Hundreds of Quad-Cities arts, entertainment and leisure businesses and similar businesses statewide — including Rust Belt, Ballet Quad-Cities, RIBCO, Playcrafters, Black Box Theater and more — were given a helping hand today as Governor J.B. Pritzker announced more than $275 million for hard hit businesses across Illinois. Over 9,000 emergency assistance grants have been made to small businesses in over 600 cities and towns statewide through the Business Interruption Grants (BIG) program, according to the  Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO), making it the... Read More

Welcome back to our look back at the strange and apocalyptic journey that was the arts and entertainment scene of 2020. It was a year unlike any other, that’s for sure, and we at QuadCities.com are recapping it this year in a series of stories through Dec. 31, and then we’re going to have the entire series of stories sent to a licensed shaman, a priest, an exorcist, and Oprah, in the hope that they’ll bless the coming 2021 and put this year behind us. If you want to check out our recap of January and February (the “normal” months), click here; if you want to read about... Read More

EXCLUSIVE — Illinois Quad-Cities businesses have been notified by the state to begin preparing for a shutdown and covid mitigation procedures beginning Wednesday, multiple sources who asked not to be identified told QuadCities.com today. The sources are all local small business owners, and were notified last night so they could begin preparing. An official announcement from Illinois Governor JB Pritzker will be forthcoming Monday. According to the sources, there will be a number of mitigation actions put in place, including no indoor dining, limits to the number of people gathered in any... Read More

This weekend, YouTube and the National Independent Venue Association are doing an awesome thing for local music venues nationwide, and I’m sure many of you have heard about the star-studded Save Our Stages Fest. It’s the kind of huge, publicity-grabbing event that gets a ton of attention with people in markets across the country. Which is a good thing, because it’s for a good cause, and it needs to get in front of a large group of people to make that positive impact. I do not begrudge that at all, and I wholeheartedly encourage people to check it out, and any other event of that... Read More

Rozz-Tox (2108 3rd Ave Rock Island) will be hosting their covid-era outdoor double-feature film series, Garden Cinema, this Friday Oct 16 from 1 p.m. – 12 a.m. This week’s Garden Cinema theme is ‘Tim Burton Night.’ Movies will include Edward Scissorhands at 7 p.m. and Beetlejuice at 9 p.m. This is a free event, but seating is limited. Feel free to bring a blanket or lawn chair! Food and drink will be available from the walk-up window. Masks are required to use the restrooms – only 2 people inside at a time. For more information, please visit https://www.facebook.com/events/764852727420560. Edward... Read More

QuadCities.com proudly presents FUN10, a list of the top 10 things to do in the Quad Cities this week, and every week! It’s no secret that the entertainment industry has gone through quite the transformation over the past seven months. When we began this column at the beginning of March 2020, we foresaw sharing ten (of the numerous) exciting events going on in the Quad Cities area throughout the week. Just a few weeks after launching this new feature, we were all presented with a reality we never saw coming. One thing never changed, however. While the look and feel significantly altered, amazing... Read More

Denny and Brett Hitchcock are the most tenacious of entrepreneurs. For over 40 years, their business, Circa ’21 Dinner Playhouse, has endured a handful of recessions, booming and barren economic conditions, and, now, a pandemic. It certainly hasn’t been easy. Especially not in 2020. Both father and son have said, without hyperbole, that their business was very much in danger of going under if pandemic and economic conditions continued. However, this week, they re-opened, after several months of stress and uncertainty. They debuted a new show, “Savannah Sipping Society,” a homey comedy that’s... Read More

Ragged Records (311 ½ 21st Street Rock Island) presents: A Socially Distant Record Store Day in the Courtyard this Saturday Aug 29 from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. Things will be done a little bit different this year by moving the sale outdoors in an attempt to keep everyone as safe as possible but as always we will be trying to get as many titles and as many copies as we can. For more information go to https://recordstoreday.com/ Starting at 9 a.m., Ragged Records will be serving a line of customers one by one in their record purchasing process to help them try to score their desired Record Store Day titles... Read More

Rozz-Tox (2108 3rd Ave Rock Island) will be hosting their covid-era outdoor double-feature film series, Garden Cinema, this Friday Aug 21 from 8 p.m. – 12 a.m. This week’s Garden Cinema theme is ‘Hollywood Fumbles,’ films that shouldn’t have been made but we’re glad they were. Movies featured: 8:30 p.m.            Super Mario Bros. (VHS) 1993 | US | adventure/ comedy | PG | 1h 44m a film by Annabel Jankel & Rocky Morton Super Mario Bros was dreamt up as an obvious cash grab to capitalize on the successful video game franchise.  The “film” features an impressive cast... Read More

QuadCities.com proudly presents FUN10, a list of the top 10 things to do in the Quad Cities this week, and every week! Every Sunday, we’ll drop a new FUN10, to give you a head start on your week and a heads up on what’s going on over the coming seven days. Check out FUN10 every Sunday for the details on ten awesome events happening around town. It’s a cool read, and a great way to get started planning your entertainment for the week. As the current health situation in our country continues to force the cancellation of so many regularly scheduled events in the Quad Cities, we are once again... Read More