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Document
 WORDS FROM THE EDITOR
C E LE B r AtE
It Takes Two to Party
E a stE r & ... or Be a Party to
M oth EAr ’s Day W hat are you willing to do to stop
At F r r A d dAys ’
Congress permitting the largest energy
companies, such as Exxon and BP, from
purchasing excessive numbers of oil-drilling leases
from the federal Department of the Interior’s
Bureau of Land Management in areas designated
for oil extraction? The oil giants then allow the
leases to remain dormant for the entire length of
EAstEr BrUNCH the contracts. Why? Because these drilling leases
Sunday, April 24 are bought specifically to prevent medium-to-
9:00am to 2:00pm small drillers from competitively extracting the
oil, thereby shrinking the oil supply, especially
MOtHEr’s dAy domestically.
Controlling the leases but letting them sit idle
BrUNCH
gives the oil giants even greater monopolistic con-
Sunday, May 8 trol of the supply of oil, guaranteeing maximum
9:00am to 2:00pm profits while eliminating thousands of American
jobs. Congress and the Bureau of Land Manage-
For information and reservations, ment are perpetuating America dependence on,
and further enriching, foreign countries, as well as
please call 563-441-7111. protecting big oil’s own considerable investments
in drilling sites abroad.
To top off this perfectly loathsome economic
policy, these same big-oil giants receive huge an-
ConneCt with us
nual taxpayer subsidies in the billions of dollars,
even though they enjoy obscene profits but pay
1777 Isle Parkway t Bettendorf, IA 52722 less than 5 percent in taxes – and, more often than
1-800-THE-ISLE t www.theislebettendorf.com
© 2011 Isle of Capri Casinos, Inc. Must be 21 to enter the casino.
not, no taxes at all!
Gambling a problem? There is help. And hope. Call 1-800-BETS-OFF. General Electric is another flagrant example
of the gross corruption of capitalism that ensues
when an industry leader aligns with the political
force of government to curry special privileges
that result in an insurmountable competitive edge.
Prior to Barack Obama’s election, GE was on the
GoingGoingGone brink of financial disaster. After Obama’s election,
GE received a huge bailout, and was awarded
Event game-changing government contracts – including
a medical-records system that would centralize
We dared to compare...
all medical records under Obamacare – as well as
a lucrative stake in trading the newly established
carbon-credit commodity.
VW has Toyota beat AND This is nothing less then the next greatest finan-
cial scam since derivatives that will financially pro-
costs thousands less! vide for GE and other “green” partners at taxpay-
ers’ expense well into the future. Put another way:
American taxpayers are GE’s unlimited revolving
line of credit. To add insult to injury, Obama re-
VW JETTA TOYOTA CAMRY cently named GE’s CEO, Jeffrey Immelt, the head
of his Council on Jobs & Competitiveness.
M.P.G. M.P.G. The above are classic examples of corrupting
capitalism via special privileges granted by govern-
Cargo Room Cargo Room ment to one or two companies at the expense of
all others. And yes, we have laws against such anti-
trust and price-fixing behavior, but the authorities,
2011 Volkswagen
Resale/Residual Resale/Residual whether elected or appointed, refuse to enforce
Jetta 2.0L S
them.
It is so important to understand that none of
M.S.R.P. M.S.R.P.
179/mo
these corporations could implement a scintilla
$15,995 $19,820
LEASE FOR JUST
$ of these self-enriching tactics without the full
knowledge and cooperation of the United States
government, whether through legislation or
%H:8JG>IN9:EDH>I#(+BDCI=!&%@B>A:$NGA:6H:#:ME>G:H*$&$&&#&...9J:6IH><C>C< regulation (or the lack thereof). The government
Volkswagen
is an active party to the bad practices that prevail
Just South of the in nearly every industry. It takes two to tango, so
OF QUAD CITIES Northpark Mall to speak. This same modus operandi is occurring
in all the major industries, including food, finance,
877-213-9810
energy, and communications. Union leadership is
up to its neck in it, as well.
I cannot understand the rank-and-file public-
VWOFQUADCITIES.COM sector-union members’ loyalty to union leadership
Business • Politics • Arts • Culture • Now You Know • RiverCitiesReader.com
by Kathleen McCarthy
km@rcreader.com
that also has a legacy of corruption, including
the gross mismanagement of pensions across
the board. This same leadership separated their
pensions from those of their members, and are
fully funded, while the rank-and-file pensions are
dangerously underfunded, landing them on the
Department of Labor’s critical list.
The union leadership has quietly asked
Congress for a bailout in the amount of $165
billion! It is unconscionable. How can the union
membership tolerate such conduct, and how does
continuing to pour millions of hard-earned dues
into such a flawed system benefit it? I am com-
pletely befuddled by this blind loyalty after such
horrendous stewardship.
It is time for all Americans, union and non-
union alike, to shed the myths we rely on to keep
our heads in the sand. Our best interests are not
being served by our government, or by the mo-
nopolies that control it. There is no more room for
making excuses. We all know it in our hearts.
We keep telling ourselves that someone will
fix it, make it right. Who do you think is going to
step up? The answer is you. One by one, we need
to educate and take action on a local level to bring
accountability. In some cases, it is as simple as
showing up at city and county meetings. In other
cases, it means using the court system, through
grand juries and class-action suits. In still other
cases, it means recalls and replacing politicians
with honorable stewards who will uphold their
state and federal constitutions’ mandate to protect
individual liberties via a republic, under the rule
of law.
Iowans for Accountability is a great place to
get involved in Scott County. Rock Island County
deserves and needs such a watchdog group, as
well. Positive change can happen, but it requires
the determined resolve of the people, regardless of
party affiliation, regardless of union status, regard-
less of private- or public-sector employment.
The ultimate common denominator is whether
you favor governance that protects the rights of
individuals, or governance that abdicates natural
rights to impose privileges for groups, whether
they’re special interests in the form of commit-
tees, communities, monopolies, unions, agencies,
foundations, non-governmental organizations,
financiers, or even foreign groups and interests
– including the United Nations, the Council on
Foreign Relations, and the International Council
for Local Environmental Initiatives.
It all boils down to one clear difference: indi-
vidual rights versus group privileges. Groups don’t
River Cities’ Reader • Vol. 18 No. 776 • April 14 - 27, 2011
have rights. Only individuals within groups have
natural rights, those endowed by the Creator – the
right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Groups are granted privileges by those empowered
to grant them.
A good way to look at it is that God-given rights
exist with or without a government. Privileges only
exist where there is a government to grant them
– or take them away. Natural rights are immutable,
while privileges exist at the whim of the grantor.
We have centuries of civilization providing irrefut-
able evidence that no system of governance that
places privileges of groups over rights of individu-
als can succeed. Such governance is inequitable by
necessity, requiring force to prevail. And we are
headed straight down that path.


