21 Apr 2026

Emily Rach Beisel and A Light Among Many, May 7

By Reader Staff

With her music described by A Jazz Noise as "a raw, abrasive, oppressive, and thrilling journey,” Chicago-based improviser, composer, educator, curator, and woodwind specialist Emily Rach Beisel performs at Rock Island venue Rozz-Tox on May 7, the evening also boasting a set with the Denver-based musicians of A Light Among Many, self-described as delivering "suffocating, sprawling soundscapes of drone and doom metal."

21 Apr 2026

William Elliott Whitmore, May 2

By Reader Staff

With his most recent release Silently, the Mind Breaks hailed by No Depression as an "unsettling yet invigorating album" that blends "banjo, acoustic guitar, and kick drum with gritty, determined vocals," folk, blues, and alt-country singer/songwriter William Elliott Whitmore returns to Maquoketa's Codfish Hollow Barn for a season-opening concert on May 2, the artist's latest also inspiring Everything Is Noise to state that the artist "sings with a gravitas indictive of the very best blues and folk singers."

21 Apr 2026

“The Skin of Our Teeth,” May 7 through 10

By Reader Staff

A Pulitzer Prize winner hailed by the Wall Street Journal as "one of the finest American plays of the 20th century," Thornton Wilder's classic The Skin of Our Teeth enjoys a May 7 through 10 staging in Augustana College's Brunner Theatre Center, the 1942 play also lauded by the Herald-Tribune as "wonderfully wise" and "a tremendously exciting and profound stage fable.

21 Apr 2026

City Circle Theatre Company's “The Drowsy Chaperone,” May 1 through 10

By Reader Staff

Winner of five 2006 Tony Awards and described by Variety magazine as “superior, smartly crafted pastiche,” the joyous musical-comedy spoof The Drowsy Chaperone will be staged at the Coralville Center for the Performing Arts May 1 through 10.

21 Apr 2026

“Schoolhouse Rock Live!”, May 5 through 9

By Reader Staff

From May 5 through 9, a TV pop-culture phenomenon comes to thrilling stage life when Mt. Carroll's Timber Lake Playhouse presents Schoolhouse Rock Live!, the beloved show – presented as part of the venue's Magic Owl Children's Theatre program – inspired by the Emmy Award-winning 1970s Saturday-morning cartoon series that taught history, grammar, math, and more through clever, tuneful songs.

21 Apr 2026

Jeff Dunham, May 7

By Reader Staff

Appearing locally with familiar traveling companions such as Peanut, José Jalapeño, Bubba J., and Url, a youth forever preoccupied with his mobile device, comedian and ventriloquist Jeff Dunham brings his national "Artificial Intelligence" tour to Davenport's Rhythm City Casino Resort Event Center on May 7, the artist having performed live in front of more than 7.7 million people across 1,500-plus shows between June of 2007 and June of 2024.

21 Apr 2026

“The Zone of Interest,” May 7

By Reader Staff

A two-time Academy Award winner The Times deemed a "landmark movie, hugely important, that's unafraid of difficult ideas," writer/director Jonathan Glazer's Holocaust drama The Zone of Interest will be screened at the Figge Art Museum on May 7, this powerful 2023 work the latest presentation in the Davenport venue's series of provocative, suspenseful films set in the context of authoritarian fascism.

19 Apr 2026

“Butcher, Hymes, & Murtha,” April 29 through June 29

By Reader Staff

Colorful, playful, and delightfully goofy works will be on display at the Quad City Arts International Airport Gallery from April 29 through June 29, with the shared exhibition Butcher, Hymes, & Murtha showcasing new illustrations on shaped wood by Aaron Butcher and examples of fiber art by MaryKay Hymes and Diane Murtha.

14 Apr 2026

Brandon Lake, April 25

By Reader Staff

A six-time Grammy Award winner, 15-time GMA Dove Award winner, and 13-time ASCAP Christian Music Award winner – emerging victorious on every single one of his nominations between 2021 and 2024 – Brandon Lake headlines an April 25 concert event at Moline's Vibrant Arena at the MARK, his list of chart-topping Billboard singles including Gratitude,” “That's Who I Praise,” and “Hard Fought Hallelujah.”

14 Apr 2026

Avatar, April 29

By Reader Staff

Touring in support of their fall release Don't Go in the Forest that MetalTalk raved "will blow your socks off," the heavy-metal rockers and Swedish Billboard charters of Avatar return to East Moline venue The Rust Belt on April 29, their latest album imspiring SputnikMusic to state, "These guys are tireless creative workers of heavy metal, and I sincerely hope they’re living the dream in full, because they deserve it."

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