Hard as it is to believe, the iconic TV sitcom Friends debuted its first-ever episode three decades ago this month, and in celebration, the East Moline Public Library will host a Friends 30th-Anniversary Party on September 20, demonstrating that they'll be there for you with crafts, trivia, fan-favorite episodes, and more.
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An eagerly awaited autumnal tradition will get the blood pumping on September 21 and 22, as the weekend brings with it the Vibrant Arena at the MARK's Active Endeavors Health & Fitness Expo on Saturday followed by the 27th Quad Cities Marathon, presented by TBK Bank, on Sunday, the latter a Boston Marathon qualifier and the only such event in the country to incorporate six races, four cities, three bridges, two states, and one island.
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Held in conjunction with the September 22 through 28 Banned Books Week – a celebration of our collective freedom to read – the Midwest Writing Center's and Rock Island Public Library's annual Banned Books Read-In will take place on September 24, with more than a dozen participants gathering at the library's Watts-Midtown Branch to read from frequently challenged works and unite in the fight against censorship.
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With his debut album Oh Me, Oh My released in 2022, country and Americana singer/songwriter will perform new and familiar numbers and deliver life tales in Songs & Stories with Forrest McCurren, a special September 26 event introducing audiences to the nascent artist's talents at the Rock Island Public Library's Watts-Midtown Branch.
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Outdoor adventurers are again invited to paddle, mountain bike, and run their way to the top in the eagerly anticipated, 19th Taming of the Slough Mississippi River Adventure Triathlon, the River Action-sponsored test of endurance set to take place on Saturday, September 28.
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The mainstream media was once the guardian of the First Amendment and democratic principles, but has since joined this systemic attack on democracy. Also, the media justifies their censorship on the grounds of combating misinformation, but governments and oppressors don’t censor lies, they don’t fear lies. They fear the truth, and that’s what they censor.
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It’s been an open secret for weeks that at least some members of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s Intergovernmental Affairs staff would be leaving after the Democratic National Convention, including its director, Sydney Holman. That happened last week. Holman quit, and two others were forced out of the IGA office, which liaisons with both the city council and the Illinois General Assembly.
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“It seems crazy, but it’s true that when I serve out the end of this second term, I will be the longest-serving Democratic governor in the history of Illinois,” Governor JB Pritzker said last month during the Democratic National Convention. I looked it up and it’s true.
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Several stories and columns appeared in the national news media shortly before and during the recent Democratic National Convention about Vice President Kamala Harris’ emphasis on the concept of “freedom” in her speeches and messaging.
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Since the 2022 election, far too many Illinoisans have been far too eager to pine for a repeat of the past.
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Alexander Richardson’s new play is set in the 1840s, but it feels painfully contemporary.
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“Guests, like fish, begin to smell after three days.” Or so goes the quip famously attributed to Benjamin Franklin – and 157 years after Franklin’s death, Tennessee Williams’ renowned A Streetcar Named Desire was first performed, perfectly embodying Franklin’s quote.
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The funny, moving, and profound stage version of one of literature's all-time classics enjoys an October 3 through 13 run at the Richmond Hill Barn Theatre when the Geneseo venue stages Of Mice & Men, John Steinbeck's adaptation of his revered 1937 novel included as one of Amazon's list of “The 100 Greatest Books Ever Written.”
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Kitty: I adored this production – which honestly surprised me, because I’ve seen this musical performed elsewhere and … didn’t love it.
Mischa: I’ve never seen this show before, but also really enjoyed it. Okay, I’ll admit, the storyline is not amazing. But the execution was superb.
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Updated: Saturday, August 31
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Nominated for more than a dozen Grammy Awards and winner of three Country Music Association (CMA) Awards, singing/songwriting superstar and Grand Ole Opry member Dierks Bentley brings his “Gravel & Gold Tour” to Moline's Vibrant Arena at the MARK on September 20, his 2023 Gravel & Gold inspiring AllMusic to rave that "when combined with the occasional barn burner, such as the jocular bluegrass closer 'High Note,'" the album "delivers a recipe for a good time."