River Cities’ Reader • Vol. 18 No. 776 • April 14 - 27, 2011 Business • Politics • Arts • Culture • Now You Know • RiverCitiesReader.com
 ILLINOIS POLITICS
Can Quinn Erase
Illinois’ Deficit?
C
aterpillar CEO Doug Oberhelman
seemed to be under the impres-
sion after his meeting last week
with Governor Pat Quinn that the state’s
income-tax hike would actually expire in
four years.
“The tax increase is temporary,” Ober-
helman told reporters, who wanted to
know how he really felt about the re-
cent tax hike. There’d been much media
speculation that the Caterpillar CEO was
so unhappy about the tax increase that
he might move his company elsewhere.
Oberhelman added that revenue growth
will be necessary to fill the gap, and “it’s
going to take some spending cuts,” which,
he said, he was confident that Quinn
could pull off.
After Oberhelman answered the
question, Quinn told reporters that the
“income tax is a
four-year situation,”
and said he wanted If the governor is
to “erase the deficit”
during that time. serious about putting
Illinois on a solid
Technically and
legally, the tax hike
financial footing, he
is temporary. Two
income-tax hikes
have been allowed
to expire in Illinois needs to find a lot
history, so it’s pos-
sible that this one more revenues and/or
will as well.
But the gover- make lots more cuts.
nor used phantom
revenues in his
most recent budget plan and proposed an
increase in state spending, not a decrease.
The Senate Republicans have laid out
the problem pretty clearly. And it’s quite
grim.
The Senate Republicans project the state
deficit will be $22.7 billion in five years.
I’ve had a problem with those numbers
because of some of the assumptions they
used. So I asked them to help me game
some additional projections using what I
considered to be more realistic assump-
tions, and they obliged.
First, toss out the governor’s $8.7-bil-
lion borrowing plan to pay past-due bills
(which doesn’t look like it can pass this
year). Then use House Speaker Michael
Madigan’s (relatively low) revenue and
spending projections for the coming
fiscal year. Then increase state spending
by 2 percent a year and project 2-percent
annual revenue growth, and let’s see what
happens.
What you’d wind up with is a $1.5-bil-
lion deficit during the last year that the tax
hike is in effect. But when that tax increase
goes away, Illinois will then be left with
Business • Politics • Arts • Culture • Now You Know • RiverCitiesReader.com
by Rich Miller
a $5.7-billion deficit. That’s about $1.3
billion higher than the deficit projected
for the end of the state’s current fiscal year.
Not good at all. Terrible, in fact.
Okay, that didn’t work, so let’s try again.
How about increasing spending by just
1.5 percent a year? You’d wind up with a
$524-million deficit during the last year
of the allegedly temporary tax hike, but
there’d be a $4-billion deficit the very next
year, after the tax hike had expired. Again,
that’s about where we are right now. Any
claims of budgetary restructuring would
be shown to be laughably false.
Last try. Let’s plug in zero spending
growth for four years. Illinois would have
a $2.5-billion surplus the last year of the
tax hike. Hooray! A year later, the surplus
would still be $1.1 billion, but the state
would also have a structural operating
deficit of $1.4 bil-
lion, and that deficit
would continue to
rise from then on
out. Bummer.
Also, zero growth
might not sound
all that difficult to
do until you realize
that pension pay-
ments, Medicaid,
and state-employee
and retiree health-
care costs are all
rising exponentially
every year. All that
spending would
have to be somehow reined in, or other
state programs – such as education, hu-
man services, and pretty much everything
else – would have to be viciously slashed
year after year. In five years, things would
be very bad indeed.
And considering the cold, hard fact that
state legislators as a general rule hate to
cut budgets, how can they be expected to
keep a tight lid on everything year after
year after year after year? They won’t do it.
Simple as that.
River Cities’ Reader • Vol. 18 No. 776 • April 14 - 27, 2011
The bottom line here is that if the gov-
ernor is serious about putting Illinois on a
solid financial footing, he needs to find a
lot more revenues and/or make lots more
cuts.
Caterpillar’s Oberhelman went out of
his way to heap praise on the governor last
week. And now Quinn needs to do what-
ever he can to keep his word. He obviously
doesn’t enjoy cutting the budget, but it
has to be done if he hopes to wipe out that
deficit by the end of his term.
Rich Miller also publishes Capitol Fax (a daily
political newsletter) and CapitolFax.com. 
 COVER STORY
Business • Politics • Arts • Culture • Now You Know • RiverCitiesReader.com
Collecting Stories
Aledo’s Deb Bowen Makes the Holocaust – and Its Survivors – Real to Children with “A Book by Me”
D
eb Bowen is the first to
admit that she didn’t
have a plan for what
has become A Book by Me, a
series of short books for chil-
dren, mostly about Holocaust
survivors, written and illus-
trated primarily by middle- and
high-school students.
“I don’t really know why
I took the initiative to do it
[initially], except that I felt their
stories were so important,” she
said last week.
The seed was planted in
2003, when she attended a
Yom HaShoah event so her
daughter could get extra credit
at school. There, she learned
that three Holocaust survivors
in the Quad Cities were all
named Esther. “I’d never been
to a synagogue before” that
Holocaust remembrance, said
Bowen, who’s a Christian.
Once the idea took hold, Bowen planned
three books – one about each of the Esthers.
At the outset, she said, the aim was to have
young authors talk to their subjects. But
after two were finished, the third survi-
vor – Esther Schiff – declined to speak.
“She wanted to, but she got a little fearful,”
Bowen said. “She started having nightmares
again.”
But at dinner one night, Bowen’s son
– who was eight at the time, she recalled
– said he’d like to try to write Schiff ’s story.
He did, and it was illustrated by a German
exchange student.
“At that point in time, I gotta say, I
thought that was my last book,” Bowen said.
“I just thought we were going to do the
three Esthers and [be] done. ...
“Then Alan Ross [of the Jewish Federa-
tion of the Quad Cities] said to me, ‘It’s time
to get some other stories, too, if you’re still
willing to do this.’” Bowen said he was par-
ticularly interested in getting books written
about American soldiers who liberated
River Cities’ Reader • Vol. 18 No. 776 • April 14 - 27, 2011
camps in World War II.
“I thought it sounded like a great project,
especially since it involved local survivors
and local kids,” Ross wrote in an e-mail.
“The personal and local connection was
very important. ...
“It is a very unique and important project
in the field of Holocaust education ... [that]
encompasses vital lessons for our troubled
world today,” he continued. “It has become
so popular locally that I thought it would
have merit in other communities through-
out the country and around the world.”
Five books – three about the survivors
named Esther, one about a righteous gen-
 and Illinois schools. She’s also looking for
Above: Author Quinci McIntire with Deb Bowen
tile, and one about camp liberators – were
distributed in 2006 to 200 schools and
libraries in nine Illinois counties.
Bowen’s project could have ended there
as a noble if modest endeavor. But in the
five years since the first books were put
in schools, Bowen has continued to help
students learn and write about the Holo-
caust through individual stories. A Book by
Me includes the tales of survivors, Christian
and Muslim righteous gentiles, and Ameri-
can liberators, and there are now roughly 60
books in the Holocaust series, with an addi-
tional eight in a civil-rights series. “A couple
of different kinds of stories came about, and
then it just kind of snowballed from there,”
Bowen said.
Outside of the initial five books, however,
the series hasn’t been distributed. “I’ve been
collecting them like some people collect
rocks or whatever,” Bowen said. “I’ve been
collecting my stories. ... ‘Oh my gosh, this is
an important story, too.’ That is the thought
that runs through my head every time I
hear a story now. ... My thoughts were, ‘I’m
glad I got this documented, and I don’t
know what I’m going to do.’”
She concedes that to this point, the proj-
ect has “all been volunteer, all by the seat
of my pants,” and without a way to get the
books into the world once they’re finished.
But Bowen has a plan now.
She and her husband have incorporated
Never Forget Publishing, and she has
branded the series and launched a Web
site (ABookByMe.com). One book will be
available as a free download, designed to
be a coloring book. She hopes to get grants
to distribute the series – particularly books
about local Holocaust survivors – to Iowa
financial assistance to offset the $250 cost of
preparing each book for publication.
Yet the ultimate goal, Bowen said, is
nationwide distribution to spread the word
about the project, so that more children can
meet Holocaust survivors before they pass
away.
“There are still a lot of survivors alive,”
Bowen said. “I know we’ve got about five
years left to get kids to be able to meet these
people. ... There’s still a chance right now
to have a great search for these important
stories and for kids to be able to have that
intergenerational connection. ... There is an
urgency now.”
“Those Camps Were
Not Good”
Even if Bowen doesn’t get the distribu-
tion she hopes for – “Funding is an issue,”
she said – it’s important to emphasize that
her project still has great value. While it’s
a shame that the finished books are in her
Aledo home rather than in schools and
libraries – a heretofore missed educational
opportunity – the process means much to
the authors and illustrators, as does the
finished product to the Holocaust survivors
and their families.
Bowen said that when Holocaust
survivors and their families are presented
with a finished book, “I feel like I’ve given
the whole family a gift.” For survivors, it
validates that their stories are important.
And because many survivors do not like to
talk about the Holocaust, the books record a
crucial piece of family history.
And while kids learn about the Holocaust
in school, A Book by Me gives students a
by Jeff Ignatius
jeff@rcreader.com
direct, personal connection to that chapter
of history. “This helps them understand it
in an individual sense,” Bowen said. Beyond
history and writing, she said it helps young
people develop emotionally. “They need to
come out of the bubble – ‘It’s all about me’
– and into, ‘Wow. Look what happened to
those people,’” she said. And “it makes them
become young learners.”
Bowen has a list of potential subjects and
stories from Yad Vashem – the World Holo-
caust Center in Jerusalem – and the United
States Holocaust Memorial Museum. But
she also lets students select their own
subjects. “If they choose,” she said, “they’re
going to get more excited.”
Quinci McIntire is a fifth-grader from
Aledo who’s just starting the process of
writing a book about Dina Gottliebova-
Babbitt, who survived Auschwitz and two
other camps. She painted a mural based on
the Disney movie Snow White & the Seven
Dwarfs, and her artwork brought her to the
attention of Josef Mengele, who had her
paint portraits of Roma prisoners before
they were killed. That assignment almost
certainly spared her life.
Quinci has decided to title her book Snow
White Saves Dina, and Bowen said that is
the first step in the process, “so they have
some ownership to the project. ... And they
do their about-the-author page, and then
they’re an author ... .” Quinci’s next step is
her author’s page, and from there, she and
her mother will highlight elements that they
want to include from the two-page biogra-
phy that is provided to all authors.
After that, Bowen instructs the author to
break up the story into three roughly equal
parts for the 10-page finished project: life
Continued On Page 17

