With the Emmy-nominated singer/songwriter and composer having created an enormous body of genre-bending music that includes pop albums with his ensemble, multiple solo albums, and numerous collaborative records, Ben Folds headlines an August 13 concert event at Davenport's Capitol Theatre, his varied credits including serving as a judge on the NBC's The Sing-Off and, in 2019, publishing his memoir A Dream About Lightning Bugs: A Life of Music and Cheap Lessons.

Delivering an exploison of electro-jam fun on the first night of this year's Alternating Currents festival, the Bloomington, Indiana talents of Dizgo are set to rock Davenport's Redstone Room on August 15, the musicians praised by Space Tapes for "evoking a transcendence of genre: a dizzier disco, filled with a hodge-podge of genres, styles, and technical influences [that's] still, at it’s core, a dance party."

Touring in support of their 2023 recording Validate Me, a sophomore release that Glide magazine called "a testament to their unique alternative rock sound that is uniquely their own," the Brooklyn-based talents of Gooseberry headline an August 12 engagement at Davenport's Raccoon Motel, Glide adding that the group "melds alternative rock, indie, and blues to craft their distinctive sound."

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."

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.

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.

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.

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.

Mind you, I'm not suggesting that anyone would do this. But if you were to make a drinking game out of the experience of Marvel's and director/co-writer Shawn Levy's Deadpool & Wolverine, here's a list of prompts to absolutely avoid – unless, that is, you want the game to end with one of your players rushed to the ER.