A celebration of the individuals and organizations that best represent the spirit of true river action in regard to our mighty Mississippi, River Action's Fish & Fire Friendraiser enters its 19th year with a June 25 event at Davenport's Modern Woodmen Park and the presentation of the 2020 and 2021 Eddy Awards – recognition for those who “go against the current” to provide outstanding, well-designed, and environmentally responsible riverfront activity and development.

Authors of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and more will share their talents and help strengthen the talents of others during the Midwest Writing Center's virtual David R. Collins Writers Conference, a June 24 through 26 celebration of the written word boasting workshops, readings, book pitches, and a keynote address by lauded author Allison Joseph.

Touring in support of the band's 2020 release Blood & Stone, an album that New Noise magazine raved “starts off strong and grows stronger with each track,” the Grammy-nominated alternative-metal artists of Sevendust play the East Moline venue The Rust Belt on June 29, performing from a repertoire that includes 13 studio albums, one live album, and 36 singles.

An acclaimed author, public speaker, radio host, and former halfback for the Pittsburgh Steelers, Rocky Bleier takes the stage at Davenport's Rhythm City Casino Resort Event Center for the touring sensation The Play with Rocky Bleier, a special June 25 event in which the guest will take audiences from his early years through his professional career and talk about the lessons he learned along the way.

One of the most expansive exhibitions in the Davenport venue's recent history, with the works on display numbering well over 100, POP Power from Warhol to Koons will enjoy an engagement at the Figge Art Museum through September 19, treating patrons to explosions of color, unforgettable imagery, and specific artistic visions that have continued to capture the public imagination for more than 50 years.

Described by the Hollywood Reporter as “infectiously fun” and a show that exudes “propulsive, nonstop energy,” Smokey Joe's Cafe serves as the second production in the Clinton Area Show Boat Theatre's summer season, its June 17 through 27 run sure to demonstrate why, after more than a quarter-century, this thrilling assemblage of pop standards remains the longest-running musical revue in Broadway history.

The winner of five Tony Awards for its 1973 debut and four Tonys for its 2013 revival, composer Stephen Schwartz's musical-comedy smash Pippin returns Mt. Carroll's Timber Lake Playhouse to the presentation of live theatre for the first time since 2019, kick-starting the theatre's 60th-anniversary season with a spectacle-driven extravaganza that ran on Broadway for a staggering 1,944 performances and was deemed “a thrilling piece of eye-popping razzle dazzle” by the New York Post.

Returning to the presentation of classical theatre in Rock Island's Lincoln Park for the first time since 2019, the venerated stage company Genesius Guild – which originated in 1957 – opens its 2021 season with the June 19 through 27 run of William Shakespeare's Measure for Measure (abridged), a 90-minute rendition of the timeless comedy that led River Cities' Reader reviewer Thom White to state, “I ended up laughing harder … than I've ever laughed while watching a Shakespeare performance.”

Delivered as part of the Davenport Public Library's virtual 3rd Thursday at Hoover's Presidential Library & Museum programming, the June 17 Zoom webinar Clearing the Static: Herbert Hoover & Early Radio Regulation will find professor Stephen Coon discussing the history of the medium and how regulatory decisions made by Herbert Hoover and others still affect today’s industry, present-day social-media platforms included.

Two legendary forces in country music – as well as artists who were born fewer than seven months apart – will be celebrated at the Ohnward Fine Arts Center when the Maquoketa venue presents Cash & Cline: Country Royalty Tribute Show, a June 19 stage sensation boasting Johnny-and-Patsy hits performed by Benny Wheels and Lori Gravel.

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