Vol. 18 · No. 776
April 14 - 27, 2011
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MUSIC
Out of His Own Way
William Campbell, with the Maia String Quartet April 28 at St. Paul Lutheran Church
W
illiam Campbell can’t
recall why he became a
composer, but he does re-
member his piano lessons as a youth
in Tucson, Arizona.
In an interview last month,
Campbell recounted the questions
he asked of his Julliard-trained
teacher: “‘Why didn’t Beethoven do
this?’ And I’d play a little something.
And he’d be like, ‘Well, that’s not
what this piece is. Did you learn this
passage?’ And I’d play the passage,
and I’d say, ‘Yes, but why didn’t he
do this?’ ... I’d ask about motives and
things.”
That instructor was good at many
things, Campbell said – “He instilled
in me a sense of how to emote on
the instrument ... , technique, and
also to try your best no matter what” – but
he didn’t do much to encourage his pupil’s
creativity. The student brought in a piece that
he’d composed, and his mentor played a Rach-
maninoff prelude as a response.
The 41-year-old Campbell said that he never
presented another original composition to that
teacher, but three decades later, he is certainly
getting more affirmation. An associate profes-
sor of music theory and composition at St.
Ambrose University, he recently released his
first solo-piano album, Piano Songs. On April
28, he’ll debut his Piano Quintet with the Maia
String Quartet at St. Paul Lutheran Church
in Davenport. And in its 2011-12 season, the
Quad City Symphony Orchestra will perform
Campbell’s Coyote Dances in one of its Master-
works concerts.
His body of work includes orchestral and
chamber-music pieces, works for concert
bands, film scores, and liturgical songs. Beyond
his own output, he’s working to guide young
composers in the Quad Cities outside of St.
Ambrose. He suggested and helped judge
the Bettendorf Public Library’s Civil Rights
Songwriting Competition, and he held three
workshops for composers as part of the Quad
City Symphony’s “Mi-Do-Ri” Young Composer
Competition.
“I’m hoping that we can build on that,”
Campbell said. “My hope is that creativity
through music is really fostered in the Quad
Cities.” He dreams, for example, that in the
next few years the Quad City Symphony or
another ensemble performs pieces written by
young composers and orchestrated by college
students.
For those intimidated by classical music,
William Campbell. Photo by
Renee Meyer-Ernst.
Piano Songs is a welcoming introduction to
Campbell’s work. The 11 pieces are straight-
forward, accessible, and easily digestible. As a
composer and player, Campbell sketches his
moods expertly, and while not all the pieces
are bright, they have an undeniable warmth.
As their titles suggest, “Cold & Beautiful” and
“Dancing with Shadows” acknowledge dark-
ness without dwelling on it.
Campbell’s father listened to the great
symphonists of the 18th and 19th centuries
and bought his teenage son books on elec-
tronic music. Campbell knew of John Cage in
high school and began writing music in the
minimalist vein through self-discovery rather
than exposure.
In our interview, Campbell listed composers
he admires and those he’s met, and it’s a who’s
who of avant-garde and minimalism: Cage,
John Adams, Philip Glass, George Crumb, Ter-
ry Riley. He said he studied composition during
the transition from “this very cranial music to
music that’s more of the body. ... What I mean
by that is music that resonates with more than
just the thought process of the body.” Piano
Songs is certainly rooted in emotion, and it has
none of the alienating techniques that for many
people define minimalist and avant-garde clas-
sical music.
Despite the album’s title, there are no vocals,
and the “songs” are not meant to be sung over.
But Campbell said it’s still an appropriate name.
“The form of them is strophic,” he explained.
“Some of them it’s like verse-chorus almost,
some of them are through-composed. But
they’re classic song forms. ... These are songs.
They’re just songs without words.”
He emphasized, however, that Piano Songs
doesn’t imply that vocals are necessary. “I didn’t
Business • Politics • Arts • Culture • Now You Know • RiverCitiesReader.com
by Jeff Ignatius
jeff@rcreader.com
want anybody to think they were
without,” he said. “Because they’re
not. They’re complete statements in
themselves.”
The pieces in Piano Songs were
composed over five years and rep-
resent a shift in the way Campbell
handles his inspirations.
“For years what I did was: If it
was coming out, I’d look at it and
judge whether it worked within
whatever I was working on,” he said.
If it didn’t fit, he discarded it.
Piano Songs resulted from being
less self-censoring. “The more
important the piece is I feel ... to
my ‘overall output as a composer,’
sometimes the more difficult it is
to write, because I’m weighing each
note or passage,” Campbell said.
“Other pieces I’m going for a feel, and there’s
a freedom to it.” This album’s songs, he said,
fall in the latter category. “Some pieces to me
sound very much like the morning during
which I actually wrote the piece,” he said.
“They’re little pieces that I just accepted as they
came out. ... These pieces have taught me to
love everything as it comes out. ...
“I really tried to get out of my own way with
a lot of these pieces,” he added. “‘Winter’s
Thaw,’ for instance. That is really soft, really
quiet. It gets out of its own way, almost. It’s very
bare.”
In his full body of work, Piano Songs might
be relatively minor, but Campbell said the
collection “does capture a part of me that is
very real that is present to most people when
they meet me. Those songs I think are who I
am in many moments with people, whether
there’s a piano in front of me or not. ... I think
that there’s a positive, reflective nature about
those pieces that is always sort of with me. I’m
River Cities’ Reader • Vol. 18 No. 776 • April 14 - 27, 2011
an optimist – I hope cautiously so – and I try
to understand what’s going on around me at
any given moment. And I think that that clarity
comes through in each of those pieces.”
William Campbell will perform with the Maia
String Quartet for the debut of his Piano Quintet
on Thursday, April 28, at St. Paul Lutheran
Church (2136 Brady Street in Davenport). The
free performance begins at 7 p.m.
Piano Songs is available through iTunes and
CDBaby.com.
For more information on Campbell, visit
WilliamCampbellMusic.com. 
 BOOKS
Business • Politics • Arts • Culture • Now You Know • RiverCitiesReader.com
A Voice for the Voiceless
Heather Gudenkauf, April 16 at the Bettendorf Public Library
L
ike many people, Heather Gudenkauf
thought she had a novel in her. But that’s
where her story breaks from the usual.
She wrote that novel and got a literary
agent. And then she found a publisher
(Mira Books, an imprint of Harlequin
Enterprises) willing to give her an advance-
against-royalties deal. And then The Weight
of Slience sold more than 300,000 copies.
It’s rare enough for an aspiring author to
actually finish that
dreamed-of novel,
but in the book
world today, it’s
virtually unheard
of for a previously
unpublished writer
to have the success
that Gudenkauf
has found. “That’s
what I’ve been told,”
she said in a recent
phone interview, promoting her April 16
appearance at the Bettendorf Public Library.
The Dubuque, Iowa-based Gudenkauf
published her second novel, These Things
Hidden, earlier this year, and it debuted at
number 18 on the New York Times trade-
paperback bestseller list. (In its ninth week
on the list, it was 27th.)
In just two novels, Gudenkauf has
already established some literary signatures.
Both her books are topical – The Weight of
Silence deals with missing children, alco-
holism, and domestic abuse, while These
Things Hidden is concerned with aban-
doned children and adoption – and both
employ multiple narrators. A first draft of
her third novel, she said, is almost finished,
and it shares those calling cards.
To be clear, while Gudenkauf is clearly
interested in issues – the author’s note on
her new book talks about safe-haven laws
– her novels aren’t didactic. They read like
thrillers of the home, employing topics of

