A Billboard-charting indie-rock and folk ensemble that has released more than a dozen albums and EPs since 2000, the multi-instrumental and vocal outfit DeVotchKa headlines an August 11 concert at Maquoketa's Codfish Hollow Barn, the musicians' recording How It Ends hailed by the BBC as a work that "offers a potent, heady, hypnotic cocktail of Romany, Greek, Slavic, and South American-influenced sounds stirred by the distractingly mordant voice of frontman Nick Urata."

Currently touring in support of her latest recording Proof of Life, an album that Rolling Stone calls "a collection of songs that search for the positive even when there aren't necessarily answers available," the genre-hopping singer/songwriter Joy Oladokun headlines an August 14 concert at Maquoketa's Codfish Hollow Barn, with PopMatters adding that the artist's Proof of Life "might just be the hymnbook of greater authenticity and connection in these fractured times."

With the Houston Press promising that "an entertaining evening awaits" in the debut of the Richmond Hill Barn Theatre's new comedy, playwright Pat Cook's farce The Money in Uncle George's Suitcase enjoys a Geneseo run from August 15 through 25, the comedy additionally hailed by the Houston Press as "a humorous look at the dysfunction of family life, especially when money gets involved."

A Broadway musical sensation that played for more than four years and 1,500 performances, the stage version a Robert Louis Stevenson's literary classic – one boasting a score by Frank Wildhorn and a book by the legendary Leslie Bricusse – comes to life in Jekyll & Hyde, the romantic thriller that will enjoy a Timber Lake Playhouse engagement in Mt. Carroll from August 15 through 25.

With the first day of the exhibition and its August 15 opening reception held in conjunction with this year's Alternating Currents festival, Rock Island's Quad City Arts Center will be housing, through October 4, a two-fer of evocative works by a pair of disparate artists, the Crawford & Sage exhibit showcasing woodcut prints by Cathie Crawford and ink and watercolor drawings by Whitney Sage.

Taking place in three cities, two states, and nearly three dozen area locales, the popular summertime traveling festival Alternating Currents returns to Davenport, Bettendorf, and Rock Island from August 15 through 18 – a Quad Cities celebration of music, film, comedy, and the arts boasting more than 100 music performances, comedy sets, film screenings, local art displays, and even pro-wrestling.

A longtime Saturday Night Live veteran and one of the country's most popular comedians brings his national tour to Davenport's Capitol Theatre on August 11 when the venue hosts an evening with Pete Davidson, the 30-year-old multi-hyphenate talent whose credits beyond SNL range from the feature films Fast X and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 to the comedy specials Alive from New York and this year's Turbo Fonzarelli.

Lauded by the New York Times as a comedian who "has done for peanut butter what Jerry Seinfeld did for Pop-Tarts and Jim Gaffigan did for Hot Pockets," nationally renowned standup Greg Warren kicks off this year's Alternating Currents festival with a headlining set at Davenport Capitol Theatre, his August 15 performance treating audiences to a night with the Bob & Tom Show favorite frequently heard on podcasts including Nateland, Never Not Funny, Bertcast, Dumb People Town, and The Adam Carolla Show.

With Bethel AME proud to present its Christian-comedy family event on August 10, an evening of inspiration and hilarity will take place at Davenport's Adler Theatre in Have a Good Laugh, this showcase for headliner Tanya Lewis also featuring sets by funnyman Jonnie W. and musical guest Amiria Duncan.

Two venues in downtown Rock Island will co-host one exciting literary event when the Midwest Writing Center presents readings and a release party for the annual literary magazine The ATLAS, the latest volume of which will, on August 15, be showcased in a late-afternoon event at the Rock Island Public Library and an evening celebration at the neighboring Rozz-Tox.

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