Saturday in the Arts is a weekly feature covering a trend, subject, event or personality of local interest. It runs every Saturday morning on your site for the best entertainment and arts coverage in the area, QuadCities.com! Over 20 years ago, Josh Duffee had an inspired idea – form a big band and play the music made famous by the jazz drummer who launched the career of a world-famous Moline drummer. Then a 21-year-old Moline High graduate, Duffee intimately knew his way around a drum kit and worshipped both Gene Krupa (1909-1973) and Louie Bellson (1924-2009) – the latter a Moline alum who... Read More

MICHIGANDER will perform at 7 p.m. Oct. 12 at the Raccoon Motel in Davenport. To LISTEN to Michigander, click on the link. TICKETS to all Raccoon Motel shows can be purchased HERE!! www.theraccoonmotel.com  Read More

Rock Island High School wrestlers are still competing at the Illinois state level, and we’ve got updates on the results! Congratulations again to Tristan Willoughby, Amare Overton (4th place at 152), Andrew Marquez (4th place at 220), and Steven Marquez (1st Place at 195)! Daniel McGhee, Sammy Niyonkuru, Kyle Gant, and Manny Limon all won 1 and lost 2, Tyler Barbee went 2-2. They have been eliminated. Aoci Bernard made the semifinals, and lost a close 3-0 decision to last years State Champ. He now has a match to see if he goes for 3rd or 5th, and then the medal round. He’s guaranteed... Read More

Calling all Hawkeyes! Join our Zoom session with longtime Voice of the Hawkeyes radio play-by-play broadcaster Gary Dolphin on Saturday, June 26th at 11:00 am. Learn the origins of “Dolph” and hear anecdotes from his decades of calling Iowa sports. Registration is required to receive Zoom meeting details. Register here: http://bit.ly/dpl-insideiowasports Keep up with our virtual programming on our Virtual Branch Calendar of Events at https://davenportlibrary.libcal.com/calendar/virtual. This event is FREE and open to the public. For more information visit www.davenportlibrary.com or... Read More

The Raccoon isn’t afraid to rock… HARD. A special night of hard metal featuring EXHUMED w/CREEPING DEATH, BEWITCHER and ENFORCED (Presented by Wake Brewing and Ragged Records) will typhoon the Raccoon at 7 p.m. Nov. 13. LISTEN to Exhumed at that link. If you dare! TICKETS are on sale now, and tickets to this show and all Raccoon Motel shows can be purchased HERE!! Need more info? Hit up www.theraccoonmotel.com  Read More

At long last – live, improvised, inappropriate acoustic-rock comedy is back! June 26 at 7:30 pm join the comedic musical stylings of Bandwagon. Be part of the meteoric rise of a totally made-up rock band with Bandwagon, a comedy show where you name the band, you pick the songs, and we rock your socks. Featuring some of your favorite Quad Cities comedy talents, Bandwagon is always a new concert experience with an evening of improv comedy scenes, musical mischief, and audience interactivity in downtown Moline’s Black Box Theatre, 1623 5th Avenue. Masks must be worn by anyone not inoculated against... Read More

Quad City Arts on Tuesday announced the full schedule of events for Chalk Art Fest in Schwiebert Park, downtown Rock Island, June 26-27. SATURDAY, JUNE 26 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. — Chalk art competition  Live Music Lineup: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. — Live DJ Mark Manuel, Alt 104.5/Kiss FM 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. – Chrash 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. — The Textures 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. – Doug Brundies Big Acoustic Show SUNDAY, JUNE 27  10 a.m. to 5 p.m. – Chalk art competition  Live Music Lineup: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. – Mo&Co 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. — QC Rock Academy 3:30 p.m. – AWARDS CEREMONY 4 p.m. — Charlotte... Read More

Fifty-six years ago, Jordan D. Schnitzer bought his first artwork from his mother’s contemporary art gallery in Portland, Ore. Today, the multi-millionaire philanthropist has a collection of 19,000 paintings, sculptures and prints – 128 of which are in a dazzling Pop Art exhibit at Davenport’s Figge Art Museum, 225 W. 2nd St. The museum is hosting an exclusive members-only preview Friday, June 25, to open the powerhouse exhibition, which opens to the public on Saturday. Advance tickets are encouraged and available (as part of admission to the entire place) at www.figgeartmuseum.org. “As... Read More

“The Music Man” – opening Friday at Countryside Community Theatre in Eldridge – is special for many reasons, for its director and three main leads. Tommy Ratkiewicz-Stierwalt, the director, is excited to be making his directorial debut at CCT, performing at the North Scott High School Fine Arts Theater, 200 S. 1st St., Eldridge. Raised in Moline, he acted in many school productions, eventually branching out into the community. Ratkiewicz-Stierwalt played Marcellus Washburn (a former con man and friend to Harold Hill who lives in River City) in “Music Man” in 2016, in Tipton, Iowa. “I... Read More

The River Music Experience, 2nd and Main streets, Davenport, has brought back the free Live@Five on Fridays from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Last year due to Covid, the series was limited to August and September. The RME courtyard will host live music featuring a wide range of genres and styles. Like last summer, the series asks patrons to wear a mask when you can’t maintain a distance of at least six feet from others not in your party. And when choosing your seating, pick a place at least six feet from other parties. The pavement will be marked to help you in that process. This year’s schedule of... Read More