*-
social importance but primarily interested
in character and family dynamics. “We
don’t always put our kids first ... or even
listen to our kids like we should,” Guden-
kauf said. The 40-year-old author still works
River Cities’ Reader • Vol. 18 No. 776 • April 14 - 27, 2011
as a literacy coach, and that educational
background is apparent in her books. “My
primary objective was to give a voice to the
voiceless,” she has been quoted as saying.
And in The Weight of Silence, published in
2009, that was literal.
Gudenkauf thrusts the reader imme-
diately into the tale of two missing girls,
one of whom hasn’t spoken for years. The
author said she liked the idea of “a character
who disappears into the woods and her best
friend is gone, too, and she’s the only one
who comes out but can’t tell anybody exact-
ly what’s going on. I thought that would add
 another layer of mystery to the story ... .”
by Jeff Ignatius
jeff@rcreader.com
The prologue – which chronologically
comes about
MOLINEtwo-thirds the way through
DISPATCH 3/22/2011 12:57:01
CUSTOMER: INDIGO PROOF TIME PM
the storyPUBLISHING
– sets a tone of urgency:
COMPANY, “LouisL.L.C.
and I see you nearly at the same time. In REP ID: 710 FIRST RUN: 04/07/11
the woods, through the bee trees whose
heavy, sweet smell will forever remind me of
this day, I see flashes of your pink summer
nightgown that you wore to bed last night.”
That opening reflects how Gudenkauf
writes her books. “Typically, I start right
in the middle of the story ... ,” she said.
“And then I work forward and then I work
backwards and really try to pull the pieces
together. ... I just start where I’m really
interested and where I have that spark. ...
Don’t worry about the logistics of begin-
ning, middle, and end. It will get there. That
really seems to work for me.”
Gudenkauf is particularly skillful with
point of view. In The Weight of Silence, the
story of Calli – the mute girl – is delivered
in the third person, while the remaining
characters tell their tales in the first person.
“She didn’t speak for herself through the
bulk of the book, and it makes sense for her
to have her story told for her,” Gudenkauf
explained. Ben, Calli’s older brother, directs
his narration to Calli, and his juvenile con-
cerns and memories are detailed and pitch-
perfect. The author gives her narrators the
freedom to roam through their pasts, and
the digressions – while undeniably exposi- New to Indigo? Bring in this ad for 1 Free Class (limit 1 per person
drop in classes only)
tory – feel like products of the characters’
minds rather than authorial intrusions. Sign Up Classes:
309-764-YOGA (9642)
(While her descriptions, narrative drive, t
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and anecdotes are strong, her dialogue to
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Gudenkauf wrote the first draft of The 4FF
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Weight of Silence over her summer break in
2005. “It’s always been in the back of mind
to write a story,” she said. “That summer, I
just thought, ‘Now or never.’” That winter
she sent the finished draft to a literary 7JFX
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agent, and after a year and a half revising XXXJOEJHPXFMMOFTTJOGP 
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the book, they began shopping it to publish-
ers – a process that took another year and
a half.
There’s little in Gudenkauf ’s background
that hinted that she would become a suc-
cessful author. (She pointed to a lifelong
love of reading.) But she said that being
born with a severe hearing impairment in
her left ear might have have helped sharpen
her skills: “It caused me to sit back and
watch and be more observant than maybe I
would have been otherwise.”
Heather Gudenkauf will lecture, read from
her work, and answer questions on Saturday,
April 16, at 2 p.m. at the Bettendorf Public
Library (2950 Learning Campus Drive).
For more information on Gudenkauf, visit
HeatherGudenkauf.com.
 2011VE_RCRad:Layout 1 4/7/11 3:54 PM Page 1

Business • Politics • Arts • Culture • Now You Know • RiverCitiesReader.com

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776 Reader Pages.indd 9 4/12/2011 6:04:08 PM

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River Cities’ Reader • Vol. 18 No. 776 • April 14 - 27, 2011

10

776 Reader Pages.indd 10 4/12/2011 5:32:30 PM

 Business • Politics • Arts • Culture • Now You Know • RiverCitiesReader.com
Movie Reviews by Mike Schulz • mike@rcreader.com

