River Cities' Reader - Issue 884 - June 11, 2015

2015 Summer Guide Published by

the River Cities Reader

2

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FESTIVALS/MAJOR EVENTS

June

Gumbo Ya Ya, annual Mardi Gr

as in the

District celebration with live m

usic, vendors,

Cajun food, childrens activities

, and more;

$7-9 one-day pass, $12-14 two

-day pass; for

information, call 309-788-6311

, The District of

Rock Island, 100 19th St, Suite 1

09 (office), Rock

Island, IL, GumboYaYaFestival.co

m, Fri Jun 12 and

Sat Jun 13.Quad Cities Jun

eteenth, annual celebration

of African-American heritage, f

eaturing live music

and dance performances, child

rens activities,

vendors, health workshops, gam

es, historical

presentations, and more; for inf

ormation, call

563-322-7363, LeClaire Park, 40

0 Biederbeck Dr.,

Davenport, IA, UnitedNeighbors

.com, 12pm Sat

Jun 13.Professional Bu

ll Riders: BlueDef Velocity,

for tickets, call 800-745-3000, i w

ireless Center,

1201 River Dr, Moline, IL, iwirele

ssCenter.com, 7pm

Sat Jun 13.21st Annual Ra

lly on the River QC,

annual celebration of biker cult

ure with live

entertainment, activities, vend

ors, food and

beverages available for purcha

se, Saturday

headliners Blue Oyster Cult, an

d more; $10 at

the gate, bikers arriving on mo

torcycles free

until Saturday at 5pm, Centenn

ial Park, 315 S.

Marquette St., Davenport, IA, Ra

llyOnTheRiverQC.

com, 5pm Thu Jun 18 thru Sat

Jun 20.

Here Come the Mummies, out

door concert

with the tightly-wrapped rocke

rs, with an opening

set by 10 of Soul; 7pm gates, 8p

m concert; $23-28;

for information, call 309-788-63

11, The District of

Rock Island, 100 19th St, Suite 1

09 (office), Rock

Island, IL, RIDistrict.com, 8pm F

ri Jun 19.

Geneseo Music Festival, 47th-a

nnual

outdoor weekend featuring co

ncerts with Ellis

Kell, the River City 6, the Blue-E

yed Bettys, and

other musicians, childrens activ

ities, vendors,

and more; for information, call 3

09-944-2686,

Geneseo City Park, 115 S Oakwo

od Ave, Geneseo,

IL, GeneseoMusicFest.com, Fri J

un 19 thru Sun

Jun 21.Rock the Distri

ct w/ Bret Michaels, outdoor

concert with singer-songwriter

and frontman of

Poison, with sets by 3 Years Hol

low, Girl on Fire,

and Eleven Fifty Two; 6pm gate

s, 8pm concert;

$35-40; for information, call 30

9-788-6311, The

District of Rock Island, 100 19th

St, Suite 109

(office), Rock Island, IL, RIDistric

t.com, 7pm Sat

Jun 20.

July

2015 Iowa City Jazz Festival, c

oncerts,

workshops, childrens activities

, vendors, and

more in the annual music festiv

als 25th year, Old

Capitol Town Center, 201 S. Clin

ton St., Iowa City,

IA, SummerOfTheArts.org, 2pm

Fri Jul 2 thru Sat

Jul 4.Red, White, & B

oom!, annual firework event

over the river, with family activi

ties in downtown

Davenport and Rock Island bef

ore the show; for

information, visit DowntownDa

venport.com and

RIDistrict.com, 6pm Sat Jul 4.

80/35 Music Festival, eighth an

nual music

festival featuring nearly 50 acts

on three stages,

with Friday

performances by

Wilco, Weezer, Run

the Jewels, Lettuce,

Jenny Lewis, St.

Lucia, Talib Kweli,

Hot Buttered Rum,

Fly Golden Eagle,

and Rome Fortune;

$39-50/one-day

tickets, $59-90/two-

day tickets, Western

Gateway Park, Des

Moines, IA, 2015.80-

35.com, Fri Jul 10

and Sat Jul 11.

Rock Island

County Fair, annual

fair featuring

grandstand events,

carnival rides &

games, the Rock

Island County

Queen Pageant, 4-H

Displays, a talent

show, food vendors, and more

; for information, call

309-796-1620, Rock Island Coun

ty Fairgrounds,

Archer Drive & Avenue of the Ci

ties, East Moline, IL,

RockIslandFair.org, Wed Jul 15 t

hru Sun Jul 19.

Street Fest 2015, annual street

party on 2nd

Street between Brady & Ripley,

featuring live

music, arts & crafts vendors, ch

ildrens activities,

food and drinks, the 4th-annua

l Firefighter Water

Fights, and more; free, Downto

wn Davenport,

Davenport, IA, DowntownDaven

port.com, Fri Jul

24 and Sat Jul 25.

Quad-City Times Bix 7, one of th

e top 10

running events in the country,

with thousands of

participants from all over the w

orld competing

in a course covering seven mile

s, Downtown

Davenport, Davenport, IA, Bix7

.com, Sat Jul 25.

Dancing with the Stars Live: P

erfect 10

Tour, touring performances hos

ted by All-Stars

Champion Melissa Rycroft, feat

uring pro dancers

Witney Carson, Valentin Chmer

kovskiy, Artem

Chigvintsev, Peta Murgatroyd,

and Emma Slater,

and troupe dancers Alan Berste

n, Brittany Cherry,

Sasha Farber, and Jenna Johnso

n; $39.50-75; for

tickets, call 800-745-3000, Adle

r Theatre, 136 E.

3rd St., Davenport, IA, AdlerThe

atre.com, 8pm Sat

Jul 25.Shania Twain, c

oncert with the best-selling

female artist in county-music h

istory, performing

with special guest Gavin DeGra

w; $46-136; for

tickets, call 800-745-3000, i wir

eless Center, 1201

River Dr, Moline, IL, iwirelessCen

ter.com, 7:30pm

Sun Jul 26.The Beach Boy

s, concert with the legendary

musicians and Rock & Roll Hall o

f Famers; $39.50-

69.50; for tickets, call 800-745-3

000, i wireless

Center, 1201 River Dr, Moline, IL

, iwirelessCenter.

com, 7pm Wed Jul 29.

Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Jaz

z Festival,

forty-forth annual celebration o

f the legendary

jazz trumpeter from Davenpor

t, with workshops,

presentations, and concerts at t

he Davenport

RiverCenter, Adler

Theatre, and

LeClaire Park with

the Josh Duffee

Orchestra, Bill

Allreds Classic

Jazz Band, the Fat

Babies, and more

than a dozen

additional bands;

for information,

call 563-324-

7170, Downtown

Davenport, IA,

BixSociety.org,

Thu Jul 30 and Fri

Jul 31.

AugustBix

Beiderbecke

Memorial Jazz

Festival, forty-forth

annual celebration

of the legendary jazz trumpete

r from Davenport,

with workshops, presentations,

and concerts at the

Davenport RiverCenter, Adler T

heatre, and LeClaire

Park with the Josh Duffee Orche

stra, Bill Allreds

Classic Jazz Band, the Fat Babie

s, and more than a

dozen additional bands; for inf

ormation, call 563-

324-7170, Downtown Davenpo

rt, IA, BixSociety.

org, Sat Aug 1 and Sun Aug 2.

2015 Mississippi Valley Fair, ann

ual outdoor

fair featuring concerts, games, r

ides, childrens

activities, vendors, and more; $4

-10 gate admission,

$45-50 Fun Card includes Grand

stand concerts; for

information, call 563-326-5338,

Mississippi Valley

Fairgrounds, 2815 W. Locust St,

Davenport, IA,

MVFair.com, Tue Aug 4 thru Sun

Aug 9.

Shinedown, concert with the c

hart-topping

rockers; $30.50-40.50; for ticket

s, call 800-745-

3000, Adler Theatre, 136 E. 3rd

St., Davenport, IA,

AdlerTheatre.com, 8pm Fri Aug

7.

2015 Iowa State Fair, Aug. 13-2

3; annual fair

featuring concerts, games, vend

ors, rides, childrens

activities, contests, and more; fo

r information,

call 800-545-FAIR, Iowa State Fa

irgrounds, East

30th Street & East University Av

e., Des Moines, IA,

IowaStateFair.org, Thu Aug 13

thru Sun Aug 23.

2015 Tug Fest, annual weeken

d celebration

on the levees of Port Byron, IL a

nd LeClaire, IA;

featuring a tug-of-war over the

Mississippi River,

carnival events, childrens activ

ities, and more; for

information, visit TugFest.com (

IA) and TugFest.org

(IL), Thu Aug 13 thru Sat Aug 1

5.

