Thursday, August 22, through Sunday, August 25
Downtown Davenport IA
Headlined by an Adler Theatre engagement with Keller Williams' Grateful Grass and Max Weinberg's Jukebox on August 22, this year's Alternating Currents festival – boasting more than 100 events and performances at 16 Quad Cities venues – will feature concert sets with more than three dozen bands and solo performers from Thursday through Sunday, their music encompassing every genre from rock to folk to jazz to country.
Keller Williams is one of the best-known names in bluegrass music, and in his latest project Keller Williams’ Grateful Grass, he offers loose interpretations of Grateful Dead songs done in a bluegrass style. The band demonstrates Williams' love of psychedelic improvisational bluegrass music as well as Grateful Dead classics, and as the artist himself says, “Playing this music this way is such a blast that it probably should be illegal.” And joining Williams on August 22 is Max Weinberg, the 45-year drummer for Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band who also spent 17 years performing on Conan O’Brien's nightly talk show. television show. In Max Weinberg's Jukebox, the musicians play everything from The Beatles to Bruce to Steppenwolf to the Stones, with the jukebox twist being that the audience picks the songs in real time, calls them out, and Weinberg and company plays them. A truly interactive experience, Weinberg invites the audience to create the set list from a video menu of over 200 songs.
Preceding Thursday's 8 p.m. Adler concert with Keller Williams' Grateful Grass and Max Weinberg's Jukebox is a 7:45 p.m. opener with soul singer Kat Wright, whose style has been described as “a young Bonnie Raitt meets Amy Winehouse,” Wright will also, that Thursday, play a special 11:30 p.m. concert at Davenport's River Music Experience, and in addition to the Adler, more than a dozen other Davenport venues will be hosting concert sets during the three days of Alternating Currents:
Bix Bistro (200 East Third Street, Davenport): The Josh Duffee Jazz Quartet (August 25, 9 a.m.)
The Current (215 North Main Street): Rebecca Casad & Alan Morrison (August 23, 5:30 p.m.); Doug Brundies (August 23, 8 p.m.); Bret & Al (August 24, 1:30 p.m.); Mo Carter (August 24, 5 p.m.)
Exit Realty Garage (221 East Second Street): Pollinators (August 23, 8:30 p.m.); Radkey (August 23, 11 p.m.); Rude Punch (August 24, 7 p.m.)
Freight House Farmer's Market (421 West River Drive): The Locust Street Boys (August 24, 10 a.m.); Karl Beatty (August 25, 11 a.m.)
Front Street Brewery (208 East River Drive): Dan Hubbard (August 23, 6 p.m.); Avey/Grouws Band (August 23, 8 p.m.); Jenny Lynn Stacy & the Dirty Roosters (August 24, 1:30 p.m.); Claire & the Bears (August 24, 6 p.m.); Sam Day (August 25, 11 a.m.)
Front Street Taproom (421 West River Drive): Pat Willis (August 24, 10 a.m.)
Great River Brewery (332 East Second Street): Bret & Al (August 23, 4 p.m.); Brett Newski & the No Tomorrow (August 23, 10 p.m.); Claire & the Bears (August 24, noon); Seafarer (August 24, 7:30 p.m.); Rare Element (August 24, 10 p.m.)
Kilkenny's Pub (300 West Third Street): Avey/Grouws Band (August 23, 5:30 p.m.); Rebecca Casad & Alan Morrison (August 23, 8 p.m.); Lauren Anderson (August 24, 1:30 p.m.)
Mac's Tavern (316 West Third Street): The Other Brothers (August 22, 11:30 p.m.); Brett Newski & the No Tomorrow (August 23, 6:30 p.m.); The Other Brothers (August 23, midnight); The Pines (August 24, noon); Rare Element (August 24, 3 p.m.); Lauren Anderson (August 24, 6 p.m.); King of the Tramps (August 24, midnight)
River Music Experience (129 Main Street): Ben Miller Band (August 23, 5:30 p.m.); Calliope Musicals (August 23, 10 p.m.); Mother Nature (August 24, 3 p.m.); G. Love & Special Sauce (August 24, 9 p.m.)
RiverCenter (136 East Third Street): Peace, Love, & the Joy of Music: Ellis Kell's Birthday Bash (August 23, 4 – 8 p.m., August 24, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.); Mo Carter (August 24, 11:30 a.m.); Doug Brundies (August 24, 1:30 p.m.)
Ruby's (429 East Third Street): The Other Brothers (August 22, 11:30 p.m.); Dan Hubbard (August 23, 9 p.m.); Seafarer (August 24, noon); King of the Tramps (August 24, 4 p.m.); The Pines (August 24, 6 p.m.); Jenny Lynn Stacy & the Dirty Roosters (August 24, 9 p.m.)
Triple Crown Whiskey Bar & Raccoon Motel (303 East Third Street): Jacob Miller (August 23, 7 p.m.); Tim Boobie (August 23, 8 p.m.); Tōth (August 23, 11 p.m.); Land of Blood & Sunshine (August 24, 5 p.m.); Stay Outside (August 24, 6 p.m.); Pressure Kids (August 24, 7 p.m.); Mike Mains & the Branches (August 24, 8 p.m.)
For more information on concert events at this year's Alternating Currents festival, visit AlternatingCurrentsQC.com/music.