Moore, or Less?
ARTHUR that; Ronan runs, and Blanchett and her cronies
chase. (Reasoning for Hanna’s superhuman
There were better comedies released in strength and the operative’s single-minded obses-
the ’80s, to be sure. But I don’t think I have a sion is given, and of no real consequence.)
stronger affection for any of them than I do for Yet revved up by The Chemical Brothers’ frisky,
1981’s Arthur, writer/director Steve Gordon’s inventive score, the movie’s still a good time. Com-
screwball-farce throwback that featured Dudley ing from Wright, it’s also a surprising time, consid-
Moore’s drunken multi-millionaire sharing ering that after Atonement and The Soloist, he was
brilliantly barbed repartee with caretaker John beginning to look incapable of making anything
Gielgud. Consequently, I came dangerously close that didn’t smell of Oscar bait. Here, though, his
to booing when I first expert pacing and
saw the preview for frequently unusual
director Jason Winer’s compositions keep the
Arthur remake. True, mindlessly engaging
Russell Brand seemed action zipping along,
the only logical choice and the movie features
to fill Moore’s (diminu- wonderfully eccentric,
tive) shoes, and while grin-inducing details,
Gielgud is irreplaceable, such as the shot of
Helen Mirren seemed Blanchett, gun in
a reasonable enough hand, emerging from
sparring partner. But,
I mean, come on – is Russell Brand and Helen Mirren in Arthur the mouth of the Big
Bad Wolf. (Being a
nothing sacred?! Wright film, Hanna also features the de rigueur
Consider me delighted, then, that Winer’s new Endless Tracking Shot, an admittedly spectacular,
Arthur isn’t as cynical and uninspired as its pre- one-take sequence that finds Bana being tailed
views suggested, and grateful that the movie is from an airport terminal to a subway station.) But
only run-of-the-mill poor, as opposed to actively Ronan remains the best reason to see the movie,
awful. The baby-voiced Cockney squawk that with her tentative, enigmatic fragility and rather
Brand employs for his drunk routines takes some shocking ferocity helping fill in the blanks on a
getting used to, and while several exchanges sketchy character. I don’t need to see the movie
follow Gordon’s script nearly line-for-line, Peter again, but if Wright wants to recruit Ronan, Chloë
Baynham’s generically functional screenplay Grace Moretz, and Hailee Steinfeld for the follow-
drops a bunch of the original film’s more enjoy- up Hanna & Her Sisters, I’m totally there.
able and biting fringe bits, replacing them with
expectedly PC alternatives. (The only thing
that saves Arthur’s first visit to an AA meeting BORN TO BE WILD 3D
is his incredulous swipe: “This makes me want A busier-than-usual weekend kept me from the
to drink more.”) Still, it’s bearable enough. The medieval stoner comedy Your Highness and the in-
movie has a lot of fun – more than the previous spirational surfing drama Soul Surfer (now there’s
Arthur did, actually – with its lead’s mind- a double-feature), but I was able to squeeze in the
boggling wealth, and despite their gags being nature documentary Born to Be Wild 3D, cur-
frequently sub-par, there are game comic turns rently playing at the Putnam Museum & IMAX
by Jennifer Garner, Nick Nolte, Luis Guzmán, Theatre and on Rave 53’s IMAX screen. And
and Zooey-Deschanel-in-training Greta Gerwig. running a brisk 40 minutes, the film is an ideal
And while Mirren appears uncharacteristically entertainment for when you’ve got a bit of time to
glum (maybe her material was depressing her), kill between other activities – a perfectly pleasant
Brand’s more off-kilter readings do make you excuse to chill out with adorable animals and the
chuckle. Arthur is mostly a bummer, but it’s hard dulcet baritone of Morgan Freeman. Director
to fully begrudge a movie in which its sloshed David Lickley’s outing follows two naturalists as
hero offers his ex-girlfriend a conciliatory check they care for orphaned orangutans and elephants
for $999,000 and casually explains, “I thought a in Borneo and Kenya, and it almost manages to
million would be vulgar.”

River Cities’ Reader • Vol. 18 No. 776 • April 14 - 27, 2011

make last spring’s Babies look like Taxi Driver.
The movie isn’t wholly devoid of danger (one baby
HANNA elephant charges its new captors with understand-
able aggression), but overall, this happily unthreat-
Saoirse Ronan’s piercing blue eyes carry the day ening, unchallenging work is cute as can be, with
in director Joe Wright’s Hanna, a fairytale action our plucky little orphans enjoying their playtimes
thriller that’s at least a stronger vehicle for the teen and mealtimes and sponge baths and such. I’ll
actress than the fairytale World War II epic The admit that even at less than an hour, my attention
Way Back and the fairytale serial-killer drama The began to wane around the movie’s halfway point.
Lovely Bones. Raised in wintry isolation by her Yet there’s always something enjoyable to look at,
father (Eric Bana) and trained to be a forceful yet and thankfully, Born to Be Wild never shoves its
smoothly efficient killer, Ronan’s title character lovability down our throats. When we’re already
plays cat-and-mouse with Cate Blanchett’s venom- watching a baby orangutan getting tucked into
ous CIA operative, and despite a few narrative bed with a lullaby and his blankie, why would it
detours, there’s precious little to the movie beyond need to?

Listen to Mike every Friday at 9am on ROCK 104-9 FM with Dave & Darren
11
 Business • Politics • Arts • Culture • Now You Know • RiverCitiesReader.com
What’s Happenin’
Event
Cirque du Soleil’s Dralion
i wireless Center
Tuesday, April 19, and Wednesday, April 20
Y ou ever have one of those work days where
you just feel like ditching it all and joining the
circus? I’m kind of having one today. So with the
impending area arrival of internationally renowned troupe Cirque du Soleil
and its touring smash Dralion – being performed at the i wireless Center on
April 19 and 20 – I thought I’d take a look at some of the production’s circus
acts and see which one I’m going to audition for.
Let’s see ... . According to CirqueDuSoleil.com, Dralion features the
“Aerial Pas de Deux,” in which a couple is suspended over the stage in a
band of blue cloth, performing “various acrobatic figures that demand great
feats of strength and agility.” Hmm. Just gonna check over the others before
Music
There’s the “Bamboo Poles” segment, in which “six men heartfelt,
balance long decorative poles” and “keep the poles ‘in flight’ musician
overhead while performing acrobatic feats on the ground.” composi
Okay. Good option. An Evening with Mason Jennings Perfor
There’s “Hoop Diving,” in which “10 male artists throw The Redstone Room on April
themselves like arrows through small wooden hoops.” Jennings
O-kay.
Friday, April 22, 8:30 p.m. produced
Maybe “Medusa”? “Artists execute graceful and lithe
movements which emphasize their extreme flexibility and
balance.” O n singer/songwriter Mason Jennings’ Web
site (MasonJennings.com), the acclaimed
folk rocker and acoustic guitarist states: “I guess
“Trampoline”? “Artists cascade perilously through the air
performing spectacular stunts at a dizzying pace.” I have come to the point in my life and my art
“Single Hand-Balancing”? Nope. Not even going there. where I just want to make music that I love and
A-ha! “Skipping Ropes”! “A children’s game familiar to everyone ... ” – I not mess with it. If people dig it: cool. If not: cool.”
can do this! – “ ... the skipping rope takes on a new dimension in Dralion as I feel exactly the same way about my writing ...
the artists perform flips, make pyramids, and even form a human column.” with the exception being that if people don’t dig it,
You know, I guess I could always keep my job and just watch Cirque du I go off into a dark room and cry.
Soleil ... . To be honest, you might feel like doing the magazin
If you’re thinking the same thing, Dralion tickets are available by calling same after listening to some of Jennings’ more

Theatre
making a hasty choice. (800)745-3000 or visiting iwirelessCenter.com.

Music
Memorial Union on April 27. Happily for the
rest of us, both their performance and that
of openers The Walkmen are collegiate perks
The New Pornographers that the public (for $24) can share in as well.
Together, the highest-ranking of the group’s Lady Winderemere’s Fan
albums thus far (number 18 on the Billboard St. Ambrose University
charts), the critics and the public appear to be Friday, April 15, through Sunday, April 17
enjoying a rare moment of agreement.