Ya Maka My Weekend, annual w

eekend

celebration of Caribbean music

, food, and culture,

with concerts, vendors, and mo

re; for information,

2015 Summer Calendar

Page 2

Page 2

Page 8

Page 12

Page 15

Page 16

Page 17

Page 18

Page 19

Page 21

Page 22

Page 26

Page 26

Page 28

Page 29

Page 30FESTIVALS/MAJOR EVENTS

VISUAL ARTS

MUSIC

LITERARY ARTS

THEATRE

DANCECOMEDY

MUSEUMS

MOVIESSPORTS

OTHER EVENTS

LECTURES

COURSES

MEETINGS

HEALTH

SENIORS

call 309-788-6311, The District

of Rock Island,

100 19th St, Suite 109 (office), R

ock Island, IL,

YaMakaMyWeekend.com, Fri A

ug 14 and Sat

Aug 15.2015 Floatzilla

, annual celebration of paddle

sports and an attempt to break

the worlds record

for largest connected raft of can

oes and kayaks; for


, Sunset Park, 18th

Ave & Sunset Rd, Rock Island, IL,

Floatzilla.org, Sat

Aug 15.River Roots Liv

e, 11th-annual weekend

celebration of roots music with

concerts, music

workshops, childrens activities

, the annual

Ribfest, and more; free before 5

pm, $10 after 5pm,

LeClaire Park, 400 Biederbeck D

r., Davenport, IA,

RiverRootsLive.com, Fri Aug 28

and Sat Aug 29.

Iowa Soul Festival, annual wee

kend event

featuring dance, music, food an

d art of the

African and African-American c

ommunities; with

live entertainment, soul food, A

frican-American

inspired art, a Fun Zone for the

kids, and more,

University of Iowa Pentacrest, Un

iversity of Iowa,

Iowa City, IA, SummerOfTheArt

s.org, Fri Aug 28

and Sat Aug 29.

VISUAL ARTSOPENINGS & GA

LLERY EVENTS

June

Artist Talk with Jefferson Pind

er, Chicago

and Washington, DC artist Jeff

erson Pinder will

speak about his video series, as

well as upcoming

projects; for information, call 5

63-326-7804,

Figge Art Museum, 225 W 2nd

St, Davenport, IA,

FiggeArtMuseum.org, 7pm Thu

Jun 11.

Reception for Methods in Tand

em: The 11th

Annual Catich Exhibition, exh

ibit featuring the

work of the late Father Edward

Catich paired

with contemporary artist Mere

dith Lynn; free; for


or e-mail catich@

sau.edu, Catich Gallery - St. Am

brose University,

2101 Gaines St., Davenport, IA,

SAU.edu/catich,

5pm Thu Jun 11.

Thursdays at the Figge, art-the

med

activities, discussions, tours, re

freshments, and

more; for information, call 563-3

26-7804, Figge

Art Museum, 225 W 2nd St, Dav

enport, IA,

FiggeArtMuseum.org, 5pm Thu

Jun 11 thru Thu

Jun 25.Dale Fisher Pre

sentation: 20th-Century

Contemporary Art, a discussio

n of Andy Warhol,

Roy Lichtenstein, Robert Snith

son, Michael Heizer,

and others; for information, ca

ll 563-652-9925,

Maquoketa Art Experience Stu

dio & Gallery, 124 S.

Main St., Maquoketa, IA, Maquo

keta-Art.org, 4pm

Thu Jun 11.Closing Recept

ion: Karen Bloome, in

conjunction with the silkscree

n and drawing

exhibit, featuring music by Jerr

y Schreoder &

Friends; for information, e-mail

info@midcoast.

org or call 563-424-1210, MidC

oast Gallery West,

1629 2nd Ave., Rock Island, IL,

Midcoast.org, 6pm

Fri Jun 12.

More Than 400 Family-Friendly E

vents in the KWQC Family Fun Gui

de Starting on Page 31

Emily Christensons sumi-ink wor

k

@ Quad City Arts at the Airport th

ru June 30

2015 Spring Guide

Published by the

River Cities Read

er

8

set to 300 dpi re

solution, 4x 6 im

age size,

approximately;

please include a

n Artists

Statement; $20 e

ntry fee; for info

rmation and

to submit, e-ma

il mfaheartart@g

mail.com,

Bucktown Cente

r for the Arts, 22

5 E. 2nd St.,

Davenport, IA, B

ucktownArts.com

, Thu Mar 19

and Fri Mar 20.

Call for Entry: U

nder 20 Youth A

rt

Exhibition 2015

, seeking submis

sions for the

Juried Youth Ar

t Show, opening

Apr. 17, for any

young artist less

than 20 years o

f age who lives

in the Iowa City

Community Sch

ool District;

for information,

call 319-338-44

42, The Chait

Galleries Downt

own, 218 E Wash

ington St, Iowa

City, IA, ChaitGa

lleries.com, Thu M

ar 19 and

Fri Mar 20.

MUSICCONCERT

S

Scott & Rock Island

Counties

March

Little Big Town,

chart-topping c

ountry

artists in their P

ain Kill Tour; $3

3-43; for tickets,

call 800-745-30

00, Adler Theatr

e, 136 E. 3rd St.,

Davenport, IA, A

dlerTheatre.com

, 7:30pm Thu

Mar 19.Arianna

String Quartet, g

uest artists in

concert; free; fo

r information e-

mail Lauren

Reid at laurenre

[email protected]

du or call 309-

794-7306, Walle

nberg Hall, Augu

stana College,

3520 7th Ave., Ro

ck Island, IL, Aug

ustana.edu/

arts, 8pm Fri Mar

20.

Leon Russell, co

ncert with the l

egendary

musician and m

ember of the Ro

ck & Roll Hall

of Fame, with an

opening set by

Ellis Kell;

$43-48.25; for inf

ormation and ti

ckets, call

563-326-1333, T

he Redstone Ro

om, 129 Main

St, Davenport, IA

, RiverMusicExp

erience.org,

7:30pm Fri Mar

20.

Cemetery Gate

z, Pantera tribut

e musicians

in concert, with

an opening set b

y Sons of

S.A.M.M.; $10; fo

r information, ca

ll 309-793-

4060, RIBCO, 18

15 2nd Ave., Roc

k Island, IL,

RIBCO.com, 8pm

Fri Mar 20.

American Heroe

s: Songs and Sto

ries,

presented by ra

dio host Roald T

weet and

folk singer Chris

Dunn; or admiss

ion please

bring new warm

outts, new bla

nket sleepers,

diapers sized ne

wborn and one,

and/or other

new layette item

s, or bring a sugg

ested

donation of $10

, which will purc

hase layette

items; for contac

t Joe Dockery-Ja

ckson at

309-738-0471 or

joejdock@gmai

l.com, First

Lutheran Churc

h - Rock Island, 1

600 20th St.,

Rock Island, IL, 1

pm Sat Mar 21.

Double D & the

Sensations, clas

sic rock

& roll music spo

nsored by U.S. In

land Marine,

Inc.; 6:30pm doo

rs, 7pm dance le

ssons, 7:30-

11pm live music

and dancing; foo

d available

for purchase; $1

0 includes danc

e lesson; for

information, e-m

ail riverdancehal

l@gmail.

com, Col Ballroo

m, 1012 W. 4th S

t., Davenport,

IA, Facebook.co

m/pages/River-

Dance-

Hall/2237019277

95722, 7pm Sat

Mar 21.

General Studen

t Recital, free; fo

r

information e-m

ail Lauren Reid a

t laurenreid@

augustana.edu o

r call 309-794-7

306,

Wallenberg Hall

, Augustana Coll

ege, 3520 7th

Ave., Rock Island

, IL, Augustana.e

du/arts, 8pm

Sat Mar 21.

Match 65 Party:

Jason Carl & th

e Whole

Damn Band - Th

e Mercury Broth

ers - The

Pinterest Party:

Make a Recycle

d Book

Craft, monthly c

raft-making part

y involving

ideas found on

the Pinterest so

cial media site;

free; for informa

tion, call 309-73

2-7369, Rock

Island Public Lib

rary - 30/31 Bran

ch, 3059 30th

St., Rock Island, I

L, RockIslandLib

rary.org, 6pm

Thu Apr 30.

May

Creation Studio

Drop-in: Folded

Page

Book Art, learn h

ow to fold the p

ages of a

book to spell re

ad; free; for info

rmation,

call 563-344-41

75, Bettendorf P

ublic Library,

2950 Learning C

ampus Dr., Betten

dorf, IA,

BettendorfLibra

ry.com, 7pm Th

u May 7.

Creation Studio

Drop-in: Polaro

id-Style

Coasters, free; fo

r information, ca

ll 563-344-

4175, Bettendor

f Public Library,

2950 Learning

Campus Dr., Bet

tendorf, IA, Bett

endorfLibrary.

com, 5pm Wed

May 13.

Creation Studio

Drop-in: Refrige

rator

Magnets, make

magnets using m

agazines,

scrapbook pape

r, and more; free

; for

information, cal

l 563-344-4175,

Bettendorf

Public Library, 2

950 Learning Ca

mpus Dr.,

Bettendorf, IA, B

ettendorfLibrary

.com, 3pm

Mon May 18.

