Headlined by the Christian rockers of Newsboys, the nationally touring Big Church Night Out makes a stop at Moline's TaxSlayer Center on December 10, featuring performances by the Grammy-nominated, chart-topping quartet plus more than a half-dozen additional contemporary-Christian entertainers.

In a concert co-hosted by the River Music Experience and Mississippi Valley Blues Society, Iowa-music legends Bob Dorr & the Blue Band will deliver high-energy entertainment in a December 9 Redstone Room set – the latest stop in the band's thirty-sixth year of professional performance.

Appearing locally in support of their forthcoming album Remember What You Knew Before, the Kansas City-based Katy Guillen & the Girls perform a Moeller Nights concert on December 9, showcasing the blues and roots-rock talents that led American Blues Scene magazine to label them “Blondie meets The Clash meets The Pretenders.”

This year's pre-winter Gallery Hop! is themed “Fire & Ice,” with the “Ice” delivered in the sculptures of Robert Storm, the “Fire” in the raku ceramics of Desoto Arts craftspeople, and the “Hop!”-ing in the District of Rock Island visitors viewing and purchasing art in one District venue after another.

I love going to the Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse – not just for the great shows, but for the memories that the old theatre brings. And on the day after Thanksgiving, I had the good fortune to take my eight year-old grandson John to the opening matinée of Fancy Nancy Splendiferous Christmas, Circa '21's current children’s musical under the direction of Andrea Moore.

Last week, in my review of the marvelous family drama Wonder, one of my few gripes concerned the implausible drama-club scenes, and I wrote, “Movies never seem to get school theatre right.” Clearly, bitching occasionally pays off. Because less than a week later, I watched writer/director Greta Gerwig's Lady Bird get school theatre exactly right – which wasn't shocking, in retrospect, considering this coming-of-age comedy appeared to get everything right about damn near everything.

Performing under the direction of Curtis Fischer-Oelschlaeger and accompanied by pianist Marcia Renaud, more than 20 of the area's top singers will blend their skills in two Christmas with the Quad City Singers concerts at Colona's Lavender Crest Winery, with the seasonal repertoire boasting classic and contemporary arrangements for soloists, specific vocal groupings, and the entire ensemble.

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Santa Claus, local authors and artisans, and a lot of ugly sweaters are among the guaranteed sights at this year's Christmas in LeClaire weekend, with holiday-themed events scheduled at more than a dozen downtown locales between December 1 and 3.