Originally formed in Vancou-
& The Walkmen ver in 1997, The New Pornog-
Iowa Memorial Union raphers and their infectious
Wednesday, April 27, 8 p.m. power-pop stylings were critical
hits right out of the gate, with the
As for The Walkmen – frequent touring
artists whose songs have been heard in such
films as Spider-Man 3 and In Bruges – the
American indie-rock band is experiencing
a career trajectory much like that of their
T
he great Irish wit Oscar Wilde was quoted as saying: “A
little sincerity is a dangerous thing, and a great deal of
it is absolutely fatal.” Also: “A man can be happy with any
woman as long as he does not love her.” Also: “America is the
only country that went from barbarism to decadence without

N ot to get all bitter-mid-

dle-aged-man on you
here, but university students
today have it so sweet. New
fields of study ... new recre-
ation facilities ... New Pornographers ... .
That last mention, at least, is something
that students at the University of Iowa will to
be treated to when the indie rockers of The
New Pornographers (pictured) – led by song-
writer Carl Newman, and including popular
solo artist Neko Case – play the school’s Iowa
River Cities’ Reader • Vol. 18 No. 776 • April 14 - 27, 2011
band’s first three albums each
ranking in the top 40 on Village
Voice’s annual best-of-the-year
polling of hundreds of music re-
viewers. With Blender magazine,
in 2007, naming the group’s Mass
Romantic the 24th best indie album of all
time, and with Rolling Stone, in 2009, ranking
Electric Version one of “the 100 Best Albums
of the Decade,” The New Pornographers have
continued to enjoy the critics’ adulation. And
with the musicians’ most recent CD, 2010’s
Iowa Memorial Union companions; the
group’s own 2010 album, Lisbon, is the most
successful in its history (number 27 on the
Billboard charts). It’s cool that the University
of Iowa booked them, but really, these student
perks are getting out of hand – when I was
in college, I only had one Walkman, fer Pete’s
sake ... .
For more information or tickets to The New
Pornographers’ and The Walkmen’s Iowa City
concert, call (800)745-3000 or visit ScopePro-
ductions.org.
civilization in between.” And people think I’m bitchy.
Yet for all of Wilde’s cynicism, the man could also be
lyrically, wonderfully funny, as audiences will discover,
or re-discover, when St. Ambrose University stages Lady
Windermere’s Fan in the Galvin Fine Arts Center April 15 through
comedy of manners, the show will find its student performers – am
the pictured Aaron Randolph III, Sidney Junk, Jonathan Smith, an
Kochanny – enacting Wilde’s farcical tale of adultery, scheming fa
bers, and a woman’s attempt to buy her way into high society. And
Corinne Johnson setting this 1892 work in the 1930s, the product
new interpretation of a timeless entertainment, one that predated

Join us for the

American
Cancer Society
Relay for Life of April 30, 2011
12 p.m. noon – 12 a.m. midnight
Scott County Brady Street Stadium, Davenport
Register online at
www.relayforlife.org/scottcountyia
12

, haunting songs – or would, if the raw and real as the writing itself,” while American
n’s plaintive vocals and soulfully honest Songwriter lauded the artist for “possessing a rare
itions weren’t also so invigorating. talent for describing, without pretension, both
orming at Davenport’s Redstone Room earnest longing and his struggle to understand
22, the Honolulu-born, Pittsburgh-bred life’s intertwined pain and beauty.”
s released his self-titled, independently
d debut album in 1997, subsequently
But if you’re unfamiliar with Jennings’ talents,
don’t feel compelled to merely take the critics’
treating fans to eight ad- word for it – pop over to the Redstone Room’s
ditional CDs, including Web site and listen to the man’s acoustic perfor-
such critically lauded mance of “The Field,” a parent’s mournful lament
titles as 2002’s Century for a son killed overseas. It’s a beautiful ballad,
Spring, 2006’s Boneclouds, but in addition to stocking the bar, the Davenport
and last year’s Live at venue may want to consider setting up a Kleenex
First Ave. And by all concession.
means, you should Tickets to Mason Jennings’ area concert are
consider music critics $25 in advance and $28 on the day of the show,
among those fans; Paste and can be reserved by calling (563)326-1333 or
ne called Jennings’ album Blood of Man “as visiting RedstoneRoom.com.
legendary The Importance of Being Earnest by 13 years.
Yet as you’ll soon see (and hear), Wilde’s endlessly quotable cleverness was
already in full swing with Lady Windermere’s Fan. Just how quotable is that clev-
erness? Let’s examine. Of the following, which of the following is not a Wilde-ism
uttered in St. Ambrose’s latest production?
1) “Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes.”
2) “I am the only person in the world I should like to know
thoroughly.”
3) “I can resist everything except temptation.”
4) “I don’t care what is written about me so long as it isn’t
true.”
5) “Life is far too important a thing ever to talk seriously
about it.”
6) “My own business always bores me to death. I prefer other
people’s.”
h 17. A classic Lady Windermere’s Fan will be performed at 7:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday
mong them and 3 p.m. on Sunday, and tickets are available by calling (563)333-6251 or visit-
nd Amanda ing SAU.edu/galvin.
amily mem-
d with director would have totally hooked up. Or, you know, maybe not.
tion will offer a Dorothy Parker. If she’d been born 40 years earlier, I bet she and Wilde
its playwright’s Answer: 4. That one is actually attributed to the great American wit
Theatre
Sweeney Todd
Harrison Hilltop Theatre
Thursday, April 21, through Saturday, May 14
(To be sung to the “Ballad of Sweeney Todd”
prologue.)
Attend the tale of Sweeney Todd.
The cash you’ll spend won’t be a wad.
I’m telling you, ladies and gentlemen,
That Harrison Hilltop has done it again.
This Sondheim show is truly mod.
It’s Sweeney Todd,
The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.
Its co-director is Jason Platt,
With Tristan Tapscott sharing that hat.
And with Tom Walljasper in the lead,
A couple of castmates are certain to bleed.
In Sweeney,
In Sweeney Todd,
The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.
Hear that classic score, patrons!
Hear those voices ri-ise!
Hear them ’fore the chorus becomes
Meaty pies.
So grab your friends and reserve some tix,
’Cause if you’re needing a musical fix
This bloody-good time is surely the one –
Oh, cannibalism was never so fun!
That’s Sweeney.
That’s Sweeney Todd,
The Demon Barber of Fleet ...
...
... Street.
Sweeney Todd runs at the Harrison Hilltop Theatre April
21 through May 14, and tickets and available by calling
(563)449-6371 or visiting HarrisonHilltop.com.
Business • Politics • Arts • Culture • Now You Know • RiverCitiesReader.com
by Mike Schulz
mike@rcreader.com
What Else
Is Happenin’
MUSIC
Thursday, April 14 – The Miró Quartet. Award-win-
ning ensemble performs selections from Brahms, Glass,
and Haydn, in a Hancher Auditorium concert presenta-
tion. Riverside Recital Hall (405 North Riverside Drive, Iowa
City). 7:30 p.m. $10-30. For tickets and information, call
(319)335-1160 or visit http://www.Hancher.UIowa.edu.
Friday, April 15 – Tom Sadge as Neil Diamond. Imper-
sonator performs the pop star’s greatest hits. Quad-Cities
Waterfront Convention Center (1777 Isle Parkway, Bet-
tendorf). 7:30 p.m. $10-15. For tickets and information, call
(800)724-5825 or visit Bettendorf.IsleOfCapriCasinos.com.
Saturday, April 16, and Sunday, April 17 – Quad
City Symphony Orchestra. The sixth and final
Masterworks concerts of the season, with Mark Russell
Smith conducting, guest violinist Midori, and a program
featuring pieces by Toch, Stravinsky, and Beethoven.
Saturday: Adler Theatre (136 East Third Street, Davenport),
8 p.m. Sunday: Augustana College’s Centennial Hall (3703
Seventh Avenue, Rock Island), 2 p.m. $12-52. For tickets,
call (800)745-3000 or visit QCSymphony.com.
Sunday, April 17 – Hersong Spring Concert: What
Matters? The 23rd-annual fundraising concert by the
Quad Cities’ women’s vocal ensemble, with proceeds
benefiting area anti-bullying programs. Davenport Unitar-
ian Church (3707 Eastern Avenue, Davenport). 3 p.m. $10.
For information, call (309)737-9898 or e-mail hersong@
earthlink.net.
Sunday, April 17 – Semenya McCord. Jazz vocalist
performs and educates as part of Polyrhythms’Third Sun-
day Jazz Matinée & Workshop Series. The Redstone Room
(129 Main Street, Davenport). All-ages jazz workshop: 3
p.m., $5 per adult, children free. Concert: 6 p.m., $10-15.
For tickets and information, call (309)373-0790 or visit
Polyrhythms.org and RedstoneRoom.org.
Friday, April 22 – Tommy Cash: A Tribute to Johnny
Cash. Tommy performs songs made famous by his
legendary brother. Quad-Cities Waterfront Convention
Center (1777 Isle Parkway, Bettendorf). 7:30 p.m. $10-15.
For tickets and information, call (800)724-5825 or visit
Bettendorf.IsleOfCapriCasinos.com.
Continued On Page 16
River Cities’ Reader • Vol. 18 No. 776 • April 14 - 27, 2011
13
 THEATRE
Business • Politics • Arts • Culture • Now You Know • RiverCitiesReader.com
Considerably-Better-Than-Fair Verona
Romeo & Juliet, at the Center for Living Arts through April 17
T
here are moments of magic in the
Prenzie Players’ Romeo & Juliet,
beginning with the first words heard
in the prologue: “Two households, both alike
in dignity, in fair Verona, where we lay our
scene.” These lines are delivered in the midst
of a sword fight that spreads across the acting
space – the fighters freeze, ethereal music
wafts in from above, and Adam Overberg
delivers Shakespeare’s well-known introduc-
tion, setting the stage for this tale of ill-fated,
star-crossed lovers. The moment is stunningly
executed, and sets in motion an excitement
for what’s to come.
I have longed to see the Prenzies take on
the tale of Romeo and Juliet since first experi-
encing the group’s work in 2008’s The Taming
of the Shrew. For this production, directors
Tracy and Kristin Skaggs choose to set Verona
in a Latin or South American country, a deci-
sion evident in Kristin’s costumes and Tracy’s
choice of music,
particularly during the
party in which Romeo
first sees Juliet. And
with Stephanie Moeller
and Adam Overberg in
the title roles, the play
features two leading
performances that de-
lighted me to no end.
Moeller’s Juliet is
unlike any portrayal
of the character I’ve
seen. Hers is not the
unplucked flower that
I’m accustomed to
in representations of Stephanie Moeller
Shakespeare’s young
girl. Instead, her Juliet is headstrong and
independent, not merely enamored with
her Romeo, and at the play’s finale, I was
uncertain whether Juliet chose her tragic end
because she truly loved Romeo, or because
she wanted to escape her overbearing parents
who demanded that she marry another. (If
this Juliet couldn’t live life her own way, she
didn’t want to live at all.) That being said,
Moeller’s climactic moment of anguish when
she awakens from her deathlike slumber is
River Cities’ Reader • Vol. 18 No. 776 • April 14 - 27, 2011
convincingly strong, leaving no doubt that
this young woman truly mourns her lover’s
death, whether or not she really loves him.
In contrast, Overberg’s Romeo is fully over-
whelmed by Juliet. The actor is exceptional
at portraying the change in this young man
after he becomes infatuated with this young
woman; oblivious to the familial relationships
(and hardships) around him, he appears to
see no one but Juliet. Meanwhile, when he’s
shaken from his love-filled dream, Overberg
is credibly impetuous, as is common with
men of Romeo’s age. There is a distinct dual-
ity between Overberg’s “everyday” Romeo
and his smitten one.
14
by Thom White
While Romeo & Juliet is the quintessential
tale of love, I’ve long questioned the reality of
the love at the core of Shakespeare’s story: Can
two people really find true love in a single
meeting? A love so strong that, four days after
their introduction, they’re willing to take their
lives for each other? I say no; to me, Romeo
and Juliet are enamored with one another to
the point of emotional intoxication, at best.
And Moeller and Overberg are the first actors
I’ve seen to portray their relationship in this
manner, with Moeller’s Juliet almost treating
Romeo as “just another suitor” – her latest
distraction and chance to rebel against her
parents – and Overberg’s Romeo seeming to
be merely besotted by Juliet’s looks, overcome
by her without truly knowing her. (He is
clearly lost in a cloud of emotions that could
eventually grow into, but is not yet, love.)
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What I’m also un-
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As is typical with a Prenzie Players show,
I find myself at my word limit with so much
more to say. With more space, I’d applaud
Angela Rathman’s turn as Juliet’s nurse, An-
gelica. And Matt Moody’s nonchalant Capulet
servant, Peter Sampson. And Andy Koski’s
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 Business • Politics • Arts • Culture • Now You Know • RiverCitiesReader.com
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River Cities’ Reader • Vol. 18 No. 776 • April 14 - 27, 2011

