On October 1, guests of Davenport's Common Chord are invited to taste-test the best the Quad Cities has to offer with the eagerly anticipated, fourth-annual QC Flavor Fest, this fundraiser for music-education programs boasting a concert with Chicago Farmer, auction items, prizes, and some of the most mouth-watering delicacies available anywhere in the Midwest.
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Founded in 2015 by the Quad Cities Cybersecurity Alliance and presented by the Docent Institute, the 12th-annual CornCon – an event designed to raise community awareness and provide business solutions for dealing with cybersecurity threats – will boast breakout sessions, expert speakers, panels, tutorials, vendors, a tech expo, children's activities, awards presentations, and more on October 2 and 3, this year's Davenport RiverCenter event titled The 12 Chaos Monkeys of Cyber.
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A family-friendly celebration designed to support environmental education and conservation in our community, the Fourth-Annual Nahant Marsh Fall Festival will be held at the Davenport preserve on October 3, the day's guests invited to enjoy a crisp autumn day surrounded by nature, fun activities, and great food all while supporting a great cause.
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Held in conjunction with the October 4 through 10 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 October 5, 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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Known as the “King of Crowd Work” for his improvised sets that have redefined how comedians interact with audiences in the digital age, standup sensation Nate Jackson returns to the University of Dubuque for an October 6 show, his Homecoming Week performance part of the university's 14th annual Live at Heritage Center Performing Arts Series.
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Last month, House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch told WGN Political Editor Tahman Bradley during an interview, “I’m going to apologize for making her feel uncomfortable.”
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My associate Isabel Miller and I told subscribers earlier this month that Democrats for the Illinois House had been suddenly cut off from the Democratic Party of Illinois’ lucrative postage-discount program, which can save as much as one-third to half of campaign postage costs.
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You may know that embattled Legislative Inspector General Michael McCuskey has agreed to resign his post by the end of September. But this sorry saga shouldn’t end there. The Legislative Ethics Commission should immediately launch an investigation into why so many women over the years have said they were mistreated, belittled, and dismissed by McCuskey. They could also ask McCuskey’s replacement to revisit the cases.
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Take, for example, corn. You probably didn’t expect that. But however you might measure intelligence, it is probably only valid if corn’s is higher than ours. In the fauna realm, if a Martian landed in my community and reported back to their spaceship on who is in charge down here, they would almost certainly have to say “pigs.”
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Last September in Washington D.C., the International Center For 9/11 Justice (IC911.org) hosted a multi-day conference that publicly documented new and prior 9/11 Truth research results. This year, on the 25th anniversary of 9/11, the Turn the Tide conference is back, now in New York City from September 10 to 13. Once again, the conference's speakers are the world's foremost 9/11 Truth experts within numerous expertise areas. This year, new speakers include Roger Waters of Pink Floyd, academic Bret Weinstein, and investigative journalist and author Nick Bryant.
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It was interesting to see how this script written in 1987 was still thematically relevant nearly 40 years later. You’d think we’d be further along as a society, but from its concerns about the deportation of undocumented workers to the characters' strain in simply make ends meet, Josefina Lopez’s play speaks to issues that feel very current.
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Hailed by the Los Angeles Times as a work that "gives equal weight to the opposing viewpoints of two formidable characters," Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Donald Margulies' two-woman drama Collected Stories enjoys an October 1 through 11 run at Geneseo's Richmond Hill Barn Theatre, the Village Voice adding that "Margulies holds the rich ore of his material up to the light so that it sends beams in every direction."
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Rock of Ages was nominated for five Tony Awards, including Best Musical. “Wait – what?” I said when I read of these accomplishments after seeing the show. I eventually unearthed why.
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Updated: Monday, September 28
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Reviews by Rochelle Arnold, Jeff Ashcraft, Patricia Baugh-Riechers, Audra Beals, Pamela Briggs, Dee Canfield, Madeline Dudziak, Kim Eastland, Emily Heninger, Heather Herkelman, Kitty (née Israel) Hooker, Mischa Hooker, Paula Jolly, Victoria Navarro, Roger Pavey Jr., Alexander Richardson, Mark Ruebling, Mike Schulz, Joy Thompson, Oz Torres, Brent Tubbs, Jill Pearson Walsh, and Thom White.
