A YouTube sensation who has opened for the likes of Dave Chappelle, Seth Meyers, and Jeff Foxworthy, beloved Christian comedian Josh Crist brings his “Immature Thoughts” tour to Davenport's Adler Theatre on October 25, his observational-comedy leading Emmy Award winner and fellow standup Louie Anderson to proclaim, “It's only a matter of time until John Crist is a household name.”

Hosted by the NormaLeah Ovarian Cancer Initiative in Rock Island, a celebration of music, art, and community awareness takes place at Davenport's River Music Experience on October 26 in the third girlpARTs Fest – an afternoon/evening boasting two dozen singularly designed bodices on display and a headliner performance by 20-year-old Caly Bevier, an ovarian-cancer survivor and semi-finalist on NBC's America's Got Talent.

NightFreak and ROAD SODA form a nice garage rock/punk two-fer bill at Rozz-Tox on October 23.

Praised by the Chicago Tribune for his “deep, contemporary blues” as well as his “razor-sharp guitar and compelling, forceful singing,” guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter Toronzo Cannon plays Davenport's Redstone Room on October 24, his signature blues and R&B stylings leading Mojo magazine to write, “He creates wide-screen modern arrangements for wry, thoughtful songs, molding an ensemble sound that's both tempestuous and scrupulously controlled.”

Alternative-rock fans will find October a little less blue with the area arrival of Blue October, the musicians' October 25 concert at Davenport's Rhythm City Casino Resort Event Center boasting performances from a 21-year repertoire that includes 11 top-40 singles and such chart-topping studio albums as Any Man in America, Sway, and Home.

One of the provisions of the sweeping state pension-reform law passed in 2010 has always stuck in the craw of first-responders.

Police and (especially) firefighter unions fought the local government lobby for decades to increase survivor benefits, and then they watched many of those hard-fought wins get wiped away when the General Assembly decided it had to lower pension benefits for new hires to avoid a fiscal catastrophe.

If you're a fan of globe-trotting action thrillers, and a fan of Will Smith, what could be more fun than Gemini Man, director Ang Lee's stunt-heavy entertainment that gives you two Smiths for the price of one? Just about anything, it turns out, because Lee's latest is a crushing bore: heavy-spirited when it needs to be light – which is pretty much all the time – and so serious about its objectively ridiculous plot that we're given little choice but to laugh at it. Speaking on behalf of my fellow Gemini males, we deserve better representation than this.

A giant, marathon-style bill of noise, ambient, and experimental music – primarily sourced from the Quad Cities, but extending its reach across the Midwest and beyond – lands at Rozz-Tox on October 19 under the title Weird Town 6.

On October 11 and 12, an autumnal celebration of art will fill five venues in downtown Rock Island as MidCoast Fine Arts hosts Rock the Arts, with live music, demonstrations, and more taking place at the Quad City Arts Center, the NormaLeah Cancer Initiative, The Shoppes on 2nd, DeSoto Pottery Studio, and The ARTery/MidCoast Gallery West.