15
 THEATRE
Business • Politics • Arts • Culture • Now You Know • RiverCitiesReader.com
Picture Motions
Speed-the-Plow, at the Village Theatre through April 23
E
rin Churchill is the reason to see
the Curtainbox Theatre Company’s
current production, Speed-the-Plow.
Actually, that’s a bit deceptive, as it implies
that she’s the only reason to see the show.
Curtainbox founder Kimberly Furness’
directorial debut with her company is ap-
plause-worthy, as are the stellar performanc-
es of the play’s other cast members, Mike
Schulz (a Reader employee) and Daniel M.
Hernandez. However, it was Churchill’s sin-
cerity, earnestness, and diversity that closed
the deal for me, leaving me in utter awe dur-
ing Saturday night’s performance.
David Mamet’s script is a behind-the-
scenes look at the cold, heartless, shark-eat-
shark film business, seen from the vantage
point of a producer’s office. Bobby Gould,
played here by Schulz, has just been pro-
moted at his film studio, and is deciding on a
project to greenlight
while also giving
a book – a novel
about radiation and
the end of the world
– a “courtesy read.”
His longtime col-
league Charlie Fox,
played by Hernan-
dez, has just landed
a deal with a much-
in-demand actor
that will lead to a
surefire action-film Mike Schulz, Erin Churchill, and
hit and much suc- Daniel M. Hernandez
cess for Charlie and Bobby. Then Churchill’s
Karen arrives.
Churchill is actually first seen in sil-
houette, sitting behind a stage flat that’s
amusingly designed to resemble a large strip
of film. When Bobby interacts with Karen,
his temp assistant, on the phone, a light
shines from behind Churchill, projecting
her shadowy form on the set’s film frame
– an ingenious concept by lighting designer
Chris Tilton. (During scene changes, Tilton
continues this cinematic theme by employ-
ing a flickering effect, reminiscent of a film
projector’s strobe, that’s well-paired with ap-
propriate sound effects by designer Joseph T.
River Cities’ Reader • Vol. 18 No. 776 • April 14 - 27, 2011
Janz III.) Despite not uttering a single word,
and without the benefit of facial expressions,
Churchill makes quite clear her character’s
thoughts, confusion, and somewhat dimwit-
ted nature.
She is not, however, seen in shadow
for the entire play, and eventually, physi-
cally, enters the fray of the film business.
Interjecting with innocent, perhaps naïve
questions pertaining to a discussion she
overhears while delivering coffee, Karen
brings an idealism to the table that Bobby,
condescendingly, finds intriguing. After
giving the radiation book the “courtesy
read” that Bobby was supposed to give it,
16
by Thom White
Karen spends the evening at Bobby’s home,
trying to convince him to greenlight the
project. And this is where Churchill begins
her character’s transformation, shifting from
a sweetly earnest and hopeful woman to a
woman in control of the situation and, per-
haps, of Bobby. Her metamorphosis contin-
ues, but I fear that detailing her impressive
transformation would give away too much
to those who haven’t seen it. Suffice it to say,
Churchill’s effort is arresting for its variety,
its nuance, and the performer’s ability to
portray such conflicting personality traits,
all of them convincingly.
Schulz’s Bobby goes through a similar
evolution, though to a lesser degree. With
his self-important, business-over-pleasure
and pleasure-is-business attitudes, Bobby
is hard to like, and Schulz excels at these
sonofabitch characters, with his turn in last
year’s Curtainbox
production of Art
my favorite to
date. He offers a
similar take here,
but differentiates
it by removing the
sense of intel-
lectual superior-
ity. Following
his character’s
catharsis, Schulz
effectively shades
Bobby with
confused, pained
looks that reveal
an internal turmoil as he wrestles between
doing what would most certainly be success-
ful and what could be morally right.
Hernandez brings a welcome intensity to
the stage, while giving his Charlie a touch of
likability. This, I think, comes mostly through
some endearing tics that he incorporates into
his performance, with quick, repeated wipes
of his nose and swipes across the corners
of his mouth. (It’s clear that his Charlie is
often stressed, and whenever his stress levels
rise, they manifest themselves physically.)
And Hernandez and Schulz work their way
through Mamet’s signature, rapid-fire dia-
logue with seeming ease, as if performing a
well-danced verbal ballet.
As for Furness’ direction, what struck me
most were the tableaux she created. Over and
over again, I wished I had a camera with me
(and was allowed) to take snapshots of her
staging, with the actors, placed in picture-
perfect positions, artistically arranged against
scenic designer Adam Parboosingh’s grandly
minimalist backdrop. Furness’ Speed-the-
Plow is one of the most aesthetically pleasing
efforts, overall, that I’ve yet seen on a Quad
Cities stage.
For information and tickets, call (563)322-
8504 or visit TheCurtainbox.com.
Continued From Page 13
What Else Is
Happenin’
Friday, April 22 – Patio. Third incarnation of the
popular area band, with Pat Willis, Dan Olds, Derek Reid,
Dan Kelly, and Chris Cushman performing with openers
Festival of Fools. Rock Island Brewing Company (1815
Second Avenue, Rock Island). 9 p.m. $5. For information,
call (309)793-4060 or visit RIBCO.com.
THEATRE
Friday, April 15, through Saturday, May 7 – Alex-
ander & the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.
Family-musical adaptation of Judith Viorst’s children’s
book, directed by Tyson Danner. Circa ’21 Dinner
Playhouse (1828 Third Avenue, Rock Island). 10 a.m. and
1 p.m. performances on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays,
and Saturdays. $8.50. For tickets and information, call
(309)786-7733 extension 2 or visit Circa21.com.
Friday, April 15, through Sunday, April 24 – Urinet-
own. Tony Award-winning musical/comedy inspired by
the works of Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill. The University
of Iowa’s E.C. Mabie Theatre (UI Theatre Building, 200
North Riverside Drive, Iowa City). Thursdays-Saturdays 8
p.m.; Sundays 2 p.m. $5-20. For tickets and information,
call (319)335-1160 or visit UIowa.edu/~theatre.
DANCE
Saturday, April 16, and Sunday, April 17. The Polka
Club of Iowa’s “Spring Fling Fest.” Dance to music by
Barefoot Becky & the Ivanhoe Dutchmen (noon-2 p.m.
and 4-6 p.m. Saturday), The Barry Boyce Band (noon-2
p.m. and 4-6 p.m. Sunday), and SqueezeBox (2-4 p.m. and
6-8 p.m. both days). Walcott Coliseum (116 East Bryant
Street, Walcott). Noon-8 p.m. $12, or $20 for a two-day
pass. For information, call (563)285-5989.
LITERATURE
Thursday, April 14 – River Readings at Augustana:
Dora Malech. Poet and former Augustana College
teaching fellow reads from her works, with a reception
following. Augustana College’s Wallenberg Hall (3520
Seventh Avenue, Rock Island). 7 p.m. Free admission. For
information, call (309)794-7231 or visit Augustana.edu.
MOVIES
Tuesday, April 26 – Freedom Riders. WQPT-TV
hosts a preview screening of Stanley Nelson’s Civil
Rights documentary, with a post-show Q&A session.
Putnam Museum & IMAX Theatre (1717 West 12th Street,
Davenport). 5:30 p.m. Free admission, but reservations
recommended. For information, call (309)764-2400 or
visit PBS.org/freedomriders.
Wednesday, April 27 – Prisoner of Her Past.
Documentary on Holocaust survivor Sonia Reich, with a
post-screening discussion with Sonia’s son Howard Reich,
music critic for the Chicago Tribune. Co-hosted by the
Jewish Federation of the Quad Cities. Figge Art Museum
(225 West Second Street, Davenport). 7 p.m. $5. For
information, call (563)326-7804 or visit JFQC.org.
EVENTS
Saturday, April 16 – Treat House Trot and Run for
Renewal. A half-mile kids’ walk at 8:30 a.m. and a 5K
run/walk at 9 a.m., with proceeds benefiting the Project Re-
newal Youth Program. Refreshments and door prizes after
the races. Sister Concetta Park (corner of Fifth and Warren
streets, Davenport). $16-20 per adult, children free. For
information, call (563)324-0800 or visit ProjectRenewal.net.
Wednesday, April 20, and Thursday, April 21 – Stylin’
Against Breast Cancer Wine & Cheese Party and Fashion
Show & Luncheon. Annual fundraisers for the Trinity
Health Foundation’s breast-cancer awareness and support
programs. Quad-Cities Waterfront Convention Center (1777
Isle Parkway, Bettendorf). Wine & Cheese Party: 6:30 p.m.
Wednesday, $20-25. Fashion Show & Luncheon: 11:30 a.m.
Thursday, $25. For tickets and information, call (309)764-
7610 or visit TrinityHealthFoundation.com.
 COVER STORY