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With Roots Music Rambler calling the outfit "a folksier version of Fleetwood Mac, largely because of the diverse roster of musical talent throughout the group and the harmonies," the touring sextet Kindred Valley headlines a September 28 concert at Davenport's Raccoon Motel, Reveler Experiences raving about the group's "thoughtful Americana sound that’s a little bit rock, a little bit folk and a little bit Appalachian ... . The harmonies are sweet and the lyrics are heartfelt and authentic."
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Currently touring the country in support of his latest recording Small Prayers, Big Blessings, country and Americana singer/songwriter Forrest McCurren returns to the Quad Cities for a pair of special concert events: a headlining engagement at Davenport's Raccoon Motel on September 29, and, on September 30, performing alongside his wife in Songs & Stories with Forrest & Margaret McCurren at the Rock Island Public Library's downtown branch.
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An alternative-rock project that, according to the Los Angeles Times, "rocked with the highest degree of unbridled passion and conviction" among artists associated with the Paisley Underground music movement, the Dream Syndicate brings their national tour to Maquoketa's Codfish Hollow Barn on October 2.
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Revered for having landed 51 singles on the Billboard country charts, 20 of them number-one smashes, the iconic duo of singer/songwriters – better known as Brooks & Dunn – bring their "Neon Moon Tour 2026" to Moline's Vibrant Arena at the MARK on October 3.
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Opening the organization's astonishing 112th season of thrilling Masterworks repertoires, the musicians of the Quad City Symphony Orchestra, led by conductor Mark Russell Smith, present Symphonie fantastique at Davenport's Adler Theatre on October 3 and, in Rock Island, Augustana College's Centennial Hall on October 4.
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With Robert Pattinson supplying a demented stare, wicked grin, and one of his signature affected accents, this big-screen Chris Hansen is magisterially icky: sweaty, scary, pathetic, and wholly deserving of the downfall you know is coming.
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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
Discussion of Resident Evil, The Weight, and Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom, and previews of Heart of the Beast, Primetime, Forgotten Island, and the encore of Avengers: Endgame, which reportedly comes with extra footage you need to see before December's next Avengers flick. Because three-hours-plus apparently wasn't enough time to squeeze in everything.
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Among Zach Cregger's three features to date, Resident Evil is my favorite.
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With the fifth and final offering in its series hailed by Film Threat as a "scalding film noir classic," the German American Heritage Center concludes its “The Lost Years of German Cinema: 1948-1963" film screenings with writer, director, and star Peter Lorre's The Lost One, which enjoys a September 30 screening at Davenport venue The Last Picture House.
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Now playing at area theaters.
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New works by a pair of gifted artists, working in vastly different mediums, will be on display at the Quad City Arts Center hrough October 2, staffers at the Rock Island venue proud to house paintings by Colleen McCarty-Tomlinson and marbled-paper works by Connie Sherman.
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On October 8, the Figge Art Museum will host a special Artist Talk with Amanda Burnham, who is creating a site-specific installation of her work in the Davenport venue this fall. Burnham uses acrylic on paper, and an exaggerated, often frantic comic visual language, making three-dimensional drawing installations that both allude to and frustrate traditional pictorial space.
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With the artists encouraging their audience to pause and find hidden details in their work., two Midwestern talents are showcasing pieces at the Quad City Arts International Airport Gallery through November 2, the Bowden & Shultz-Hetrick exhibit hosting abstract paintings by Peotone, Illinois' James Bowden and fused-glass art by Cedar Rapids' Barbara Shultz-Hetrick.
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Presenting a fascinating display of sumi-e art, the traditional Japanese form of ink-was painting that uses black ink, water, and minimalist brush strokes to capture the inner spirit of natural subjects, Karen Kurka Jensen's Coming Home will be on display in Black Hawk College's ArtSpace Gallery through November 6, a closing reception and artist talk scheduled at the Moline gallery on November 5.
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Timed to the 250th anniversary of the signing of the United States' Declaration of Independence, the Figge Art Museum exhibition Connie & Michael Roberts: Portrait of America will be on display in the Davenport venue's Lewis Gallery through January 3, this arresting collection of works inviting audiences to reflect on the individuals who helped shape our nation’s history.
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