Performing in Davenport as part of Common Chord's Live at Five Free Summer Concert Series, the nationally known, Quad Cities-based power-pop artists of Einstein's Sister play the SkyBridge Courtyard on August 1, the outfit's previous singles “Begin Again / Standing Still" mastered by Abbey Road Studios' Miles Showell, who also mastered and cut vinyl for Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones, Bob Marley, Queen, The Police, and The Beatles.

A high-energy ensemble boasting some of the sharpest musical talents the area has to offer, 10 of Soul headlines an August 1 concert in The Tangled Wood's Summer Concert Series, their Bettendorf set sure to boast classic tunes from the genres of soul, funk, and blues, as well as a few funky arrangements of their own.

Praised by Marquee magazine for their “dynamic presence” and for “continuously pushing the genre of bluegrass and their legacy within the genre,” the gifted musicians of Yonder Mountain String Band headline an August 2 concert at Maquoketa's Codfish Hollow Barn, the musicians' most recent album, 2022's Get Yourself Outside, hailed by Glide magazine as “an antidote for feeling down. These 11 songs just make you feel good, like putting on your favorite sweater to ward off the cold.”

From August 7 through 9, an eagerly awaited summertime tradition returns both on and in between the LeClaire and Port Byron Levees, as the 2025 Great River Tug Fest delivers outdoor family fun with carnival attractions, live music, arts and crafts vendors, fireworks displays, and the hotly anticipated tug-of-war over the Mississippi River.

Returning to the Quad Cities after her wildly popular performance in last summer's touring hit Have a Good Laugh, Tanya Lewis hosts the Christian Comedy Family Event at Davenport's Adler Theatre on August 2, this showcase for Lewis' divine all-ages humor also boasting sets by Jeremy Nunes, Varonica T. Mitchell, and Crystal P.

Delivering a blend of local history, environmental issues, education, entertainment, and fresh air, Davenport's River Action will present a series of outdoor presentations in the third and final month of the 2025 Channel Cat Talks and Riverine Walks: weekly programs that, from August 5 through 30, will address such topics as the U.S. Coast Guard, area water quality, the Quad Cities' locks and dams, and spooky tales of Nahant Marsh.

Lauded by the New York Times as an "undeniably moving" stage work that "shatters the heart," the immortal tale of horror and hope The Diary of Anne Frank runs at Moline's Playcrafters Barn Theatre August 1 through 10, author Wendy Kesselman's adaptation of Frances Goodrich's and Albert Hackett's Pulitzer Prize-winner hailed by the Associated Press as "a powerful new version that moves the audience to gasps, then tears."

Closing its 2025 summer season with a celebration of one of America's greatest and most beloved entertainers, the Clinton Area Showboat Theatre stages Almost Heaven: The Songs of John Denver from July 31 through August 10, this transporting stage salute inspiring Chicago Theatre Review to rave, "it’s assured that every theatergoer will fly back home on a 'Rocky Mountain High.'"

Based on the Oscar-winning modern classic that stands as one of the highest-grossing animated films of all time, Disney's Frozen enjoys an area debut at Mt. Carroll's Timber Lake Playhouse August 1 through 17, this magical family enchantment a three-time Tony Award nominee hailed by The Guardian for its "theatrical razzmatazz" and "the sense of a real, beating heart in the relationship between the two tortured sisters."

A student-performed version of the Tony Award nominee adapted from one of the most beloved animated musicals of all time, Disney's The Little Mermaid Jr. enjoys an August 2 and 3 run at Maquoketa's Ohnward Fine Arts Center, the theatrical rendition of 1989's Oscar-winning film lauded by Broadway World as "a family-friendly stage musical with great visual punch."

Given that it's the latest feature by Ari Aster, you can bet that the writer/director's Eddington, as it nears its conclusion, will boast startling violence and at least one memorable death. Yet none of the imagery in the film's climactic scenes quite compares to the gasp-inducing shock presented some 10 minutes in, when a disheveled, babbling, obviously unhealthy vagrant tumbles onto Joaquin Phoenix and coughs – hacks – directly on his face.

The Taxpayers’ Federation of Illinois and the Regional Transportation Authority agree that a change to Illinois’ sales-tax law will net the RTA an additional $150 million this year and another $225 million next year. That money will drastically reduce the impact of the looming $770 million “fiscal cliff,” which begins in January.

True to Steve Martin’s storytelling sensibility, Bright Star is full of heart, laced with tragedy, and balanced by moments of laugh-out-loud humor. Oh, and there’s plenty of banjo.

Kitty: Full disclosure: We once dressed as Mary Poppins and Bert for Halloween. We’re very serious about our Poppins lore.

Mischa: But we promise to be absolutely objective in our reactions to this show.

Through January 4, guests of Davenport's German American Heritage Center are invited to explore themes of nostalgia, community, nature, and perspective in the wonderful collection The Prints of David & Sarojini Johnson.

Hailed by Voyage Memphis Magazine as "a powerhouse, dynamite, and energetic soul singer," chanteuse Dottie Kelly and her Rock the House Band perform a special outdoor concert hosted by the Mississippi Valley Blues Society, their July 27 engagement in Davenport's MLK Park treating audiences to a talent who inspired GigSalad to rave, "Her soulful voice and natural stage presence are a force to be reckoned with."

An eagerly awaited weekend of live performances returning to the Quad Cities for the 54th time, the Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Jazz Festival will, from July 31 through August 2, again enjoy residency at the Rhythm City Casino Resort Event Center. For 2025, the Davenport venue will host performances by eight local and national jazz acts – the Graystone Monarchs, the Chicago Cellar Boys, Mike Davis’ New Wonders, the Bix Youth Band, El Dorado Jazz Band, Jazz-O-Maniacs, the Mortonia Seven, and Miss Jubilee – while additional area venues host Bix-related concert events of their own.

Delivering what the New York Times called “elegant, often deadpan songs that tend toward manly understatement,” the chart-topping, multi-platinum-selling country superstar Gary Allan brings his national tour to Davenport's Rhythm City Casino Resort Event Center on July 26, each of his 32 singles having landed on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, with 13 of them also crossing over to the Billboard Hot 100.

A chart-topping country-music superstar whose four studio albums have all been top-10 Billboard smashes, Kane Brown headlines the first grandstand concert of this year's Mississippi Valley Fair, the July 29 event boasting the talents of the 31-year-old singer/songwriter who was the first artist to have simultaneous number-one hits on all five main Billboard country charts.

His repertoire boasting such top-five Billboard smashes as "Whiskey on You," "World on Fire," "Bulletproof," and "Fix What You Didn't Break," multi-platinum-selling country rockers Nate Smith headlines the July 30 grandstand concert at this year's Mississippi Valley Fair, his 2024 album California Gold lauded by Entertainment Focus as "a bold blend of country storytelling and bombastic '90s rock influences" that delivers "both nostalgic and fresh sounds across its 16 tracks."

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