If you're a film fan and merely looked at domestic box-office revenue, it would be easy to get depressed about the state of movies – or, maybe more accurately, the state of current moviegoing habits.

2024 was a tumultuous year for the country (myself included), and it’s a gift to be able to look back at arts and culture highlights I was able to witness, while looking forward to some 2025 events that are sure to be on my calendar.

Revered for such Billboard smashes as Radioactive, Love Story, and the platinum-selling single “Till It's Gone,” hip-hop, rap, and Southern-rock artist Yelawolf headlines a January 10 concert event at Davenport's Capitol Theatre, the musician's discography including eight studio albums, five collaborative albums, six mixtapes, nine EPs, 50 singles, and 82 music videos over less than two decades.

Touring in support of their 2024 release Her Way Out and praised by Glide magazine for songs that "radiate a sense of optimism and purpose ever so welcome in these fragmented times," the alternative rockers of Big Head Todd & the Monsters return to Davenport's Capitol Theatre on January 14, the platinum-selling Billboard artists also hailed by the Los Angeles Times for their "great songs that incorporate blues, folk, rock, and country."

Its hard-rocking ensemble featuring guitarist/vocalist Zakk Wylde (Black Label Society, Ozzy Osbourne), bassist Blasko (Ozzy Osbourne, Rob Zombie), and drummer Joey Castillo (Danzig, Queens of the Stone Age), the popular touring act Zakk Sabbath: King of the Monstours headlines a January 10 engagement at East Moline venue The Rust Belt, performing from a repertoire that includes such Billboard top-1o smashes as Master of Reality, Sabotage, and the chart-topping Paranoid.

Performing delightful selections for families in the morning and a classical repertoire in the evening, three Quad City Symphony Orchestra talents and narrator Misty Dais present two versions of Up Close with Emily, Bruno, & Kit on January 11, the respective concerts at Rock Island's MILK Center and Davenport's Figge Art Museum treating patrons to the skills of violinist Emily Nash, viola player Bruno Vaz de Silvis, and bassist Kit Polen.

His 2023 release Faded Feathers lauded by Americana UK as "his strongest album so far," the recording also named the Best Album of the Year by FavoriteSightsAndSounds.com, folk-pop musician Austin Plaine headlines a January 16 engagement at the Raccoon Motel, the artist joined in his Davenport concert by gifted fellow singer/songwriter Will Overman.

On display through April 6 at Davenport's German American Heritage Center, the sensitive and touching exhibit With You I Am Myself / Mit Dir bin ich ich finds Israeli artist and photographer Oranit Ben Zimra portraying 12 pairs of friends from Norderstedt, Germany, in words and pictures, the collection forming a beautiful mosaic of German-Israeli friendships.

To download a PDF of the puzzle, click here.

Whatever you think of director James Mangold's new musical bio-pic, you can't accuse it of false advertising.

Lauded by the New York Times as "gorgeous" and "hypnotic," and by the Hollywood Reporter as "utterly fabulous," the still-running New York smash Hadestown brings its national tour to Davenport's Adler Theatre on January 15, this eagerly awaited Broadway at the Adler presentation the winner of eight 2019 Tony Awards including Best Musical, Best Direction, and, for composer Anaïs Mitchell, Best Original Score.

Hailed by DC Theatre Arts as a "bright, shiny, comic entertainment" that's "full of energy and stamina," the hilarious whodunit Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery makes its area debut at Rock Island's Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse from January 15 through March 8, with five actors playing more than 40 characters in this cheeky Arthur Conan Doyle adaptation.

Their eponymous 2024 release hailed by SJSReview.com as a "very, very good" album that "could very well soundtrack a top-down, summer fun buddy movie or rom-com worth experiencing in the theater," the indie-pop and folk-rock duo of Bad Bad Hats returns to Davenport's Raccoon Motel on January 4, the artist's latest also praised by AllMusic.com as "so charming it takes a while to be aware of the strength of the craft. But let this music sink in and you'll have this on repeat all day long."

Their shows consisting of hits and deep cuts sure to have fans leaping out of their seats and singing along, the tribute musicians of Steely Dane headline a January 4 concert event at the Coralville Center for the Performing Arts, the group playing in the same configuration as the Steely Dan touring band, and their sets including a four-piece horn section, two guitars, two keyboards, and female background singers.

Court-ing fans in their eagerly anticipated return to Moline, the electrifying athletes of the Harlem Globetrotters bring their “2025 World Tour" to the Vibrant Arena at the MARK on January 8, thrilling crowds with phenomenal basketball action, comic hijinks, ankle-breaking moves, jaw-dropping swag, and rim-rattling dunks in a fully-modernized amphitheater production.

Lauded by the New York Times as "invigoratingly funny," touring comedian Myq Kaplan brings his acclaimed standup act to Davenport's Renwick Mansion on January 5, his local appearance the latest act in the venue's popular Tomfoolery on Tremont series hosted by beloved comic Chris Schlichting.

Its subject a multifaceted talent who has been recognized 13 times with the James Beard Foundation Award for excellence in cuisine, culinary writing, and culinary education in the United States, the virtual Illinois Libraries Present program Chicago Pizza: Past, Present, & Future with Steve Dolinsky will be hosted by the Rock Island and Silvis Public Libraries on January 9, Dolinsky a reporter for NBC 5 Chicago, where his “Food Guy” segments air weekly.

To download a PDF of the puzzle, click here.

We’re less than nine months from when candidates can begin circulating petitions for the 2026 election, so we’re rapidly approaching the time when major figures will need to decide whether to run or not. Because of that, a lot of people are polling.

If the Internet is to be believed – and when isn't it? – the traditional gift for a ninth anniversary is pottery. But while our theatre-reviewing team and yours truly briefly considered getting y'all lovely handcrafted vases or replicas of the ashtray I made in elementary school (ah, more innocent times …), we instead decided to treat you to sincere, exultant, pithy words of praise in announcing recipients of the Ninth-Annual Reader Tony Awards!

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