Having entered their fifth decade of professional performance, the acclaimed punk rockers of The Queers headline a December 17 concert in conjunction with the closing weekend of beloved Rock Island venue RIBCO (the Rock Island Brewing Company), the group currently boasting a repertoire that includes 13 studio albums, nine live albums, four compilation albums, and 22 EPs.

With their most recent album Exit Strategies released this past October, the nationally known, Quad Cities-based power-pop artists of Einstein's Sister headline a December 16 concert in conjunction with the closing weekend of longtime-favorite Rock Island venue RIBCO (the Rock Island Brewing Company), the outfit's previous singles “Begin Again / Standing Still” mastered by Abbey Road Studios' Miles Showell, who also cut vinyl for Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones, Bob Marley, Queen, The Police, and The Beatles.

One of the most significant forces in gospel, pop, and Christian rock returns to the Adler Theatre on December 18 when three-time Grammy Award winner Michael W. Smith brings his "Christmas Live in Concert" tour to Davenport, sharing the talents that have made the artist an international sensation and recipient of an incredible 45 Dove Awards.

Delivering two hours of classic rock alongside a selection of skits and one liners from live-show bootlegs between 1978 and 1984, the touring tribute musicians of Jump: America's Van Halen Experience headline a December 16 concert event at East Moline venue The Rust Belt, the bands lineup composed of a group of youngsters all born in the mid- to late 90s and early 2000s.

Boasting musical director Manuel Lopez III on drums, Ronald Wilson on bass, and Corey Kendrick on piano, the Polyrhythms Third Sunday Jazz Series wraps up its 2023 schedule with a December 17 performance at Davenport's Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Quad Cities, with the Polyrhythms Trio + 2 delivering festive holiday cheer with the three band members playing alongside special guests Manny Lopez and James Culver.

An annually beloved holiday-music tradition returns to the area as the professional vocal ensemble the Nova Singers presents its latest pair of A Nova Christmas concerts, with exciting and moving arrangements of favorite carols, traditional melodies, glorious ballads, and fascinating songs from around the world performed December 15 at Davenport's St. Paul Lutheran Church and December 16 at Galesburg's First Lutheran Church.

Following the program's success in more than 100 cities worldwide, including in Moline this October and November, the live, multi-sensory musical experience known as the Candlelight Concerts series enjoys its third Quad Cities engagement at Moline's Spotlight Theatre, with the eagerly awaited December 15 event Candlelight: Holiday Special Featuring The Nutcracker & More treating guests to traditional seasonal tunes and works by some of history's most noted composers, among them Claude Debussy, Antonjo Vivaldi, and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.

In the 2020s, the “doom” or “sludge” tag is increasingly self-applied, as an ethos as well as an aesthetic, by bands who create oppressive, cathartic music intended as a reflection of our dismal times. Such are the three bands – Body Void, SERAC, and Everlasting Light – playing Davenport's Raccoon Motel (315 East Second Street) on Friday, December 8.

An unforgettable holiday experience led by former Mannheim Steamroller keyboardist John Blasucci, the immersive touring event Luminare Christmas lands at Davenport's Rhythm City Casino Resort Event Center on December 10, bringing to audiences a singular fusion of reimagined holiday classics, high-energy symphonic rock, and cinematic magic.

On December 9 and 10, music fans are invited to ring in the holiday season with members of the Quad City Symphony Orchestra's brass and percussion sections in the yuletide delight Holiday Brass, an uplifting repertoire of classical and seasonal favorites being performed at Rock Island's Second Baptist Church and Davenport's St. Paul Lutheran Church.

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