Annual explosions of fun followed by literal explosions in the air will be taking place in Davenport's LeClaire Park, Rock Island's Schwiebert Riverfront Park, and Davenport's baseball stadium Modern Woodmen Park when the Quad Cities hosts its Fourth of July celebration Red, White, & Boom!, the bi-state July 3 event delivering a spectacular fireworks display over the Mississippi River as well as live music, food and beverage vendors, special presentations, family programming, and more.
On July 4, our country's 249th birthday will be celebrated in annual style on Spruce Hills Drive (and other locales) in the 2025 Bettendorf Fourth of July Festival, a day and evening jam-packed with live music, children's activities, food and craft vendors, and more.
Designed to bring some serious swing into the summer, the John Deere Classic returns to Silvis' TPC at Deere Run from July 2 through 6, with this professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour, in its 54th year, enjoying coverage on the Golf Channel and CBS Sports, and featuring youth activities, clinics, and a climactic awards presentation.
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 second month-plus of the annual Channel Cat Talks and Riverine Walks: weekly programs that, from July 8 through August 2, will address such topics as the music of local jazz legend Bix Beiderbecke, the Hauberg Estate, the Hennepin Canal, and even the Channel Cat series itself.
Making its eagerly awaited July 10 through 12 return, the Walcott Truckers Jamboree at the Iowa 80 Truck Stop will, in its 45th year, showcase more than 175 exhibits, displays, games, cookouts, fireworks, local and national country and rock musicians, and even a beauty contest for trucks in a celebration of America's big rigs and those who drive them.
“I ran for governor in 2018 to change our story,” Governor JB Pritzker told a Chicago crowd on Thursday as he announced his bid for a third term. “I ran for governor in 2022 to keep telling our story. And I am running for governor in 2026 to protect our story.”
I asked Illinois House Speaker Chris Welch last week about the failure to pass an omnibus energy bill (the Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act) during the just-ended spring legislative session.
As I write this, multiple news outlets have reported that the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency is preparing to deploy its Special Response Teams to five major U.S. cities, including Chicago, in the very near future. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s chief of staff Cristina Pacione-Zayas told reporters last week: “There will be tactical teams, mini-tanks, other tools they use in which they plan to do raids, as we saw in Los Angeles.”
I reached out last week to several members of the “19” – the Democratic House members who refused to vote to re-elect House Speaker Michael Madigan in 2021, thereby forcing him into retirement. I asked for their reaction to Madigan’s 90-month federal prison sentence handed down a few days earlier. Because it was a holiday (Father’s Day), I didn’t expect to hear much back.
The watchers are no longer being watched by the people. At least in Scott County, Iowa, that is.
Nominated for five 2011 Tony Awards including Best Musical, and based on the beloved comedy starring Whoopi Goldberg, the tuneful and riotous Sister Act opens the Countryside Community Theatre summer season, the show's July 5 through 13 run at Eldridge's North Scott High School Fine Arts Auditorium demonstrating why the Associated Press deemed it “frothy, giggly, and yet often poignant,” as well as “a musical that hits all the right spots, achieving something close to Broadway grace.”
Given that the new Pope hails from Chicago, it’s likely you’ve heard an uptick of talk of that town in the last week or so. But let me tell you: There’s another Chicago you ought to be talking about, because the current production running at the Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse, directed and choreographed by Ashley Becher, is a visual spectacular and features, I wager, some of the best dancing I’ve ever seen on that stage.
If it’s got over-ze-top German accents, banging rock music, and more questionable wigs than you can shake a Spirit Halloween store at, it must be Rock of Ages, now playing at the Timber Lake Playhouse. Directed with aplomb by James Beaudry, Timber Lake’s latest takes us back to a yester-decade when rock music was the culture and not something confined to specific frequencies of FM radio.
I now know how the Grinch felt when his heart grew three sizes, because I surprisingly, actually, thoroughly enjoyed the Clinton Area Showboat Theatre's and director/choreographer Jenna Schoppe’s production of Joseph & the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Which will be a shock to anyone who knows me, because they also know how much I hate(d) Joseph. But Clinton’s latest has made me a believer.
Boasting warmth, humor, magic, and unforgettable songs including "A Spoonful of Sugar," "Chim Chim Cher-ee," "Let's Go Fly a Kite," "Step in Time," and "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious," an Oscar-winning family classic becomes a Tony-winning stage spectacular in the theatrical version of Mary Poppins, which will enjoy its long-awaited debut presentation at Rock Island's Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse July 9 through September 6.
Delivering a sure-to-be-unforgettable night of timeless rock hits, the touring artists of Styx and the Kevin Cronin Band – the latter outfit fronted by REO Speedwagon's former lead vocalist – co-headline a July concert event at Moline's Vibrant Arena at the MARK, with, in addition to other hits, the artists performing two albums in their entirety: Styx's The Grand Illusion, and REO Speedwagon's Hi Infidelity.
