) "Music of the Night"
H) "Wilkommen"
For tickets to this year's Riverfront Pops, call the Quad City Symphony Orchestra at (563)322-0931 or visit QCSymphony.com.
Answers: 1 - H, 2 - F, 3 - B, 4 - E, 5 - A, 6 - C, 7 - G, 8 - D. And if you missed any of those, I'm sorry, but we're no longer on speaking terms.
What Else Is Happenin'...?
MUSIC
Friday, September 3 - Mark Farner. Concert with the former lead singer and guitarist of Grand Funk Railroad. Quad-Cities Waterfront Convention Center (1777 Isle Parkway, Bettendorf). 7:30 p.m. $15-30. For tickets and information, call (800)843-4753 or visit Bettendorf.IsleOfCapriCasinos.
Sunday, September 5 - Glen Campbell. Grammy Award-winning country and pop musician in concert. Riverside Casino & Golf Resort (3184 Highway 22, Riverside). 4 p.m. $42-52. For tickets and information, call (877)677-3456 or visit RiversideCasinoAndResort.com.
Thursday, September 9 - New Orleans Dance Party with Papa Grows Funk. The New Orleans-based funk band in concert, and a presentation in the Hancher Auditorium Performing Arts Series. Iowa Memorial Union (125 North Madison Street, Iowa City). 10 p.m. For tickets and information, call (319)335-1160 or visit http://www.Hancher.UIowa.edu.
Sunday, September 12 - Justin Roberts & the Not-Ready-for-Naptime Players. Songs and comedy with the popular children's entertainer. Englert Theatre (221 East Washington Street, Iowa City). 2 p.m. $12. For tickets and information, call (319)688-2653 or visit Englert.org.
Sunday, September 12 - The Water Coolers. Songs and sketches by Broadway veterans on the hilarious turmoils of office life. Englert Theatre (221 East Washington Street, Iowa City). 7 p.m. $22-27. For tickets and information, call (319)688-2653 or visit Englert.org.
Tuesday, September 14 - The 2010 U.S. Army Soldier Show. Music and patriotism in an annual touring presentation. Adler Theatre (136 East Third Street, Davenport). 7 p.m. Free admission. For information, call (563)326-8500 or visit AdlerTheatre.com.
THEATRE
Wednesday, September 1, through Saturday, November 6 - A Closer Walk with Patsy Cline. Musical biography of the famed country singer. Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse (1828 Third Avenue, Rock Island). Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and September 2 6 p.m. dinner, 7;45 p.m. show; Sundays 4 p.m. dinner, 5:45 p.m. show; Wednesdays 11:45 a.m. plated lunch, 1:30 p.m. show. $27.11-46.39. For tickets and information, call (309)786-7733 extension 2 or visit Circa21.com.
Friday, September 10, through Sunday, September 19 - Hard to Believe. Musical re-telling of the story of Job, in a debut presentation by area playwrights and composers Jonathan Turner and Tim Stoller. Playcrafters Barn Theatre (4950 38th 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. For an interview with creators Tim Stoller & Jonathan Turner and director Tom Morrow, visit RCReader.com/y/hardtobelieve.
Friday, September 10, through Sunday, October 3 - [title of show]. Tony Award-nominated meta-musical about two guys writing a musical. Riverside Theatre (213 North Gilbert Street, Iowa City). Thursdays-Saturdays 7:30 p.m.; Sundays 2 p.m. $25-28. For tickets and information, call (319)338-7672 or visit RiversideTheatre.org.
COMEDY
Friday, September 10 - Vicki Lawrence & Mama: A Two-Woman Show. Emmy and Grammy Award-winning star, and her Carol Burnett Show alter-ego, in concert. Quad-Cities Waterfront Convention Center (1777 Isle Parkway, Bettendorf). 2 and 7:30 p.m. $32-49. For tickets and information, call (800)843-4753 or visit Bettendorf.IsleOfCapriCasinos.
ART
Saturday, September 4 - Sound & Vision End-of-Summer Celebration. Featuring art by Tony Cavallo, Rose Noble, Adam Beadel, Jon Burns, Dennis Hockaday, Jamie Warren, and others, and music by Gryphyns, Trashgods, and Id Noir. Sound & Vision Art Gallery (1316 Fourth Avenue, Suite #1, Moline). 6 p.m. Free admission. For information, visit MySpace.com/
Saturday, September 11, and Sunday, September 12 - Beaux Arts Fair. Bi-annual event featuring works by artisans from seven states, live music, 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 admission. For information, e-mail BeauxArtsFair@gmail.com or visit BeauxArtsFair.com.
EVENTS
Thursday, September 2 - 2010 Hawkapalooza. Annual kick-off to University of Iowa athletics, featuring a pep rally, coaches and players from Hawkeye teams, and live music by Big Boi and the Super Mash Bros. Hubbard Park (51 North Madison Street, Iowa City). 6 p.m. Free admission. For information, call (319)335-3395, or visit ScopeProductions.org.
Thursday, September 2, through Sunday, September 5 - Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Presents Zing Zang Zoom. The 139th edition of "The Greatest Show on Earth." i wireless Center (1201 River Drive, Moline). Thursday, Friday, and Sunday 7 p.m.; Saturday 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.; Sunday 1 and 5 p.m. $11-65. For tickets, call (800)745-3000 or visit iwirelessCenter.com.
Saturday, September 4 - Festival of Praise. Annual outdoor event hosted by New Anthem, featuring performances by Christian artists MercyMe and Elysian. LeClaire Park, Davenport. 7 p.m. $15-20 per adult; ages 12 and under free. For tickets and information, call (563)359-7617 or visit QCFestivalOfPraise.com.
Saturday, September 4, and Sunday, September 5 - 2010 Rock Island Grand Prix. 16th-annual independent kart-racing event, with contestants competing for a minimum purse of $25,000. The District of Rock Island. 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Free admission. For information, call (309)788-6311 or visit RIDistrict.com.
Saturday, September 11 - Viva Quad Cities. Annual celebration of Hispanic culture, featuring food booths, arts and crafts, music and dance, and more. Bass Street Landing Plaza, Moline. Noon-11 p.m. $5 per adult; ages 12 and under free. For information, visit VivaQuadCities.com.
