Local blues band
1. Ellis Kell Band
2. Electric Leroy
3. Shane Johnson
Local country band
1. Dani Lynn Howe Band
2. Jim the Mule
3. A Fifth of Country
Local jazz band
1. Josh Duffee & His Orchestra
1. The Tritones Jazz Ensemble
3. Craig Bentley Jazz Trio
Local rock band
1. Crossroads
2. Wicked Liz & the Bellyswirls
3. The Parish Festival
Local metal/alternative band
1. Katalina
2. Spatterdash
3. The Parish Festival
3. The Post Mortems
Reader voters named Katalina the area's "best metal/alternative band." So which does Katalina consider itself - metal or alternative? "Well," says lead singer Terry Johnson with a chuckle, "we usually call it hard rock. A lot of people say that we're heavy enough that we would be metal, except that I sing instead of scream." So the band lets its fans do the screaming. After forming in 2004, Katalina - composed of Johnson, guitarists Billy Gardner and Josh Park, bassist Shannon Ford, and drummer Bryan West - now performs, according to Johnson, "30-something" gigs a year (they'll appear next at the Redstone Room on February 17), and seems to amass new admirers at each one. "We get a lot of familiar faces at shows," Johnson says, "but we also get a lot of new faces. It's a cool mix of people." While none of the band's members is a stranger to what he calls "super-heavy" rock (Ford, for instance, used to play in Civilized Anarchy), Johnson admits that he, for one, is content with the - ahem - alternative. "The thing I like about the people who come to see us is that they're really enthusiastic and they're really into the music, but they're not into, like, smashing each other's skulls in. We get along with all those [heavy-metal] fans and we don't have a problem with any of them," he adds, "but sometimes it gets a little too intense for us. We're not 15 anymore, you know?" - Mike Schulz
Local folk/acoustic performer
1. The Parish Festival
2. Quiet Bears
3. Fry Daddies
New local band
1. The Parish Festival
2. Patio
3. Closer Than Now
Place to dance
1. RIBCO
2. Kai's
3. Carriage Haus
Sports bar
1. Rookies
2. Pluckers
3. Sports Fans
Dive bar
1. The Drunken Monkey
2. Steve's Old-Time Tap
3. Bent River Brewing Company
3. Bleyart's Tap
The Drunken Monkey, located at 1838 Rockingham Road in Davenport, was named the Reader's "best dive bar" for 2006. So whaddaya wanna know? Is there graffiti on the walls? Dirt on the floor? Pee on the toilet seats? No, no, and - if I'm to believe my friend who used the "clean, functional, and pretty" ladies' room - no. The truth is, The Drunken Monkey doesn't seem like a stereotypical dive at all; owner Rob Egger calls his cozy, well-lit establishment "just a friendly little neighborhood bar," but it's even more appealing, and unique, than that description would suggest. Named after both a famed karate move and the fact that, as Egger says, "My mom always called me a drunken monkey," the DM is cleverly decorated with copies of vintage, simian-themed advertisements and posters, features an open-mic night every Thursday, and boasts terrific drink specials; the Banana Bomb (like a Jäger Bomb with a banana kick) is to-die-for delicious, and you can even get a pint of imported ale for $2.50. Yet the kicker is the beer dispenser that ale comes from, what Egger calls a "one of a kind" tapper built specifically for the Drunken Monkey ... out of a Harley-Davidson motor. So, considering the venue's many charms, does Egger bristle when it's referred to as a "dive bar"? He shrugs and says, "It is a dive bar." Fair enough. And just the sort of place I'm happy to dive into. - Mike Schulz
Happy hour
1. Boozies Bar & Grill
2. Putter's Pub & Grill
3. Hooters
Martini
1. Copia
2. Governor's
3. Crave
Stiffest cocktails
1. Copia
2. Governor's
3. Boozies Bar & Grill
Bartender
1. Jon Horvath (RIBCO)
2. Dave Phillips (Copia)
3. Russ Catton (Carlos O'Kellys)
3. Neil Vickers (Bent River)
3. Corey Chaffee (QC Zone)
Gay-lesbian hangout
1. Club Fusion
2. 811 Lockdown
3. Club Liquid
Online, I found several Yahoo! raves for Davenport's Club Fusion - named 2006's "best gay/lesbian hangout" - and the one I liked most began by calling the club "the gay version of Cheers." I guess that'd make me Norm. When a friend and I arrived on a recent Tuesday, we were welcomed with such a warm, exuberant greeting that we felt as though we were reuniting with long-lost friends. Granted, there were only three people in the bar at the time - our 9 p.m. arrival, it turned out, beat the usual rush by about two hours. (Club Fusion's occupancy is around 250 people, which, apparently, it hosts frequently.) But Austin, Brea, and Roger appeared delighted to see us and were all too happy to rave about the venue and clientele, and Brea even offered a tour, during which my friend and I were knocked out by Club Fusion's size (two floors, three bars, a showroom), the beauty of the outdoor deck ("the best spot to watch July Fourth," Brea said), and the numerous niceties (two pool tables, two dartboards, three flavors of frozen daiquiris, a go-go cage for the adventurous, six TVs in the main-floor bar for the less adventurous ... ). We're definitely returning, which would make us just two among many; that Yahoo! rave, which said to expect fun at Club Fusion no matter your orientation, went on to state, "Once you become part of it, you're sucked in forever." Norm would completely relate. - Mike Schulz
Open-mic night
1. Mojo's Coffee House
2. Theo's Java Club
3. Bent River Brewing Company
Neighborhood pub
1. Bent River Brewing Company
2. Pat McGuire's Irish American Grill
3. Kelly's Irish Pub & Eatery
