Continuing its presentation of virtual fall programming in the venue's annual PASS (Performing Arts Signature Series) program, Quad City Arts hosts an eagerly awaited November 5 concert event with the Japanese-drumming wizards of Ho Etsu Taiko, its collection of gifted musicians delivering a dazzling musical and cultural event recorded specifically for Quad City Arts patrons.

Continuing the group's season-long celebration of Ludwig van Beethoven's 250th birthday, the Quad City Symphony Orchestra teams up with WVIK Public Radio to present their first Signature Series event of 2020-21: Naha Plays Beethoven, an October 23 evening at Davenport's Figge Art Museum showcasing the talents of QCSO Concertmaster Naha Greenholtz and pianist Marian Lee.

With its guest artists, at least through January, performing solely online in the University of Dubuque's Live(stream) with Heritage Center series, acclaimed classical pianist Alpin Hong will demonstrate his gifts virtually on October 22, delivering an exclusive, live showcase performance and engaging in a question-and-answer session with Heritage Center staffers.

From a thematic perspective, stalwart free-form rock weirdos Dark Family from Moline seem to have taken the COVID-19 pandemic to heart, dropping two albums in mid-September that seem to float within a more morbid, albeit probably tongue-and-cheek, virus-type mood. The cover of We All Fall Down (you know, like, a “Ring Around the Rosie” plague reference) bears an unsettling collage of children crying, while the sister album Coronaroma carries the plague right there in the title.

In lieu of hosting in-person events for its fall presentations in the annual program PASS (Performing Arts Signature Series), Quad City Arts invites music lovers, on October 15, to a special virtual dinner party and concert with gifted steel-pan drummer John Patti, an at-home experience featuring a performance by the previous 2017 Visiting Artist recorded specifically for Quad City Arts patrons.

With the Orange Country Register calling the production “electrifying” and the Los Angeles Times labeling it “the most unique tribute show in decades,” the touring sensation Beatles vs. Stones: A Musical Showdown makes its long-awaited area debut on October 20, filling the Davenport venue with some of the most electrifying and beloved songs made famous by two of history's most iconic bands.

COVID-19 concerns, venue closings, and a near-total wipeout of legitimate live music has forced most bands to adjust their plans and change their approach in 2020. But even before the music world was thrown into disarray, Davenport's Giallows were already changing, arranging, and adjusting, seemingly at random but ultimately by design.

Moline-based indie rock crew Sunshrine whip up a heady cocktail of garage-rock tunes, psychedelic-rock excursions, and amorphous collage pieces, all frosted with a sheen of immaculate, Beatles-esque pop production for their self-titled LP Sunshrine.

Praised by Paste magazine for their “honest words and genetically perfected harmonies,” the sibling pop/folk musicians of Joseph celebrate their repertoire through a trio of livestreamed concert events co-sponsored by Iowa City's Englert Theatre, the October 8 through 10 All the Songs We've Ever Played series boasting one night each for each of the band's three albums to date.

With the musicians' 2020-21 season a celebration of composer Ludwig van Beethoven's 250th birthday, the Quad City Symphony Orchestra returns to live performance (with a virtual option) in the first Masterworks concert Beethoven Symphony No. 1, a tribute to that classic composition – and some additional works, as well – taking place at Davenport's Adler Theatre October 3 and 4.

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