This week, the indie music world blew up with news that the band Deerhoof was aiming their horns and charging squarely at local and national music site Daytrotter. According to various sites and magazines, including Pitchfork and Spin, Deerhoof are ticked that Daytrotter released an LP of a session they did eight years ago. They claim they did not give permission for the session to be released. They also claim they weren’t paid for the LP nor did they receive royalties, and likewise, that their work for the site was placed behind a paywall for which they likewise received no royalties. Daytrotter,... Read More

The Lord may work in mysterious ways, but the the way the devil works is obviously just plain strange.  For example, God has been known to communicate to we humans through burning bushes, the angel Gabriel and his son, Jesus Christ.  And beezlebub?  Well, apparently, he’s been sending us messages through the song “I Adore (Mi Amor).” Moline’s I Wireless Center will be home for the I Love The 90’s Tour this Saturday. The concert will begin at 7:30 p.m. and go till 10:30 p.m. and you can get tickets here for the show featuring Salt-N-Pepa with DJ Spinderella, Kid N Play,... Read More

Well, you can’t say the Rock Island mayoral race has been boring. What was shaping up to be a genteel competition just a few weeks ago heated up in a huge way over the past three weeks leading up to today’s election. Not so much in the mayoral forums, which were contentious but largely civil. But in the campaign races on social media and elsewhere things got pretty heated between supporters of the candidates and there were some intriguing lines drawn between the four candidates – Andy Rowe, Stephen Tollenaer, Mike Thoms and Terry Brooks. Of course, all of the four have stepped up the competition.... Read More

Election day is next Tuesday, April 4, and while we at QuadCities.com are largely in favor of bringing you the best of local entertainment and features, we also recognize the interest and importance of voting and its impact. So we encourage everyone, regardless of their choice, to get out and vote for the candidates they feel will do the best in their elected positions. Over the past few months, I, personally, have been honored to converse with the four men running for Rock Island mayor. This has been as part of QCUncut, my talk show podcast here on QuadCities.com, which offers uncut, unedited... Read More

It sounds unrealistic and perhaps a bit cliché, but there are some people you can never imagine dying, because they’re so full of life. Ellis Kell was one of those people. The local music legend passed away from cancer early the morning of Dec. 16. It had been known for a while that Ellis was battling the disease, but I, like everyone else, thought that surely a man this strong, this full of life, this force of nature, was going to beat it. He didn’t. And so, he joins his beloved daughter, Karli Rose, once more, in another life, beyond this one. To be honest, the entire thing has felt surreal.... Read More

“The Nutcracker.” It’s been a holiday tradition since dinosaurs roamed the earth. Countless generations have grown up attending performances, millions of girls have pirouetted through its choreography and cajillions of people have walked away from its pomp and grandeur with one thought burning in their mind… “Okay, that was really well done, but what the heck was it about?” And this Saturday, that tradition will continue, as Ballet Quad Cities will perform its annual “Nutcracker” at 2 and 7:30 p.m. at Davenport’s Adler Theater. Given the talented... Read More

Recently I took the audacious step of advising parents that it was fine for their kids to see the Megadeth show at the I wireless center.  Despite the fact that there were no injuries, deaths or bad karmic experiences recorded after the show, there were a few (and by a few, I mean two) people who objected to my opinion. One of them messaged me about it. Another called me, taking me to task for “leading children down the path of evil.”  How she knew I’d been a tour guide at Disneyland is beyond me.  But nonetheless, this lady wasn’t pleased. “You shouldn’t... Read More

Sierra Banginbody, I’m sorry.  Call me several times burned and now shy, but I must reject your offer of friendship on Facebook. Unfortunately, the same goes for you, Pat and Carole, and you, Ashlee, and, sadly, Stephanie and Katrina as well.  And Gaston, don’t even go there. Now, I understand, some of you have sent me repeated friend requests, and some of your profiles even say that you’ve got mutual friends with me. But your lack of any pictures or discernable human traits on your profiles, not to mention that invariably one of your pictures is offering Ray Ban sunglasses at an... Read More

To say Rock Islanders were a wee bit miffed about city officials blowing $15 million and getting stiffed by Walmart is like saying Bix Beiderbecke played around with music as a little hobby. The outrage has been justifiably hot. As I said in my last column, the city overspent by millions buying up decrepit properties on 11th street ostensibly to create space for a new Walmart which didn’t materialize. That money could’ve, and should’ve, gone to help already existing businesses owned by locals or to help local entrepreneurs looking to start up locally-owned businesses in the area. After all,... Read More

To say Rock Island made a colossal error in wasting $15 million to woo Walmart to 11th Street is a stunning understatement. But what’s perhaps saddest and most pathetic about it is its irony. Rock Island, like thousands of other cities across the country, will, at least once a year, pay lip service and throw promotional money at “small business weeks” and hollow pitches to “shop local.” City officials should’ve heeded their own advice in this matter. Aside from the property owners who were able to hit a stunning jackpot on selling their failed and crumbling 11th Street businesses at... Read More