Praised by American Blues Scene for delivering "a full-throttle dose of rhythm & blues" with "introspection and grace," the touring artists of Jackson & the Janks headline a 4th of July concert at Davenport's Raccoon Motel, Holler Country Music adding, "With their New Orleans-inspired take on the protogenic power of rhythm & blues, the band uses early rock & roll as a loose template and turns it on its head."
With his June recording Broken Branches hailed by Cryptic Rock as "phenomenal from top to bottom," singing/songwriting superstar and Grand Ole Opry member Dierks Bentley performs a July 5 engagement in the 2025 John Deere Classic's "Concerts on the Course" series, the artist's studio albums accounting for 27 singles on Billboard's Hot Country Songs and Country Airplay charts, 18 of which reached number one.
With the group's most recent album Home in the Desert hailed by the Chicago Reader for its "tranquil warmth" that "calms and comforts like a hearty stew on a winter evening," the touring shoegaze musicians of Precocious Neophyte headline a July 5 concert at Davenport's Raccoon Motel, the Chicago ensemble's 2024 EP also praised by PM Press Blog as a recording that "hits like a dream pop avalanche."
Touring in support of his 2024 album Nite Owls, a recording that Tinnitist said "delivers the signature sounds of vintage garage-rock while also seamlessly bridging the sounds of David Bowie and Alan Vega, rockabilly and R&B singer/songwriter JD McPherson headlines a July 5 concert at Maquoketa's Codfish Hollow Barn, Metacritic adding that "Nite Owls is McPherson's most fully realized front-to-back example of his talent yet."
Why F1: The Movie debuted on June 27 rather than over Father's Day weekend is frankly baffling, given that I can't remember the last time a film was so objectively, overwhelmingly, a Dad Movie
Going to the cineplex or staying in and streaming this weekend? Every Thursday morning at 8:15 a.m. you can listen to Mike Schulz dish on recent movie releases & talk smack about Hollywood celebs on Planet 93.9 FM with the fabulous Dave & Darren in the Morning team of Dave Levora and Darren Pitra. The morning crew previews upcoming releases, too.
Or you can check the Reader Web site and listen to their latest conversation by the warm glow of your electronic device. Never miss a pithy comment from these three scintillating pundits again.
Thursday, June 26: Discussion of Elio, 28 Years Later , and Bride Hard; previews of F1: The Movie and M3GAN 2.0; and some early chat about Andor and the new season of The Bear -- though as long as they come with air-conditioning, any indoor entertainments seem worthwhile these days.
With 28 Years Later, we appear to be exiting the realm of realism and entering the land of the mythic, and I'm not sure that, inspiration-wise, trading George A, Romero for J.R.R. Tolkien is any kind of upgrade.
No one can singlehandedly revive the fading genre of the swoony big-screen romance. Yet with only two features under her belt to date, Celine Song is certainly giving it a good shot.
A variety of artistic mediums will be showcased at the Quad City Arts International Airport Gallery from July 3 through August 27 in the engrossing exhibition Bada Maloney & Jagitsch, a fascinating collection of charcoal drawings and sculpture by Deana Bada Maloney and white-pencil drawings by Matt Jagitsch.
Honoring 25 years of creativity, mentorship, and youth expression through Quad City Arts' Metro Arts Youth Apprenticeship Program, the 2025 Metro Arts Showcase will be held at Davenport's Figge Art Museum on July 15, the night celebrating the organization that has empowered young creatives through approximately 113 community-based projects including murals, mosaics, films, and more.
With the exhibition made possible through generous funding from Art Bridges Foundation, and with KLJB FOX 18 serving as media sponsor, the fascinating collaborative exhibit CHAIN RE·AC·TION will be celebrated at Davenport's Figge Art Museum on July 17, with community partners, mural artists. and the public joining together in conjunction with the art experience's continuous cycle of inspiration, reflection, and response.
Bringing together the compelling works of mother and daughter artists Sandra Louise Dyas and Jamie Elizabeth Hudrlik, the arresting exhibition Double Vision will be on display at Dubuque's Voices Studios through July 26, this showcase of talent a powerful visual dialogue that spans generations, mediums, and personal histories.
A celebration of work completed by graduating seniors in the Department of Digital Art and Design, the DART '25 Senior Thesis Show will be on display at the University of Dubuque's Bisignano Art Gallery through August 1, the exhibit boasting a variety of pieces in illustration, animation, digital painting, motion graphics, and digital artwork, and displaying the wide range of skills students cultivated during their time at UD.
You'll get both the current official narrative challenge and What's Happenin' in the Quad Cities.
(Did you know we publish a new Real Astrology and RCR Crossword every week?)
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