Gearing up for its 10th year, the Caribbean-themed Ya Maka My Weekend continues a tradition of building on its past this Thursday through Saturday in The District of Rock Island. While last year saw the addition of a Mad Hatter division to the sand-volleyball tournament, the 2001 Ya Maka features comic Ngaio Bealum at the Funny Bone from Thursday through Saturday.
• Joe Jackson is getting the royal treatment on A&M Records' re-issue of his first two albums this Tuesday. Both albums from 1979 are seminal pop songwriting, combining Jackson's touching melodies and heartbroken sneer in hits such as "Is She Really Going Out with Him," "It's Different for Girls," and "Fools in Love.
Led by singer, songwriter, artist, and multi-instrumentalist Pat Stolley, the Quad Cities’ The Multiple Cat – on record, at least – is a one-man studio band to which various others contribute their talents periodically.
• This Tuesday brings the super-sweet campaign by Rhino Records to re-present Elvis Costello's stunning career. From the snot 'n' sneer youngster of his 1977 Columbia Records debut through the seasoned-songwriting-statesman years on the Warner Bros.
The St. Louis sextet Eli-Stone wields all the weapons that any militant industrial metal band needs: a propulsive guitar attack and rhythm section, unexpected tempo changes, hair-raising screams, spooky samples, ample aggression, and mechanical precision to spare.
Over the next few months, four weekends of music will be distilled into one compact document of the Quad Cities music scene in summer 2001. This past weekend, the Blackthorn Pub & Eatery in Moline began a four-Sunday series of concerts featuring more than 20 Quad Cities bands and solo acts.
• The long-awaited return of the Butthole Surfers is set with the August 28 release date of the band's Weird Revolution set on the Surfdog/Hollywood label. The group's signature sound of deep-shag acid audio scratch 'n' sniff has been scaring audiences since 1984, and this outing features founding members Gibby Haynes on bullhorn, guitarist Paul Leary, and drummer King Coffey.
• This Tuesday brings the long-awaited release of Colonel Les Claypool's Fearless Flying Frog Brigade and its new Live Frogs: Set Two. The CD is hot on the tails of the April release of Live Frogs: Set One, and this one dives straight into the heart of the sun.
Among the summer festivals in the Quad Cities, none is more diverse than Summerfest, scheduled for Thursday through Saturday, July 12 through 14, in The District of Rock Island's Great River Plaza. The event features carnival rides, live music, food, and on Saturday, an antique market that's new this year.
Cornstock at Halftime There's no motivator quite like a 14-year-old boy at loose ends. Robert Horton's son is that age. "He was bored, and he wanted to go to the Pig Pen [for the Pigstock music festival last month], but nobody would drive him.

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