Creation Studio

Drop-in: Casset

te Tape

Pencil Box, re-po

rpose old casset

te tapes

and turn them in

to pencil boxes

; free; for

information, cal

l 563-344-4175,

Bettendorf

Public Library, 2

950 Learning Ca

mpus Dr.,

Bettendorf, IA, B

ettendorfLibrary

.com, 5pm

Thu May 28.

Pinterest Party:

Make a Flower

Pot Craft,

monthly craft-m

aking party invo

lving ideas

found on the Pin

terest social med

ia site; free;

for information,

call 309-732-73

69, Rock Island

Public Library -

30/31 Branch, 3

059 30th St.,

Rock Island, IL, R

ockIslandLibrary

.org, 6pm Thu

May 28.

Outlying Areas

Shape Shifter C

omponents, with

instructor

Karen Kubby; le

arn to use two-h

ole tile beads

and two-hole len

til beads with p

eyote stitch to

make three die

rent components

that can be

mixed and matc

hed and/or sewn

together; $75;

for information

and to register,

call 319-338-

1566, Beadology

Iowa, 220 E Wa

shington St,

Iowa City, IA, Be

adologyIowa.co

m, 10am Sat

Mar 21.Eyeglas

s Holder, with in

structor Karen

Kubby; learn ho

w to use exwire

and crimp

beads by makin

g an eyeglass ho

lder; design

your piece with

seed beads and

Czech

pressed glass pi

eces; $55; for inf

ormation

and to register,

call 319-338-15

66, Beadology

Iowa, 220 E Wash

ington St, Iowa C

ity, IA,

Thu Mar 26.

strung on nylon

using glass bead

s from the

Czech Republic

and sterling silv

er beads; the

second bracelet

will be strung o

n exible wire

and made with

handmade glas

s and Swarovski

crystals; you wil

l learn how to u

se crimp beads

to nish this bra

celet; $55; for inf

ormation

Cedar Rapids M

useum of Art, 41

0 Third Ave. SE,

Cedar Rapids, IA

, CRMA.org, 1:30

pm Sat Apr 4.

Zentangle Class

for Ages 10+, a

fun and

simple way to cre

ate beautiful ima

ges by

drawing structu

red patterns wh

ile entering into

a relaxed and fo

cused meditativ

e state; $35; for

information and

to register, e-m

ail ethomas@

crma.org or call

319-366-7503, C

edar Rapids

Music and Movies

The Redstone Roo

m

March through Ma

y

Davenports Reds

tone Room has a

plethora of amazin

g events lined up i

n

its springtime sche

dule, but Im sorry

to tell

you that youre alr

eady late for the M

arch 20

concert with music

al legend and Rock

& Roll

Hall of Famer Leon

Russell, whose lo

ng-awaited area ap

pearance featured

an

opening set by are

a music maestro Ell

is Kell. Wait, whats

that? Youre not lat

e?

Youre reading this

hot o the presses

in advance of this F

riday night? Well .

..

never mind then!

Be sure to catch tha

t Leon Russell conc

ert! You see what a

ll

those Reader lateco

mers miss out on?

! If, however, you y

ourself are one of t

hose

latecomers, allow

to to say (a) sorry

for the joke, nothi

ng personal, and (b

) there

are still loads of up

coming Redstone R

oom events to get p

syched about! Ariz

ona-

based rockers Roge

r Clyne & the Peac

emakers take the R

iver Music Experie

nces

main stage on Mar

ch 25, while roots r

ockers e Bros. L

andreth trek all th

e way

from Canada for th

eir May 22 Redston

e Room engageme

nt. Beating both ac

ts for

longest distance tr

aveled, however, ar

e the musicians of

Jakubi, who are pla

ying

May 20s Summer

Camp Music Festi

val Pre-Party, and

schlepping all the

way

from Melbourne, A

ustralia to do it. (A

nother Australian,

the singer/songwr

iter

Harper, also hits th

e Redstone Room o

n April 4, but as h

es currently residin

g in

Michigan, its a mu

ch shorter commu

te.) Among talent

s based closer to h

ome, the

bluegrass rockers o

f Galesburgs Frank

F. Sydneys Weste

rn Bandit Volunte

ers

perform their CD

-release show on M

arch 28, the Colora

do-based funk-fus

ion

outt Euforquestra

(which started in

Iowa City) arrives o

n April 30, Iowa C

itys

Steely Dan tribute

act e Fez lands o

n May 30, and the

Quad Cities own b

lues

sensations e Can

dymakers headlin

e a high-energy eve

ning on April 24. A

nd

so very many more

springtime visitors

: the Vermont-based

DuPont Brothers

on March 26; St. Lo

uis reggae artists A

aron Kamm & the O

ne Drops on March

27; pop singer/son

gwriter Daphne W

illis on April 2; fol

k quartet Darlings

ide

on April 3; pop/fo

lk legend Mason J

ennings, making a

welcome area retu

rn on

April 10; the genre

-defying Galactic

Cowboy Orchestr

a on April 11; the i

ndie-

pop siblings of Sho

ok Twins on April

16; the indie-rock

sextet Kopecky on

April

17; chart-topping a

lt-country artist To

dd Snider on Apri

l 22; the jazzy Chic

ago

band Family Groov

e Company on Ap

ril 25; folk legend

Chicago Farmer w

ith

his 998th(!) show o

n May 1; a CD-rele

ase party with folk

rockers e Ballroo

m

ieves on May 9 .

.. . All this Redston

e Room entertainm

ent plus screenings

of

musically themed

lms in the Redsto

ne Reels series, w

ith the documentar

ies

under Soul and

Sound City on Ma

rch 24, the concert

lm Umphrey McG

ees

Live on April 24, an

d the cult comedy

Empire Records on

April 8. You know

that latter title has

its musical bona

des, because it feat

ures Liv Tyler, Rene

e

Zellweger, and Ma

xwell Cauleld a.

k.a. the daughter o

f Aerosmiths front

man,

the female lead in

Chicago, and the m

ale lead in Grease 2

. (Stop giggling. C

ool

Rider and Repro

duction are insan

ely catchy.) For mo

re information on

the

Redstone Rooms s

pringtime lineup,

visit RiverMusicEx

perience.org. Mi

ke

Schulz

Shook Twins A

pril 16VISUAL ARTS

CLASSES

Scott & Rock Island

Counties

March & April

HUNDREDS of Spring Events and

Activities for Kids and Families

INSIDE the River Cities Reader Spring G

uide!

Kids Calendar Starts on Pg 31!

Summer GuideMore than 1,400 ev

ents June - August2015

esolution, 4x 6

image si

image si

ze,

; please include

an Artists s

for infor inf fofof rmation

and

[email protected],

. 2nd St

opping country

; $33-43; for tic

ketfor ticket

fs, ,

e, 136 , 136 EE. 3. 3rd d SSt.,

om, 7:30pm Thu

, guest artists in

-mail Lauren

[email protected]

du or call 309-

ugustana Colleg

e,

3520 7th Ave., Ro

ck Island, IL, Aug

ustana.edu/

arts, 8pm Fri Mar

20.

Leon Russell, co

ncert with the l

egendary

musician and m

ember of the Ro

ck & Roll Hall

of Fame, with an

opening set by

Ellis Kell;

$43-48.25; for infor inf f

ofof rmation and ti

ckets, call

563-326-1333, T

he Redstone Ro

om, 129 Main

St, Davenport, IA

, RiverMusicExp

erience.org,

7:30pm Fri Mar

20.

Cemetery Gate

z, Pantera tribut

e musicians

in concert, with

an opening set b

y Sons of

S.A.M.M.; $10; fo

r infor inf fofof rmation,

call 309-793-

4060, RIBCO, 18

15 2nd Ave., Roc

k Island, IL,

RIBCO.com, 8pm

Fri Mar 20.

American Heroe

s: Songs and Sto

ries,

presented by ra

dio host Roald T

w Tw T eet and

folk singer Ch

folk singer Ch

fris Dunn

; or admission p

lease

bring new warm

outts, new bla

nket sleepers,

diapers sized ne

wborn and one,

and/or other

new layette item

s, or bring a sugg

ested

donation of $10

, which will purc

hase layette

items; for for f cont

act Joe Dockery-J

ackson at

309-738-0471 or

joejdock@gmai

l.com, First

Lutheran Churc

h - Rock Island, 1

600 20th St.,

Rock Island, IL, 1

pm Sat Mar 21.

Double D & the

Sensations, clas

sic rock

& roll music spo

nsored by U.S. In

land Marine,

Inc.; 6:30pm doo

rs, 7pm dance le

ssons, 7:30-

11pm live music

and dancing; foo

d food f available

for pufor puf rchase; $1

0 includes danc

e lesson; for for f

infofof rmation, e-m

ail riverdancehal

l@gmail.

com, Col Ballroo

m, 1012W. 4th S

t., Davenport,

IA, Facebook.co

m/pages/River-

Dance-

Hall/2237019277

95722, 7pm Sat

Mar 21.