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Touring in support of his 2024 album Our Other History, a recording that fellow singer/songwriter Will Oldham called "as rewarding a listening experience as I’ve come across in recent times," genre-hopping indie artist Ned Collette performs a September 20 headlining engagement at Rock Island's Rozz-Tox venue, the artist inspiring Raven Sings the Blues to rave that "Collette captures our imagination, building worlds of sound around the listener in the longform."
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Led by lead guitarist and vocalist Steve Brown, the band's co-founder who has been with his outfit for more than 40 years, the glam-metal rockers of Trixter headline a September 21 concert event at East Moline venue The Rust Belt, the group's hits including "Give It to Me Good," "Surrender," and "One in a Million," the latter a gold-certified Billboard smash and popular staple of early-'90s MTV.
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Returning to the Moline venue in support of their new album Kinetica, Alice Cooper's daughter Calico Cooper and longtime bassist Chuck Garric bring their heavy-metal ensemble Beastö Blancö to Rascals Live on September 21, performing from a repertoire that includes the band's 2019 album We Are, a work that Metal-Temple.com called “Mötley Crüe meets White Zombie meets the heavy-metal period of Alice Cooper back in the 2000s."
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Touring in support of his 2024 release Sweet Critters, which No Depression hailed as an album of " intoxicating melodies, percussive lyrics, and peerless craftsmanship," folk singer/songwriter Caleb Caudle brings his tour to Davenport's Raccoon Motel on September 21, the artist's previous recording Forsythia lauded by Americana Highways as "an album that is not only one of this year’s best, but one that stands as a wonderful aural document for our times."
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On September 21, fans of Christopher Nolan, Christian Bale, and award-winning, critically acclaimed superhero blockbusters will be in big-screen Heaven when Davenport's Putnam Museum & Science Center hosts its Batman Trilogy Marathon, an event featuring back-to-back showings of 2005's Batman Begins, 2008's The Dark Knight, and 2012's The Dark Knight Rises.
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I didn't dislike James Watkins' fright flick because it wasn't frightening, though that certainly didn't help matters. I disliked it because, in a rarity for this genre, its (adult) heroes and villains truly seemed to deserve each other.
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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, September 19: Discussion of Speak No Evil and The Killer's Game, and previews of Transformers One, Never Let Go, The Substance, Omni Loop, Wolfs, His Three Daughters ... . It's clearly throw-everything-at-the-wall-and-see-what-sticks weekend.
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You won't get Catherine O'Hara, against her will, leading a supernaturally choreographed “Day-O.” But you will get O'Hara, and supernatural choreography, and “Day-O” – just not in ways you may have anticipated.
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Now playing at area theaters.
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Original works from nearly 90 juried regional and national artists will be on hand at the September 21 and 22 Riverssance Festival of Fine Art, with the 36th Lindsay Park event, hosted by Quad City Arts, boasting a children’s art-activity tent, food and beverage vendors, live music, and the presentation of the prestigious Harley Award, an honor given to an individual who has affected the arts and artists in the Quad Cities during their lifetime.
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With its creator's artistic practice belonging to a tradition that intertwines nature, technology, and human experience, Leo Villareal: Interstellar, on display at Davenport's Figge Art Museum from September 21 through January 19, will showcase nine works from light sculptor Villareal’s Nebula series, inviting patrons into the realms of space, time, and perception through LEDs and custom software.
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Work of couture by Vincent van Gogh, Henri Matisse, Edgar Degas, Auguste Rodin, and other artists recognized around the world will be on vivid display in the Muscatine Art Center through September 22, with the venue's Fashionably Dressed exhibition pairing drawings, paintings, and prints of women, men, and children with historic clothing from the Muscatine Art Center’s permanent collection.
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In the first exhibit of the venue's 2024-2025 season, award-winning children's book author Arthur Geisert's original etchings of pigs building a treehouse with letters hidden amongst the pages will decorate the University of Dubuque's Bisignano Gallery, the exhibition Arthur Geisert: PIGS from A to Z, through September 27, on loan to UD from the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, Iowa.
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Miranda Skye Vavrosky knows art can help save lives, because it saved hers.
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