Joan Jett, Belgian Fest, Chevelle, Alan Parsons, And More In This Week’s FUN10

A master of progressive rock, the Alan Parsons Live Project, will perform at the Adler Theatre in Davenport on Tuesday, Sept. 21, 2021 at 7:30 p.m. Reserved seat tickets for the event (starting at $30) are on sale in person at the Adler Theatre Box

The Alan Parsons Live Project will come to the Adler on Sept. 21, 2021.

Office (136 E. 3rd St.) and online at Ticketmaster.com.

Alan Parsons, now 72, began his storied career as an assistant engineer at the famed Abbey Road Studios working on projects such as The Beatles’ “Abbey Road” and “Let It Be,” and quickly became one of the most sought-after names in the recording industry following his engineering work on Pink Floyd’s “The Dark Side of the Moon,” according to a tour release.

Parsons also was sound engineer and associate producer for Steve Wilson’s album “The Raven that Refused to Sing (And Other Stories).” Released Feb. 25, 2013, it received critical acclaim and reached #3 on the German album charts. After earning accolades for his work behind the glass, Parsons formed The Alan Parsons Project, a multi-platinum selling progressive rock act featuring Parsons, his collaborator Eric Woolfson and a rotating cast of studio musicians.

The Alan Parsons Project garnered commercial and critical acclaim for such certified Billboard Top 40 hit singles as “Eye in the Sky,” “Time” and “Don’t Answer Me among other successes.

Parsons, 72, was a sound engineer on The Beatles’ “Abbey Road,” “Let It Be” and Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon.”

Parsons – who has also worked with Wings’ “Wild Life,” The Hollies’ “Hollies,” and Al Stewart’s “Year Of The Cat” – has earned 13 Grammy Award nominations for engineering and production, including a Grammy win for Best Surround Sound Album for a re-issue of 1982’s “Eye In The Sky.”

2013 marked the 40th anniversary of Parsons engineering the acclaimed Pink Floyd album, “The Dark Side Of The Moon,” which continuously placed in the Top 100 Billboard Charts from 1973 to 1988 with an estimated 50 million copies sold. Parsons was directly responsible for some of the most notable sonic aspects of the album as well as the recruitment of singer Clare Torry on “Great Gig In The Sky.”

The record earned his first Grammy Award nomination for Best Engineered Album.

With his video series and book, “The Art & Science of Sound Recording,” Parsons has been leading the way regarding audio technology education, blending tech with art for his craft as a recording engineer and producer-performer, the tour release said.

He released a new studio album, “The Secret,” in April of 2019. The album features guest appearances from Jason Mraz, Lou Gramm of Foreigner, and Steve Hackett.

Doors for the Adler show open at 6:30 p.m. Reserved seat tickets (starting at $30) will go on sale at 10 a.m. this Friday, May 14 at the Adler Theatre Box Office and online at Ticketmaster.com. All tickets are subject to facility and ticketing surcharges.

For more information, visit https://alanparsons.com/.

Putnam Museum Explores Nature’s Blueprints

In an age of complex environmental challenges, why not look to the ingenuity of nature for solutions? The forms, patterns, and processes found in the natural world—refined by 3.8 billion years of evolution—can inspire our design of everything from clothing to skyscrapers.

This approach to innovation, called biomimicry, is becoming increasingly popular. Nature’s Blueprints: Biomimicry in Art and Design is running at the Putnam Museum and Science Center (1717 W. 12^th St., Davenport), a Smithsonian affiliate.

“The Putnam is the first stop on this exhibit’s national tour and we’re honored to be selected for its premiere,” Rachael Mullins, CEO/president of the Putnam, said in a museum release. “Our ability to host this exhibit—our first traveling show since before the pandemic—speaks to the Putnam’s resiliency and the many ways that the Quad-City community has supported cultural institutions during this difficult period in history. We are so grateful to our community and can’t wait to show a bit of our appreciation through this wonderful new exhibit.”

Nature’s Blueprints: Biomimicry in Art and Design brings together design and environmental science using artifacts and photography, and interactive learning stations. The traveling exhibit will be enhanced with special items from the Putnam’s own treasured collection.

Don’t ‘Waste’ Time, See This Art Exhibit!

Chicago artist Toby Zallman will have her solo exhibition, “Our Plastic Trash,” on display through Friday, Sept. 24 at the Western Illinois University Art Gallery.

Zallman is a Chicago artist whose art practice focuses on sculpture and drawing. In 2004, after becoming aware of how damaging our plastic and e-waste is to the environment, she changed her materials to both incorporate recycled/re-purposed materials in her sculpture, as well as a source of visual inspiration for both the sculptures and drawings. She has used computer detritus, plastic bags, plastic bottles and solid plastic trash to create unique art works that shed light on the environmental devastation cause by our culture of consumerism.

Zallman shows both locally and nationally. She was the recipient of several Illinois Arts Council grants, an Individual Artist Program Grant, City of Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE) and has had artist residencies at the MacDowell Colony, Yaddo and Ragdale.

Admission is open free to the public. Visitors are expected to be vaccinated and masks are required

For more information about the Gallery, visit wiu.edu/artgallery.

RME Rocks With Live At Five On Fridays

The River Music Experience, 2^nd and Main streets, Davenport, has brought back the free Live@Five on Fridays from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

The RME courtyard will host live music featuring a wide range of genres and styles.

This year’s schedule of bands is:

• Sept. 24: The Wontu Trees
  sponsored by Dahl Ford Davenport