General Studen

t Recital, free; fo

r for f

infofof rmation e-m

ail Lauren Reid a

t laurenreid@

augustana.edu o

r call 309-794-7

306,

Wallenberg Hall

, Augustana Coll

ege, 3520 7th

Ave., Rock Island

, IL, Augustana.e

du/arts, 8pm

t Mar 21l & the W

hole

pose old cassette

tapes

and turn them in

to pencil boxes

; free; for for f

infofof rmation, cal

l 563-344-4175,

Bettendorf

Public Library, 2

950 y, 2950 y Learning

Campus Dr.,

Bettendorf, IA, f, IA, f B

ettendorfLibrary

.com, 5pm

Thu May 28.

Pinterest Party:

Make a Flower

Pot Craft,

monthly craftftf -m

aking party invo

lving ideas

found on the

found on the

fPinteres

t social media site

; free;

for infor inf fofof rmation,

call 309-732-73

69, Rock Island

Public Library -

30/31 Branch, 3

059 30th St.,

Rock Island, IL, R

ockIslandLibraryy

.orgg, 6pm , 6pm Th

u

May 28.

Outlying Areas

Shape Shifter C

omponents, with

instructor

Karen Kubby; le

arn to use two-h

ole tile beads

and and two-hole le-hole len

til beads with p

etil bead

s with peyote st

itch ch to

make three die

rent components

that can be

mixed and matc

hed and/or sewn

together; $75;

for infor inf fofof rmation

and to register,

call 319-338-

r, call 319-338-

r

1566, Beadology

Iowa, 220 E Wa

shington St,

Iowa City, IA, y, IA, y Be

adologyIowa.co

m, 10am Sat

Mar 21.Eyeglas

s Holder, with in

structor Karen

Kubby; learn ho

w to use exwire

and crimp

beads by makin

g an eyeglass ho

lder; design

your piece with

seed beads and

Czech

pressed glass pi

eces; $55; for infor inf f

ofof rmation

and to register,

call 319-338-15

66,

r, call 319-338-1

566,

r

Beadology

St, I wa City, IA,

y, IA, y

strung on nylon

using glass bea

ds from the

Czech Republic

and sterling silv

er beads; the

second bracelet

will be strung o

n exible wire

and made with

handmade glas

s and Swarovski

ou will learn ho

w to use crimp b

eads

Cedar Rapids M

useum of Art, 41

0 Third Ave. SE,

Cedar Rapids, IA

, CRMA.org, 1:30

pm Sat Apr 4.

Zentangle Class

for Ages 10+, a

fun and

simple way to cre

ate beautiful ima

ges by

drawing structu

red patterns wh

ile entering into

a relaxed and fo

cused medit

focused medit

fative sta

te; $35; for for f

is e-mail ethom

as@

nk-fufuf sion

d in Iowa City) arr

ives on ApApA ril 30,

Iowa Citys

Steely Dan tribute

act e Fez lands o

n May 30, ay 30, a and

the Quad Cities ow

n blues

sensations e Can

dyndynd makers headlin

e a high-energy eve

ning on ApApA ril 24.

And

so very many more

springtime visitors

: the VeVeV rmont-based

DuPont Brothers

on March 26; St. Lo

uis reggae artists A

aron Kamm & the O

ne Drops on March

27; pop singer/son

gwriter Daphne W

illis on ApApA ril 2; f

ofof lk quartet Darlin

gside

on ApApA ril 3; pop/fofof

lk legend Mason J

ennings, making a

welcome area retu

rn on

ApApA ril 10; the genre

-defyfyf ing Galactic

Cowboy Orchestr

a on ApApA ril 11; the i

ndie-

pop siblings of Sho

ok TwTwT ins on ApApA ril

16; the indie-rock

sextet Kopecky on

ApApA ril

17; chart-topping a

lt-country artist ToToT

dd Snider on ApApA ri

l 22; the jazzy Chic

ago

band Family Groov

e Company ny n on ApApA

ril 25; fofof lk legend

Chicago Farmer w

ith

his 998th(!) show o

n May 1; a CD-ay 1; a CD

-a

release party with f

ofof lk rockers e B

allroom

ieves on May 9 .

.. . ay 9 ... . a All this Red

stone Room enterta

inment plus screen

ings of

musically themed

lms in the Redsto

ne Reels series, w

ith the documentar

ies

under Soul and

Sound City ty t on Ma

rch 24, the concert

lm UmUmU pmpmhrerer y ey e McMcM G

ees s

Live on ApApA ril 24,

and the cult comed

y Empmpm ire Rere Rer cordrdr

s ds d on ApApA ril 8. YoYoY u k

now

that latter title has

its musical bona

des, because it fefef at

ures Liv TyTyT leyley r, r, r Ren

ee

Zellweger, r, r and Ma

xwell Cauleld a.

k.a. the daughter o

f Aerosmithhhs frfrf ont

man,

the fefef male lead in

Chicagoagoa , and the m

ale lead in Grerer ase 2

. (Stop giggling. C

ool

Rider and Repro

duction n nare insan

elylyl catchy.) y.) y For m

ore infofof rmation on

the

Redstone Rooms s

pringtime lineup,

visit RiverMusicEx

perience.org. Mi

ke

Schulz

rts, 225 E. 2nd S

t.,

rts.com, Thu Ma

r 19

: Under 20 Yout

h Youth Y Art

ing submissions f

or the for the f

, opening Apr. 1

7, for afor af ny

ears of age who

lives

School District;

tion, call 319-33

8-4442,The Cha

it

Washington St, I

owa

Thu Mar 19 and

MUSICSS

Scott & Rock Island

Counties

opping country

River Citiever Citiev s

Juried Youth Youth Y

young a

in the Io

for infor inf fofof r

Galleries

City, IA, Chaity, IA, Ch

aity

Fri Mar 20

ideas found on

the found o

n the f

Pinterest social m

edia site;

free; for infor inf fofof r

mation, call 309

-732-7369, Rock

Island Public Lib

rary - 30/31 Bran

ch, 3059 30th

St., Rock Island, I

L, RockIslandLib

rary.org, 6pm

Thu Apr 30.

May

Creation Studio

Drop-in: Folded

Page

Book Art, learn h

ow to fold the p

ages of a

fold the pages o

f a f

book book to spello spell

readd; f; free; ffor inor infor inffor inf

ffofof rmation, tion,

call 563-344-41

75, Bettendorf P

ublic Library, y, y

2950 Learning C

ampus Dr., Betten

dorf, IA, f, IA, f

BettendorfLibra

ry.com, 7pm Th

u May 7.

Creation Studio

Drop-in: Polaro

id-Style

Coasters, free; fo

r infor inf fofof rmation,

call 563-344-

4175, Bettendor

f Public Library,

2950 y, 2950 y L

Campus D

Music and The RMarch

Dapits spriyou tha

y late fofof r the Marc

h 20

concert with music

al legend and Roc

k & Roll

Hall of Famer Leon

Russell, whose lo

ng-awawa aited area ap

pearance fefef atured

an

opening set by are

a music maestro Ell

is Kell. WaWaW it, wh

ats that? YoYoY ure no

t late?

YoYoY ure reading this

hot o the presses

in advance of this F

riday niay nia ght? WeWeW ll .

..

never mind then!

Be sure to catch tha

t Leon RuRuRssell conc

ert! YoYoY u see w

those Reader lateco

mers miss out on?

! If, f, f however, r, r you y

ourself are on

latecomers, allow

to to say (a) ay (a) a sor

ry fofof r the joke, not

hing personal, an

are still loads of up

coming Redstone R

oom events to get p

syched abou

based rockers Roge

r Clyne & the Peac

emakers take the R

iver Music E

main stage on Mar

ch 25, while roots r

ockers e Bros. L

nd

frofrof m Canada fofof r th

eir M y 22

Shook Twins Twins T

April 16VISUAL ARTS

CCLLASASSESESS

Scott & Rock Island

Counties

March & April

Exhibition 2015

, seeking submis

sions

outh Art Show,

opening

w, opening

w

oung artist less

than 20 years o

f age who li

owa City Comm

unity

rmation, call 319

-338-4442,

ies Downtown,

218 E W

, IA, ChaitGalleri

es.com, T

ar 20.

MUSICRRTTSS

Scott & Rock Island

Counties

Scott & Rock Island

Counties

ublic Library, 295

0 y, 2950 y L

Campus D

ers e Bros. L nd

anada fofof r their M

y 22

opping

; $33-43;

atrecom, 7:3

0pm

, guest a

e-mail Lau

[email protected]

du or call 309-

ugustana

Scott & Rock Island

Counties

chopping

ublic Library, 295


Campus Dr., Bet

tendorf, IA, f, IA, f Bet

tendorfLibrary.

com, 5pm Wed

May 13.

Creation Studio

Drop-in: Refrige

rator

Magnets, make

magnets using m

agazine

apbook pape

ers e Bros. Land

reth trek

anada fofof r their Ma

y 22 ay 22 a Redstone Roo

m engagement. Be

ating bo

longest distance tr

avava eled, however, r, r ar

e the musicians of

Jakukuk bi, who are

May 20ay 20a s Summer

Camp Music Festi

val Pre-Partytyt and

hle

frofrof m Melbourne A

t l

, make magnets u

sing magazines

,

scrapbook pape

r, and mo

r, and mo

rre; free;

for for f

infofof rmation, cal

l 563-344-4175,

Bettendorf

Public Library, 2


Campus Dr.,

Bettendorf, IA, f, IA, f B

ettendorfLibrary

.com, 3pm

Mon May 18.

