Music

Javier Colon

Galvin Fine Arts Center

Friday, September 18, 8 p.m.

Back in the day - by which I mean a couple decades ago - friends and I would frequent karaoke nights and challenge one another to perform randomly picked songs. On one of those nights, I wound up faced with the challenge of singing Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time," which I (and the pour souls listening) mercifully survived. Consequently, I feel a true kinship with performer Javier Colon, who, in April of 2011, crooned the same Lauper hit on the debut episode of TV's The Voice.

Of course, Colon sang it better than I did ... and for a few million people as opposed to a few dozen ... and I don't recall getting $100,000 and a recording contract for my efforts ... .

A WALK IN THE WOODS

Based on a widely adored nonfiction from 1998, A Walk in the Woods finds Robert Redford's Bill Bryson (the book's author) and Nick Nolte's Stephen Katz embarking on a months-long trek along the Appalachian Trail, and from his first moments here, you fear for the latter's health. By which I mean you fear for Nolte's health. Because based on the 74-year-old's initial appearance - hauling his substantial frame out of an airplane seemingly half his size, his face nearly purple from the effort - and that strained, gravelly baritone that sounds like heavy rocks in a wood chipper, Nolte doesn't appear at all capable of surviving this particular Walk. (It should go without saying that even though he's finally starting to look his age, you don't feel similar trepidation for 79-year-old Redford, given that his voice and hair - or "hair" - still suggest a man in his late 30s.)

MUSIC

Friday, September 4 - Nashville Pussy. Atlanta-based hard-rock musicians in concert, with opening sets by Valient Thorr and Heavyweight. Rock Island Brewing Company (1815 Second Avenue, Rock Island). 8 p.m. $15 advance tickets. For information, call (309)793-1999 or visit RIBCO.com.

Friday, September 4 - Andrew Landers. Concert with the Americana and folk musician, with an opening set by The Dupont Brothers. The Redstone Room (129 Main Street, Davenport). 7 p.m. $10 plus $1.50-2 fees. For tickets and information, call (563)326-1333 or visit RiverMusicExperience.org.

Saturday, September 5 - Festival of Praise. High Praise Unlimited presents an evening of fellowship with outdoor concert sets by MercyMe and Justin Rizzo. LeClaire Park (400 Beiderbecke Drive, Davenport). 7 p.m. $17-20, ages 12 and under free. For information, call (563)359-7617 or visit NewAnthem.com.

Saturday, September 5 - Brushville. Outdoor concert with the country musicians, with an opening set by Just Chords. Rock Island Brewing Company (1815 Second Avenue, Rock Island). 8 p.m. $5-10. For information, call (309)793-1999 or visit RIBCO.com.

THE END OF THE TOUR

An interviewer for Rolling Stone travels to Bloomington, Illinois, to meet his subject: an author embarking on the last leg of his book tour. They make small talk at the author's house. They smoke incessantly. They gorge on junk food. They travel to Minnesota for a reading and radio segment. They visit the Mall of America. They catch a multiplex movie. They hang out with a couple of young women. They consume more junk food. They return to Bloomington. They part ways.

In broad outline, that is the entire plot of director James Ponsoldt's and screenwriter Donald Margulies' The End of the Tour. And with the possible exception of Mad Max: Fury Road, no other 2015 release, to date, has entertained, thrilled, and devastated me quite as much as this one. (The film is currently playing at Iowa City's Marcus Sycamore Cinema.) I'll concede that much of the reason for my enjoyment might be strictly personal, or at least intensely specific. But I also don't think anyone needs to have been an interviewer, or an interviewee, to be dazzled by the film's intelligence, emotional complexity, and deep empathy, or by the insight it demonstrates regarding the oddly fraught practice of the celebrity profile. You probably also don't need to be an admirer of David Foster Wallace to find yourself frequently moved to tears, but if you are one, consider yourself warned.