Ngaiire, May 2

With Atwood magazine calling her "expansive and expressive, immersive and wondrous," the Australian-based R&B and future-soul singer/songwriter Ngaiire performs a May 2 headlining concert at Davenport's Redstone Room, the Quad City Arts Visiting Artist's most recent album 3 lauded by The Guardian as a "radiant and rich" recording that "meets the artist on her own terms.”

With the country-pop singer/songwriters lauded by American Songwriter as an artist who "should be one of the biggest names in music ... and she will be with that voice, passion and talent," Caitlyn Smith headlines an April 28 concert at Davenport's Raccoon Motel in support of her April 14 release High & Low, which Atwood magazine called "an incredibly eclectic record" in which its creator "embraces life's messy darkness and euphoric highs."

Praised by Music Review Roulette for possessing "one of the most beautiful female voices we have heard in a long time," folk, country, and Americana singer/songwriter Genevieve Heyward headlines an April 30 concert at Davenport's Raccoon Motel, the rising star lauded by Americana-UK for her "lilting vocals, sharply clever lyrics, and a distinctly country hued musicality that should be able to win over both traditional and more modern fans of the genre alike."

Touring in support of his 2023 album BIG TALK, a work that, according to PopMatters, "points the way to a better world over a country-rock soundtrack," acclaimed recording artist Jarrod Dickenson headlines a May 1 concert at Davenport's Raccoon Motel, the musician's latest release also lauded by Rock & Blues Muse as "a smooth, defiant roar."

Currently touring in support of their 2022 release ILYSM, a recording that inspired Pitchfork magazine to state that "it shines bright and it soothes an aching soul," the indie rockers of Wild Pink play a May 2 headlining concert at Davenport's Raccoon Motel, their previous album A Billion Little Lights also hailed by Stereogum as “one of the most exquisitely pretty rock albums in recent memory.”

Fans and friends of the Niabi Zoo in Coal Valley are invited to party with a purpose on May when East Moline venue The Rust Belt hosts the Niabi Zoo's 60th Birthday Bash, with renowned show band Maggie Speaks serving as entertainment headliners and funds raised from the event supporting the zoo's animal care, education, and conservation programs.

On May 4, monster trucks, excavators, and garbage trucks galore will be on full display at the Adler Theatre when the Davenport venue hosts the touring presentation and family delight Blippi: The Wonderful World Tour, an invitation to kids of all ages to shake those wiggles out and OJ Twist their way through this brand-new stage-musical party.

Recounting the experiences of one of the Civil War's most successful Union generals and the 18th President of the United States, the Rock Island Public Library's Downtown Branch presentation Unconditional Surrender: The Life of U. S. Grant will, on April 25, find re-enactor Pete Grady portraying Grant in a program that the Civil War Heritage Foundation's Greg Wolk deemed "a riveting performance" that's "well scripted and perfectly delivered."

The adventures of a comic-book sensation with wonderfully, and hilariously, unique powers will be presented as the final production in Davenport Junior Theatre's 2022-23 mainstage season, with Marvel Spotlight: Squirrel Girl Goes to College popping from the page to the stage in an April 22 through 30 run performed wholly by phenomenally gifted student actors.

With Stage & Cinema describing Riverside Theatre's 2022-23 season-ender as "pure joie de vivre meets industrial-strength sang-froid," the twisty comedy The Roommate enjoys an April 28 through May 14 run at Riverside Theatre, this work by lauded author and University of Iowa Playwrights Workshop graduate Jen Silverman lauded by Splash magazine as "crafted with wit and an eye for nuance."

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