Creation Studio

Drop-in: Casset

te TaTaT pe

Pencil Box, re-po

rpose old casset

te tapes

and turn them i

o pencil b

Pre-Partytyt, and sch

lepping all

Melbourne, Austra

lia to do it. (Anoth

er Australian, the s

inger/song

Harper, also hits th

e Redstone Room o

n ApApA ril 4, but as h

es currently residi

Michigan, its a mu

ch shorter commu

te.) Among talent

s based closer to

bluegrass rockers o

f Galesburgs Frank

F. F. F Sydneys s WeWeW ste

rn Bandit VoVoV l

perfofof rm their CD

-release show on M

arch 28, the Colora

do-based fufuf nk-

outt Eufofof rquestr

a (a (a which started in

Iowa City) i

Steely Dan tribut

More than 450

Events MaySep

tember

2015 Summer K

ids Calendar I

nside

l ...

wnnd (b)

uE

.

MUSICEERR

Scott & Rock Island

Counties

opping

r; $33-43;

heheae.c

tring Q

chopping

aoe

Arianna String t

ngesidi g in

MUSICCCOONCNCEE

Scott & Rock Island

Counties

archwhat all

ne of tho

d (b) tut! AExpp

t

pall dler

Thehe

AdlerTheatre

, IA,

ar 19.Arianna

String e the wgwriter

esidi

DOWNLOA

D

OUR APPS TO

DAY

KWQC-TV

6

ON THE G

ONEW

SKWQC-TV6

ON THE G

O

tring Quartet, gu

est a

or infofof rmation e

[email protected]

du or call 309-

allenberg Hall, A

ugustana

ock Islan

String

concert; free; fo

r infor inf

Reid at laurenre

[email protected]

du or call 309-

794-7306, Walle

nbe

3520 7th Ave Ro

ck Islanesiding in

o home, the

lunteers

k-fufuf sion

tring Quartet, gu

est a

Arianna String

esiding in

At Modern Wo

odmen Park

209 S. Gaines S

t, Davenport,

IA

s Reader

set to 300 dpi re

solution, 4x 6

approximately;

please include a

n

Statement; $20 e

ntry fee; fee; f f

to submit, e-ma

il mfahearta

Bucktown

Davenpor

and Fri M

Call for E

Exhibition 2015sic and Movovo

ies Redston

e Room

ch through May

avava enports Redston

e Room has a

plethora of amazin

g events lined up i

n

ingtime schedule,

but Im sorry to tell

at youre already la

te fofof r the M h 2

0 Shook T

wins Twins T

, e-mail mfahea

wn Center for th

e for the f Ar

rt, IA, BucktownA

r

Mar 20.

or Entry: Under

20

Exhibition 2015

, seeking submis

sions All sum

mer long, the R

eader will be g

iving away a ch

ance to toss th

e

ceremonial rs

t pitch at ever

y Thirst-day Th

ursday home g

ame, plus a

4-pack of Band

its tickets so yo

u can bring you

r biggest fans

along, too.

Visit RiverCitie

sReader.com/p

itch and enter

to win!

Family Fun Guid

ePublish

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River Cities Reader Vol. 22 No. 884 June 11 - 24, 20152 Business Politics Arts Culture Now You Know RiverCitiesReader.com

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Things we want you to know: New Retail Installment Contract and Shared Connect Plan required. Credit approval required. Regulatory Cost Recovery Fee applies (currently $1.82/line/month); this is not a tax or gvmt. required charge. Add. fees, taxes and terms apply and vary by svc. and eqmt. Offers valid in-store at participating locations only, may be fulfilled through direct fulfillment and cannot be combined. See store or uscellular.com for details. $100 discount off the MSRP of iPhone 6. Kansas Customers: In areas in which U.S. Cellular receives support from the Federal Universal Service Fund, all reasonable requests for service must be met. Unresolved questions concerning services availability can be directed to the Kansas Corporation Commission Office of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection at 1-800-662-0027. Limited-time offer. Trademarks and trade names are the property of their respective owners. Additional terms apply. See store or uscellular.com for details. 2015 U.S. Cellular

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River Cities Reader Vol. 22 No. 884 June 11 - 24, 2015 3Business Politics Arts Culture Now You Know RiverCitiesReader.com

night-combat drills in abandoned buildings around the state.

In other words, freedom, or whats left of it, is being threatened from every direction. However, as history shows us, freedom is not, on the whole, wrested from a citizenry. It is all too often given over voluntarily and for such a cheap price: safety, security, bread, and circuses.

This is part and parcel of the propaganda churned out by the government machine. In order to develop a compliant citizenry, people must be forced to live in a mental matrix of words, ideas, ideologies, and teachings that are designed to make us conform.

As the Matrix in the movie was used to facilitate the exploitation of humans, writes author Henry H. Lindner, so the current ideological Matrix was created for, and serves to exploit us, turning us into unthinking workers and consumers slaves of the ruling elite who themselves are trapped in the Matrix. In fact, few of us are able to escape the Matrix. We do not even know it exists.

For there to be any hope of real change, Continued On Page 15

The more things change, the more they stay the same.Its a shell game intended to keep us focused on and distracted by all of the politically expedient things that are being said about militarized police, surveillance, and government corruption while the government continues to frogmarch us down the road toward outright tyranny.

Unarmed citizens are still getting shot by militarized police trained to view them as the enemy and treated as if we have no rights. Despite President Obamas warning that the nation needs to do some soul searching about issues such as race, poverty, and the strained relationship between law enforcement and the minority communities they serve, police killings and racial tensions are at an all-time high. Just recently, in Texas, a white police officer was suspended after video footage showed him manhandling, arresting, and drawing his gun on a group of black children outside a pool party.

Americans private communications and data are still being sucked up by government spy agencies. The USA

Freedom Act was just a placebo intended to make us feel better without bringing about any real change. As Bill Blunden, a cybersecurity researcher and surveillance critic, points out, The theater weve just witnessed allows decision-makers to boast to their constituents about reforming mass surveillance while spies understand that whats actually transpired is hardly major change.

Taxpayer dollars are still being squandered on roads to nowhere, endless wars that do not make us safer, and bloated government agencies that should have been shut down long ago. A good example is the Transportation Security Administration, which, despite its $7-billion annual budget, has shown itself to be bumbling and ineffective.

And military drills are still being carried out on American soil under the pretext of training soldiers for urban warfare overseas. Southeastern Michigan, the site of one of the many military-training drills taking place across the country this summer, has had Black Hawk helicopters buzzing its skies and soldiers dressed for combat doing

youll have to change how you think about yourself, your fellow human beings, freedom, society, and the government. This means freeing your mind, realizing the truth, and unlearning all the myths you have been indoctrinated with since the day you were able to comprehend language.

The following principles may help budding freedom-fighters in the struggle to liberate themselves and our society.

First, the governments primary purpose is maintaining power and control. Its an oligarchy composed of corporate giants wedded to government officials and motivated by greed, whose purpose is to perpetuate itself.

Second, voting is practically worthless. As Jordan Michael Smith, writing for the Boston Globe, concludes about the American government: Theres the one we elect, and then theres the one behind it, steering huge swaths of policy almost unchecked. Elected officials end up serving as mere cover for the real decisions made by the bureaucracy. Voting is a way to keep the citizenry pacified. It provides the illusion of

Slave or Rebel? by John W. Whitehead [email protected]

GUEST COMMENTARY

Ten Principles for Escaping the Matrix and Standing Up to Tyranny


Dems, GOP Still Have Much to Learn About Each Other

by Rich MillerCapitolFax.com

ILLINOIS POLITICS

After five months, youd think that the warring parties at the Illinois State-house would have learned something about each other. Instead, last weeks bitter and divisive House overtime session showed that they still fundamentally misunderstand one another.

What follows are some questions Im hearing and my own responses.

From Republicans: Why would the House Democrats propose such a weak workers compensation reform plan last week when they knew Governor Bruce Rauner wants so much more?

The Democrats plan didnt contain much real-world progress, and actually regressed in part. Unless you read between the lines. Workers comp insurance is essentially a no-fault system designed to keep disputes out of the courts. Republicans have for years attempted to insert causation into the system to weed out employees whose injuries are mostly not the fault of employers.

But House Speaker Michael Madigans bill used the term causal in relation to a certain kind of injury. This was a pretty good indication that after more than 30 years as speaker, Madigan is moving away from his complete opposition to causation standards.

The speaker appears willing to deal on this topic because he attached his language to a House bill that can now be amended by the Senate. If hed used a Senate bill, it wouldve been take it or leave it.

So build on the causation issue and ignore his other items that set the negotiations back. Its not rocket science.

