Dawn & On Music Festival at Schwiebert Riverfront Park -- July 8.
Saturday, July 8, noon – midnight
Schwiebert Riverfront Park, 101 17th Street, Rock Island IL
One of the Quad Cities' most eagerly anticipated day-long festivals returns on July 8 in the eighth iteration of the Dawn & On Music Festival, with the area musicians of The Dawn hosting bluegrass, funk, roots, reggae, and plenty of rock in nine exhilarating concert sets – from nine much-admired local and regional acts – held in Rock Island's Schwiebert Riverfront Park.
Scheduled to participate in this year's Dawn & On Music Festival: The Big Wu, the Minnesota-based rock outfit composed of Al Oikari, Andy Miller, Chris Castino, Mark Joseph Grundhoefer, and Terry VanDeWalker; the Jon Stickley Trio, an ensemble led by the flat-pick guitarist, with the musicians rooted in the traditions of bluegrass, jazz, and folk-punk; Running Man, a recently formed rock outfit featuring past and present members of Mondo Drag, The Multiple Cat, Humans, Lord Green, Meth & Goats, and Tambourine; and Strange Neighbors, their Dawn & On Music Festival set a reunion for the rockers famed for albums including Vision, How to Human, Illuminasti, and Party of None.
Also featured in the 2023 Dawn & On Music Festival: the local favorites of the Avey Grouws Band, whose 2021 Billboard hit Tell Tale Heart was praised by Goldmine for its “adept arrangements, clear confidence, and a decidedly agile approach as far as the shifts in style"; The Scarlet Goodbye, an alternative/indie outfit boasting the creative combination of Daniel Murphy and Jeff Arundel; 22-year-old Davenport native CJ Parker, who was dubbed “a rising star” by MTV Music News; and Jason Carl & the Whole Damn Band, Quad Cities favorites whose musicians/vocalists include Steve Lowder on bass, Ben Lorentzen on violin, and guitar, Sarena Whitmer on keyboards and percussion, Jamie Hopkins on drums, and Jason Carl on guitar and harmonica.
And, of course, there will be a set with the hosts of the Dawn & On Music Festival. Composed of Sean Ryan on guitar, Jordan VanOpDorp on keyboards, Dan Olds on bass, Chris Cushman on drums, “Edub” Wilson on percussion, and Derek Fortin, Chrissy Strickland Boyer, and local blues favorite Alan Sweet joining the instrumentalists on vocals, the Western Illinois-based The Dawn has been performing cutting-edge improvisational rock throughout the Midwest for more than a dozen years. The critical and commercial success of the group's 2014 release Waiting on the Storm helped catapult the musicians to major festival experiences including Camp Euforia, Summer Camp, and the inaugural Phases of the Moon. The group also initiated the annually beloved Dawn & On Music Festival, which made its area debut at Len Brown's North Shore Inn in 2015, and after a pandemic-caused absence in 2020, came roaring back to life in 2021. Last year's festival, meanwhile, boasted such exciting and eclectic acts as Einstein's Sister, The Wontu Trees, Orangadang!, and Logan Springer & the Wonderfully Wild.
Tickets to the July 8 Dawn & On Music Festival are $18-20, and thanks to a 2023 sponsorship partnership with River Bend Food Bank, a portion of all ticket sales will be donated to the charity, with each festival patron receiving a free gift with the donation of a food item. A variety of food and beverage vendors will be on-site during the event that lasts from noon to midnight, and more information on the Schwiebert Riverfront Park music celebration is available by visiting Facebook.com/dawnandonmusicfestival.
