The Dawn at the Tangled Wood -- September 23.
Saturday, September 23, 7 p.m.
The Tangled Wood, 3636 Tanglewood Road, Bettendorf IA
One of the Quad Cities' best-loved rock ensembles, and musicians responsible for one of the area's best-loved outdoor festivals, headlines a Summer 2023 Concert Series event at the Tangled Wood on the first day of fall, with the Bettendorf venue, on September 23, hosting an evening with the jam-band talents (and Dawn & On Music Festival originators) of The Dawn.
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 going on 15 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, and The Dawn's live-show experience has proven contagious, tightly gripped as it is in spacious jams, roaring guitar, and soulful harmonies.
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 began treating attendees to bluegrass, funk, roots, reggae, and rock via sets via nearly a dozen different musical acts. After the festival's pandemic-caused absence in 2020, Dawn & On came roaring back to life in Rock Island's Schwiebert Riverfront Park for 2021, and this year's fest found The Dawn performing alongside The Big Wu, the Jon Stickley Trio, Running Man, the Avey Grouws Band, Scarlet Goodbye, CJ Parker, Jason Carl & the Whole Damn Band, and Strange Neighbors in their official reunion show.
The Dawn performs their September 23 engagement as part of the Bettendorf venue's Summer 2023 Concert Series, and more information on the 7 p.m. event is available by calling (563)949-1000 and visiting TheTangledWood.com.