From Democrats: Why wont the Republicans accept the fact that were moving in their direction, but can only go so far? Were not Republicans.

The governor believes that Republican legislators were far too content in the past to accept any crumbs the Democrats would offer. Those days are over. We now have a Republican governor who is demanding significant change. And with the session currently in overtime, hes not going to want to look like hes caving to Madigan, as so many of his predecessors did. The Democrats must keep moving toward the governors position or this thing aint ever gonna end.

From Republicans: Madigan hasnt moved an inch all spring. Weve retreated on dozens of issues, so why wont he give up a single priority?

He has. If you look at his floor actions as a negotiating process, Madigan has eliminated several of Rauners proposals from consideration by defeating them during floor votes. He did the very same thing to his

millionaires tax proposal. The Republicans interpreted the floor vote as an insult to the wealthy governor. Well, yeah, but its defeat also effectively took the issue off the table. Ignore the show business and look for progress.

From Democrats: Why did the Republicans go nuclear on Democrats in committee last week by claiming we were conducting a sexist smear campaign against one of their appointees who is drawing her $250,000 salary from a mostly unrelated state agency? Weve held plenty of similar hearings about Democratic governors. Its part of our budgetary-oversight process.

Yall were preparing to zing the governor with an over-the-top claim that he was stealing money from poor people in the Department of Human Services budget and giving it to his education czar. Other governors may have humbly prostrated themselves before you, but Rauner is unlike anything youve ever seen. Yeah, the administrations response was hugely over-the-top. But thats the way they roll. Have you forgotten the 2014 campaign already? These folks are stone-cold killers. And they aint changing. Plus, its just show business. Dont take it personally.

From Republicans: Madigan negotiated privately and in good faith on the Fiscal Year 2015 budget problem without all these silly floor votes and side shows. Why wont he just sit down with us now and hash out the new budget and the governors Turnaround Agenda?

There was some initial anger over the Good Friday Massacre, when the governor unilaterally cut programs that Madigan had inserted, including autism-assistance funding. But Madigan got over that because he had unilaterally put that money into the appropriations bill, so he figured he shouldve cleared it with Rauner. The tide changed in April. Why? Well, one reason is thats when local governments around the state began voting on the governors draft resolution in support of his anti-union agenda. That freaked out labor to no end. Eventually, I think, Madigan decided that Rauner was more interested in campaigning than governing and sided with his fired-up base.

Plus, Madigan is, um ... odd. He aint changing, either. You gotta figure him out if you really want a deal. If you dont want a deal, fine. Otherwise, start learning.

Rich Miller also publishes Capitol Fax (a daily political newsletter) and CapitolFax.com.

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Theres the gentlest groove and a trickle of thoughts, and then its gone a fleeting idea captured, with nothing extraneous.

That shows some of the difficulty Wauters is likely to encounter moving forward with music as a full-time endeavor. Despite the acclaim hes received, theres something ephemeral about his songs beyond their durations. Theres no denying that Grey Matter, for instance, is gorgeously catchy and warm, but the singer/songwriters no-linger rule has the commercial downside

of ... not lingering.I love to do it, and I want to do nothing

else but this, he said of recording and playing as a career. But I also want to do it my own way. I dont know if the two can coexist.

For a sense of what my own way means, consider that when I talked with him on June 4, he was working on his third solo album.

Actually, I just started, he said. I wanted to record everything live with other musicians in the studio ... and also do different versions laying tracks. And then after I have everything, choose. Id like it to be a combination of the two. ... I want this one to be a little more of a mixtape, a little bit all over the place.

Five live songs have been finished, along with three multi-tracked tunes. And whats his timeline?

We leave New York on the 17th, he said, but Im trying to finish a record before I go.

Juan Wauters will perform on Friday, June 19, at Rozz-Tox (2108 Third Avenue, Rock Island; RozzTox.com). The 9 p.m. all-ages show also includes GOSH!, The Multiple Cat, and Us-Mode, and admission is $6 to $12.

For more information on Juan Wauters, visit JuanWauters.com.

Juan Wauters has been called one of the most idiosyncratic and inven-tive songwriters in New York today (by the New York Observer), New Yorks great-est songwriter (by Impose magazine), and one of New Yorks most compelling singer/songwriters (by Spin magazine).

That praise would suggest a few things about the native Uruguayan, none of which appears to be true.

The plaudits for his songwriting hint at something aggressively sophisticated and artful, but the songs on his new Who Me? are uniformly easy-going simple, warm, and seemingly effortlessly charming. Of course, that doesnt mean they dont deserve the great notices; its just that theyre utterly devoid of pretension.

And as much as hes identified as a New Yorker, Wauters has a fondness for the Quad Cities and institutions such as Ross and Harris Pizza.

When he returns to the area on June 19 for a show at Rozz-Tox, it will in fact be a homecoming of sorts. Wauters recorded Who Me? (his second solo album after a run with The Beets) last year with Ian Harris at Futureappletree Studio Too, and he stayed at nearby Rozz-Tox during the two weeks of recording.

Wauters said in a phone interview last week that after doing a Daytrotter.com session in September or October, he decided to make Who Me? in the Quad Cities and returned about a month later. I wanted to do a record right away, he said. Its a little complicated, because I had been playing the songs for a while, and I didnt have that much time, and I didnt know the studio, so it was a little bit rushed. Although hed tracked some demos, many of the arrangements were done in the studio.

Except for some sax on the closing track, Wauters played everything himself, and the brief songs initially feel like sketches

with bare-bones instrumentation. (As Pitchfork.com noted, the album features 13 songs, all of which are less than three minutes long and several of which are less than two, played on about as many chords. Most of them are arranged for acoustic guitar, electric bass, and other things that can be rehearsed in the living room without bothering the neighbors.)

Despite Wauters admiration of the production style of Dr. Dre and the Doggystle album, his underplayed folk and brevity reflect a choice. I dont like songs to linger, he said.

Yet this wispy aesthetic creates the strong vibe of a different era. As Impose wrote: He is romantic and wistful, and the sound has a yellowy tinge, as if it was thrown through a time warp across continents.

The songwriting reveals itself slowly. The vocal phrasings of I Was Well, for example, are pleasantly lulling, yet the words deftly draw a multifaceted portrait of depression of torpor, of being too wrapped up in ones own brain, and of the view from outside that mind: Ive been thinking about sinking into bed. / Dont go out. / See the world from my pillow. / They say Im not well. / They tell me to find me a hobby.

On the 56-second Misbehave, Wauters shows how to turn piano, drums, and voice into something compelling if abrupt.

Artistry That Refuses to Lingerby Jeff Ignatius

[email protected]

Juan Wauters, June 19 at Rozz-Tox

Vol. 22 No. 884 June 11 - 24, 2015

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MUSIC


Winners from the Readers 2015 Photo ContestMany thanks to those who submitted entries to our 2015 photography contest, with the categories On the Waterfront, Schools Out, Summer in the City, and Hot Stuff! Our favorites are presented here, along with any comments from the photographer.COVER STORY

On the WaterfrontFirst PlaceJoseph MaciejkoI was making pictures of the winter sun on a black, volcanic sand beach in southeast Iceland on a cold winter morning. The beach was littered with icebergs that washed up after breaking off a nearby glacier into the ocean. I saw the opportunity to make a picture of the low, winter sun with its light fractured into a blaze of spectral colors as it passed through the ice in this small berg. I waited for the distant man on the beach to move below the water droplet suspended over him before making the picture.

On the WaterfrontSecond PlaceVicki Wassenhove

On the WaterfrontFourth PlaceJessica Kaskie

Summer in the CityFirst PlaceDavid J. GenacIn London.


On the WaterfrontThird PlaceMargaret Sherwin

On the WaterfrontHonorable MentionSebastiana FreiburgTaken in July 2014 after the Mississippi flooded.

On the WaterfrontHonorable MentionMonica Overberg Goodrick Friends at sunset, Camp Pendleton, San Diego, California.

On the WaterfrontHonorable MentionErling Larson III Taken in March 2015 along the California coast just north of Morro Bay.

Summer in the CitySecond PlaceTerry SkaggsBecause of road construction, we had the bridge to ourselves. We floated there for a time with the sound of a ballgame in the stadium on one side and music from Ya Maka My Weekend on the other. It was a dreamlike no mans land where the sunset roared in reds and golds. We were happily abandoned between two worlds, alone among the crowds. Continued On Page 16


I sat through Thursdays The Boys Next Door at the Richmond Hill Barn Theatre fascinated and per-plexed by the mix-ture of emotions I felt. Author Tom Griffins play about four men with various degrees of mental illness living together in a group home is a comedy, for sure. But director John VanDeWoestyne and his cast presented it in such a way that I wanted to Ha! and Aw-w-w! simultaneously during almost every moment. The piece is both funny and deeply touching, and much of the credit for that goes to the perfectly cast actors playing the titular boys. While it took time for a couple of them to win me over, by intermission, each one had me convinced that he shouldnt have been cast any other way.

