Hey Quad Cities, are you ready for the Most Outrageous Retro Show on the Planet?! Experience the most unforgettable live music performance you’ll ever witness this Memorial Day Weekend! The Cheese Pizza Tavern Tour is making a stop at Rock Island Brewing Company (1815 2nd Avenue Rock Island) this Sunday May 26 at 9 p.m. Admission is just $10. This all-ages outdoor show will leave you wanting more. Band members Haze Lee Finn, Sly Stewart, Gil Fishman, Alickzander The Gnome Fritz and of course, Dave the Gay Cowboy always provide a high-energy show covering some of the best cover songs while creating... Read More

Anyone read that article sweeping the web about Terry Tilka? He’s celebrating his 30th year of busting his ass as the owner of the coolest bar in the Quad-Cities, one that’s outlived almost every other and fought its way through countless trends, several recessions and umpteen financial curves in the Quad-Cities. Terry started off young, when he was in college, owning bars around the area, and busted his ass most frequently as the owner of O’Meara’s (named after his Mom’s maiden name), before putting his money and his life on the table to buy a little spot called RIBCO when there was... Read More

The music of legendary singer/songwriter John Denver will fill Circa ’21 Dinner Playhouse on March 21, as Chris Collins and Boulder Canyon return to the stage! Chris Collins looks and sounds just like the legendary singer/songwriter, and Circa ’21 is happy to welcome him back for the third time. “The audiences loved Chris each time he been here” said Brett Hitchcock director of audience development. “He looks like John, he sounds like John…it’s just amazing!” The Rock Island theater will offer a matinee and an evening performance on March 21. Doors... Read More

The Big Swing Brewing Company, located in the spot of the former Blue Cat Brew Pub at 113 8th St., Rock Island, will be opening in March prior to the St. Patrick’s Day Parade, sources say. The new owners of The Big Swing are local real estate developers John Timmer, Shane Scott and Jon McAtee. The trio are the creative and financial force behind the new Backyard Bowl and Abides Bar, in the old Milan Lanes building, 2020 1st St. W, Milan. Some members of the Blue Cat staff will be moving to the Big Swing, so Cat fans can expect to see some familiar faces. It’s still up in the air as... Read More

Circa ’21 Dinner Playhouse is thrilled to announce the auditions schedule for their upcoming children’s musical Pinocchio. Auditions for the show will be held at 9 a.m. on Oct. 27 at the theater, 1828 3rd Ave., Rock Island. Puppet maker, Geppetto, builds a marionette that comes to mischievous life and learns how to be a “real boy.” In Pinocchio, the story of a familiar wooden puppet who wants to become a real boy is told with vim, verve and vibrancy. Set in Italy, this version tells the beloved tale of Pinocchio, a boy-sized puppet that is built by the caring puppet maker,... Read More

You like booze, you really like booze! Due to popular demand, and a whole lot of people reading my last food/beverage review of the Minty Mango brew at Radicle Effect, we at QuadCities.com have decided to start up a new feature, Let’s Have A Drink With Sean Leary, in which I’ll be going around to different brew pubs in the area and trying out various beers, the more unusual the better, and reporting back to you with my opinions and pithy comments. It’s a tough job, folks, but someone’s got to do it. And by someone, I mean me. But it’s not all fun and games, folks. Sometimes I have to... Read More

The October installment of the Rock Island Artists’ Market is Sunday, October 14, 12-4 pm in the parking lot of Skeleton Key Art and Antiques at 520 18th Street, Rock Island. The Rock Island Artists’ Market has been held the second Sunday of each month, and October marks the final market of the 2018 season. Shoppers can expect to find a variety of art, local produce, handcrafted goods and more, all sold by the artists, creators and growers. The October market has over 40 registered vendors, and will feature food by Kavanaugh’s Hilltop Bar and Grill, and music by Roger Carlson. Participating... Read More

In 1974, pianist Barbara Nissman visited Quad City area schools, beginning a tradition that later became Quad City Arts’ Visiting Artist Series. The 2018-2019 Visiting Artist Series brings ten artists and ensembles to visit the Quad Cities region from September 2018 through March 2019.  These artists will perform over 200 engagements to audiences in local K-12 schools, colleges, and a variety of community sites, including local libraries, churches, senior centers and public concert venues across six counties and two states. The season begins with a collaborative program by hip-hop artist Christylez... Read More

Farewell, old friend. Through murky magnificent memories of countless theater after-parties, lonely nights of last calls, the rushes of love and infatuation, passionate kisses and warm hands held, a very public breakup at the bar, a very public makeup off in a corner booth upstairs, huge smiles and laughs, big embraces from friends, solitary lunches with a notebook and a pen, business meetings and birthday celebrations, late nights and early mornings, and even a baby shower, the Blue Cat has been the setting for a large portion of my adult life, as well as the lives of many others. When the Cat... Read More

Will the Scotch Egg be scotched? Will the soups survive? And will Arkham Stout be in, or out? Blue Cat Brew Pub will close its doors tonight, after 24 years in business, and soon, a new brew pub, Big Swing, will take its place after a few weeks of renovations. It’s still up in the air as to what Blue Cat menu items will be kept around beyond its demise. Brew master Dan Cleaveland will remain on staff for at least a year with the new venue, bringing his 60-plus beer recipes with him, so the chances of the BC brews still popping up in the new spot are high. But what about the food? As reported... Read More