Jonathan Graffts obsessive-compulsive Arnold is the first to appear, returning home with 17 items because the grocers took advantage when he asked how many lettuce heads one person would reasonably need. Arnolds disorder is written into his dialogue, as he talks a lot and oftentimes repeats words or phrases with an I repeat separating them for emphasis, and inappropriately employs names of diseases in conversation. (He repeatedly refers to a surprise party as an angina party.) Grafft, however, fleshes out the character with rigid posture and sharp body movements implying that Arnolds condition might actually be a form of Aspergers. Hes awkward but driven, and, thanks to Grafft, sympathetic.

Don Fausts Lucien is the lowest functioning of The Boys Next Doors roommates and, in my opinion, the most charming of the four. Faust is sincere in his role, and so utterly believable that I wouldnt have recognized the familiar area actor if not for his face. While my heart ached for all of the challenged men, it hurt hardest for Lucien, especially as he faced an accusation from the state that he was faking his disability. Through it all, Faust maintained a childlike joy in his inflections and facial expressions, instilling in Lucien a sense of innocence. (Hes also perfectly dressed by costumer Suzanne DeReu in sweatpants and a Cookie Monster T-shirt that reads Keep Calm and Eat Cookies, befitting Luciens mental age.)

Jordan L. Smith plays Norman, who falls somewhere between Graffts and Fausts disabled characters in terms of low- to high-functioning. Norman is able to hold down a job at a donut shop but unable to resist the free donuts hes given (and he has the excess weight to show it), and also has an obsession with a set of keys that presumably arent actually ever used. Smith

THEATRE By Thom [email protected]

Disability AssuranceThe Boys Next Door, at the Richmond Hill Barn Theatre through June 14

disappears into his role with blinking tics, slowed speech compared to the actors usual speech patterns, and a sort of small head bob that betrays his mental disability without Norman even speaking. (He also registers a believable look of temptation, and inner

struggle to overcome it, when faced with the prospect of eating another donut.) Norman is romantically interested in Sheila, a woman with similar disabilities whom Stacy Herrick plays with innocent wonder. But the performer also struggled to maintain a consistent characterization during Thursdays production, sometimes coming across as genuine and at other times seeming as though she were pretending to be a child in a way that patronized Norman.

Finally, among the roommates, theres Justin Raver as Barry, a schizophrenic who believes himself a golf pro. Given his particular disability, Barry could pass as normal, and thats exactly how Raver plays him to the point that I questioned his choice to not play to his characters disability at all. The interpretation made sense, though, when Barrys abusive father (Mike Skiles) visits and Barry shrinks, both physically and emotionally, into a silent, frightened, recoiling child in his fathers presence.

As the social worker taking care of the men, Victor Angelo makes clear that his Jack is burnt out in his job by way of almost emotionless deliveries of lines hes obviously repeated day after day. Jacks sentiments should be driven by sympathy for his charges, rather than that sympathy being but a minor undertone. Instead, Jack is going through the motions, with only fatigue, frustration, and disinterest registering in his inflections. Its obvious that Angelos Jack cares about caring for these men, as hes neither overly cold nor disconnected, but tired from the time and energy it takes to tend to them.

Awkward delays in transitions and pauses in line deliveries negatively impacted Thursdays pacing, and VanDeWoestynes dream sequence in which Norman and Sheila dance where they see themselves as poised dancers was hurt by costume changes that took too long. However, Richmond Hills The Boys Next Door was otherwise a charmingly funny success.

The Boys Next Door runs at the Richmond Hill Barn Theatre (600 Robinson Drive, Geneseo) through June 14, and tickets and more information are available by calling (309)944-2244 or visiting RHPlayers.com.

Victor Angelo and Jonathan Grafft


If you read the bio of Strangled Darlings on the duos Web site, youll get a hint of tension between capital-ized Art and something at the other end of the spectrum entirely.

First: Jess and George met at party in 2009, with their spontaneous duet of the Prince song Pussy Control.

Then: The songs work with nontraditional subjects for inspiration. Some song subjects include: the works of great authors (Faulkner, William Blake, Gabriel Garca Mrquez, Donald Barthelme, Anna Akhmatova) as well as witchcraft in the Civil War, the morality of Somali piracy, and the media impact of Neil Armstrong.

Into that mix you can throw in a clear understanding of the crass realities of the decentralized modern music business the need to get attention, and an acknowledgment that emerging bands have to tour relentlessly to build an audience.

All three of those basic elements are evident on the song Kill Yourself, from the upcoming album Boom Stomp King. Its a bright, cheery ditty on the one hand, with the title and matching refrain designed to generate maximum curiosity.

In a recent phone interview, singer/songwriter/mandolinist George Veech acknowledged some less-than-pure motives behind the song. The biggest fear of an artist is to not have an audience, to not be heard. I know damn well that saying Kill Yourself is taboo in a lot of ways, and Im not advocating [that], he said. It helps get attention. I got your attention now, and then lets talk about the actual details.

The track had its origins in a photo shoot, when Veech and singer/cello-bassist Jessica Anderly happened upon a thrown-out television with Kill Yourself scrawled on the screen.

But despite the cheeky title and airy tone, there are serious nested messages within. Most obviously, the song is an on-the-nose anti-consumerist screed, but Veech also directly ties it to mortality: Death / Death / Dont let them take it from you. / Its the engine of beauty and dignity, / Motivator of all we do. / Its a miracle, / Its why theres a God. / Its something you must embrace.

In e-mail responses to questions, Veech wrote that Boom Stomp King was written to reflect that concern about material objects as a shield against death.

And within that, the album reflects fear

By Jeff [email protected]

Harnessing Terror, GentlyStrangled Darlings, June 11 at Rozz-Tox

of Strangled Darlings decision two years ago to pursue music full-time, with the members ditching regular jobs and homes for life on the road in an RV. Bringing your dreams to the masses is actually terrifying, but terror is a potent artistic impetus,

and the lyrics of the album clearly are about leaving normal life behind and why that is so scary, he wrote.

Musically, the band has also transitioned, as Strangled Darlings shifted gradually from band to duo, and as Veech was more fully able to articulate and flesh out his songwriting ideas. When I was first writing songs, I would bring in a song and assume that everybody could just throw something down, Veech said. A lot of times, that led to a ... pastiche. ... It didnt have a singular vision. ... That got a little confusing stylistically as to what was going on.

Devil in Outer Space, the groups 2011 debut, could be called chamber folk, while the next years Red, Yellow, & Blue pared down the sound and made clear Veechs love of Tom Waits in being untethered from obvious genre, in the spooky, discordant sonic details of King of Kings, and in the woodsy waltz of Orange Peel. (Veech amusingly wrote: I try so hard not to let my admiration of Tom Waits come through the music. Its like having toilet paper stuck to your shoe. I mean, I would be very sad without the contributions that paper has made to my life, but its time to leave the bathroom and see what the rest of the house looks like.)

Boom Stomp King, despite the promise of the title, is a decidedly more refined, delicate, and precise affair, with all of those characteristics epitomized by opener Neil Armstrong. Without other band members or session players, Veech and Anderly rise to the challenge of creating vibrant musical life with just mandolin, bass, vocals, and occasional harmonica and percussion, with particular attention to vocal textures and groove.

The instrumental building blocks are particularly articulate in All We Do Is Make the Sound, which derives its power from each note and utterance shouldering weight yet remaining elegantly simple and supple. The evocative vocal layering on How Many Steps to the Moon is an impressive demonstration of the groups ability to

MUSIC

Continued On Page 15

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Good gawd is the Timber Lake Play-houses Hairspray fun. I went into Saturdays matine with eager anticipa-tion and left with a sense of thrilled enjoyment, float-ing on a cloud of happiness. Director Lili-Anne Browns production of this musical based on John Waters 1988 film is not only a helluva good time for us, but a rockin wild ride for Amelia Jo Parishs Tracy Turnblad, as Hairsprays lead goes from overweight sideliner to local-dance-show star to racial-integration crusader in 1960s Baltimore.

For a title chosen to kick off Timber Lakes big-themed summer (upcoming shows include The Big Meal, Big Fish, and Big River), I found myself most interested in the smaller things here. One of them was scenic designer Benjamin Lipinskis Rube Goldberg-esque contraption that Tracys dad Wilbur (Cullen Rogers) uses to change his joke shops Open sign to Closed, which involves a toy truck rolling down a track. Choreographer Zachary L. Gray also added one of my favorite minor bits in the Run & Tell That number, in which the black kids give the whites a lesson in rhythm at the record store of Motormouth Maybelle (Jasondra Johnson, who later takes the audience to church with her vocals on I Know Where Ive Been). The moment finds Tracy, her co-star Link (Samuel Leicht), and her best friend Penny (Rosie Upton) clapping on the first and third beats for a few measures, which the black kids notice ... right before they show the white kids how to clap, correctly, on the second and fourth beats instead.

Then theres Uptons Penny. While the character herself isnt small in terms of Hairsprays plot, it was Uptons subtlety that endeared me to her awkward, optimistic outcast; even when playing up Pennys spastic nerdiness, the performer does so with charming sincerity. When Penny first sees Eli Emmits Seaweed during a school dodgeball game and delivers a giggle thats a blend of infatuation and nervous giddiness, the moment is so fleeting that it could be missed, but also attests to Uptons ability to create character empathy in the tiniest of ways.

As for the biggest role (no pun intended), Parishs Tracy is charismatic, engaging, and beautifully voiced. Like most of the rest of the cast, Parish doesnt seem to draw from previous interpretations of her role, and instead relies on the script and her own smart choices to shape a unique Tracy. Shes spunky, yes, but also avoids condescending to those unlike her who dont like her except for Alexis Akers snooty Amber Von Tussle. Aker pulls off some laugh-inducing, self-

THEATRE By Thom [email protected]

Turn Your Hips and CoifHairspray, at the Timber Lake Playhouse through June 14

important zingers, such as using her time on The Corny Collins Show to elicit votes for Miss Teenage Hairspray by saying, A vote for me from you ... is a vote for me. (Grant Alexander Browns on-point showman Collins responds with a telling, hardly subtle What an

unexpected ad lib, Amber.)Tommy Bullington, as Tracys mother Edna, is

a crowd-pleaser, and rightfully so. However, and this is really just nitpicky, I wanted a little more from him, as he seems to waffle between playing the part with sincerity (ignoring that the role is performed in drag) and with full acknowledgment that hes a man playing a woman. His Timeless to Me duet with Rogers is notably touching and genuine though I thought the number screamed for a kiss at the end, and was distracted by thoughts about why one doesnt occur and the performer certainly deserved the increased applause Saturdays audience gave him during the curtain call. I wish, though, that Bullington would either bring that earnestness to the rest of his performance or go really big, and play Edna with more of a nudge-nudge-wink-wink approach to the drag humor.

Paige ManWarings Velma Von Tussle, Ambers mother and the producer of The Corny Collins Show, is similarly a bit off. Shes very physical in the role, in terms of being comically melodramatic, but seems more of a fool than a domineering shrew; I kept thinking she was channeling Joann Havrillas Prudence Pingleton from the 1988 film, minus the neurosis. ManWaring is funny, her characterization is consistent, and I loved her delivery of (The Legend of) Miss Baltimore Crabs, but personally, Id prefer a bitchier Velma.

Yet even with those minor complaints in mind, the Timber Lake Playhouses Hairspray is still a great production in terms of entertainment value, with every one of Grays ensemble dance numbers in a tie for my favorite one. (The Nicest Kids in Town must be the most cardiovascularly fit kids, too, given Grays nonstop series of dance steps drawn from the 1960s and the original Waters film.) I had a fantastic time revisiting Waters 1960s Baltimore and Tracys crusading ways so much of one that Im considering a return visit before the end of the shows run.

Hairspray runs at the Timber Lake Playhouse (8215 Black Oak Road, Mt. Carroll) through June 14, and more information and tickets are available by calling (815)244-2035 or visiting TimberLakePlayhouse.org.

Samuel Leicht, Rosie Upton, Eli Emmit, and Amelia Jo Parish


douchebags whod be getting some deserved comeuppance. It was about five insufferably entitled, obnoxious Hollywood douchebags whose most hedonistic dreams, week after week, would keep coming true. (Even Vincents notorious flop Medellin scored him limitless integrity points, and Johnny Drama got laid way more frequently than any charmless no-talent should.) Needless to say, millions of viewers lasted four-and-a-half seasons longer than I did, and now we have an Entourage movie, written and directed by series creator Doug Ellin. I hate-watched this, too. But if my screenings loud laughs especially when anyone, for any reason, said or shouted the F word and end-credits applause are any indication, fans will be ecstatic. Watch Adrian Grenier continue to play Vincent as the planets least charismatic mega-star! Watch Kevin Connolly continue to mistake whiny smugness for decency! Watch Kevin Dillon continue to make dumb-guy faces suggesting painful constipation! Except for Jerry Ferraras newly svelte Turtle, its all just another Entourage episode in super-size form, complete with louder Jeremy Piven yelling, more copious bare boobies, and a longer celebrity-guest list if Bob Saget, David Faustino, and Chad Lowe even still qualify as celebrities. There is no Entourage 2! shrieks an overjoyed Titus, to much applause, in Netflixs Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. There is no Entourage 2! Dont bet on that, Titus.

For reviews of San Andreas, Aloha, and other current releases, visit RiverCitiesReader.com.

Follow Mike on Twitter at Twitter.com/MikeSchulzNow.

Movie ReviewsSPY

Writer/director Paul Feigs Spy opens with an incredibly funny gross joke involving a sneeze, closes with an incredibly funny reveal involving a one-night stand, and somehow manages to stay incredibly funny in addition to smart and clever and sweet for most of the two hours in between. Its an action spoof about a gifted yet timidly self-conscious CIA desk jockey (Melissa McCarthy) who finally gets to release her inner Jane Bond, but the numerous vehicular chases and shoot-outs and danglings from helicopters are practically beside the point. Here, the comedy is the action.

I cant think of the last live-action movie in which the gags, for the whole of its length, were paced like those in a first-rate episode of The Simpsons, or more precisely Archer; when youre not laughing in Spy, its quite possibly because Feig merely wants you to catch your breath. Everyone is hilarious in this thing. McCarthy gets to be both hysterically polite (as in Feigs Bridesmaids) and hysterically coarse (as in Feigs The Heat), and her agent Susan Cooper a truly singular comedic creation is so effervescent a presence that everyone around her seems determined to breathe the same magical air. You feel it in the brilliantly breezy insults that fly between McCarthy and Jason Statham (delivering a riotous parody of Jason Statham machismo), and the dripping cynicism of Allison Janney as Susans supervisor, and everything to do with Rose Byrne, whose staggeringly blas contempt as a Bulgarian baddie had me wiping away happy tears. Add to this Jude Law as a suave and clueless American super-agent, the fierce British comedians Miranda Hart and Peter Serafinowicz, Bobby Cannavales hands-flailing run to his chopper, CIA

offices overrun by rats and bats, untimely pinkeye, unexpectedly handy stool softener, a Beaches wristwatch, and 50 Cent performing a concert in Budapest, and you have, in Spy, the thus-far most uproarious and inventive comedy of 2015. True, its about 20 minutes too long. If I ever complain about laughing for too many minutes, remember to smack me.

INSIDIOUS: CHAPTER 3Insidious: Chapter 3 isnt very good, but it is

somewhat inspiring and rather revolutionary: Can you name any other horror movie whose protagonist and chief ass-kicker is a woman in her 70s? Much of this prequel to 2011s stealth hit Insidious concerns a teenage theatre geek (the lovely and unforced Stefanie Scott) who, following a near-death experience, finds herself and her apartment complex visited by a malevolent demon from that Lynch-ian spiritual plane known as the Further. (Given her buildings structural resemblance to the Barton Fink hotel, with its puke-green walls and decaying hallways, shes lucky the demon isnt joined by John Goodmans shotgun-wielding psycho.) Yet because its a prequel, and because writer/director Leigh Whannell is no fool, that means that this continuation can also boast a terrific amount of screen time for the eternally luminous Lin Shaye, whose previously killed-off psychic Elise emerges as

this installments true heart and soul. Despite a few strong shocks and an unexpectedly excellent Dermot Mulroney performance, the film is a bit on the bland and pokey side, and while my crowd appreciated their antics, I

still dont get why the amateur ghostbusters played by Whannell and Angus Sampson have to be so overtly, and unsuccessfully, wacky. Every moment with Shaye, however, is a delight. With her haunted silences and gravely earnest readings that transcend camp, this septuagenarian wonder adds both depth and lightness to what couldve been a fairly standard creep-out, and makes you hope that Insidious: Chapter 3 isnt the last well see of Elise not when Shaye is clearly having so much fun racing about, navigating shadowy netherworlds, and provoking a black-clad specter with Come on, bitch! Lets see Judi Dench do that.

ENTOURAGEYears before the activity had a name, I hate-

watched the first three-and-a-half seasons of HBOs Entourage, which held a perverse fascination for me even though the raunchy sitcom never made me chuckle and nearly every episode left me angry. I finally stopped, though, when it became clear that Id been reading the show all wrong. It wasnt about five insufferably entitled, obnoxious Hollywood

CIA / ESP / WTF

Melissa McCarthy in Spy

by Mike Schulz [email protected] Mike Schulz [email protected]

River Cities Reader Vol. 22 No. 884 June 11 - 24, 201512

Whats HappeninMusicMarchFourth!The Redstone RoomThursday, June 18, 7:30 p.m.

According to Iowa Citys Little Village magazine, Some mad scientist somewhere took a bunch of marching-band geeks who died in a bus crash outside his castle, reassembled their bodies, laid them out on a platform, zapped it with a lightning bolt, and brought them back to life as a monster, all the while cackling as he admired his creation.

Thats author Yale Cohns description of the high-energy, genre-def

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River Cities' Reader - Issue 884 - June 11, 2015