Business • Politics • Arts • Culture • Now You Know • RiverCitiesReader.com

Continued From Page 6 by Jeff Ignatius
jeff@rcreader.com

Collecting Stories
before the war, suffering during the war, that was meaningful to the young author: home – one from Brazil, and one from project even if they don’t meet them, even
and life after the war. Bowen said that the “There’s always hope, isn’t there, Quinci? Austria. The Brazilian said his father was if they’ve already passed away.”
most gruesome parts are left out of the No matter how bad it gets.” a Jewish Romanian who had been put While most of the books in the series
biographies authors are given. The result on a train to a camp but jumped off. The have been written and/or illustrated by
is something that doesn’t hide the grim Austrian said she wanted to write about people from the Quad Cities, the list of
realities of the Holocaust but also cel- From Austria to him: “If your grandfather hadn’t jumped authors and illustrators includes people
ebrates the life before, after, and beyond
them. She explained: “There are appropri-
Zanzibar from that train, you wouldn’t be here.”
Another student, from Germany, was
from around the United States, and the
rest of the world – in large part because of
Quinci won’t be able to meet her sub-
ate things to tell: They took my family, interested in a Bowen’s work placing foreign-exchange
ject – Dina died in
they took us from our home, we lost all Catholic woman students. “From Austria to Zanzibar,
2009 – and Bowen
of our things ... , I came out of the camp who had saved we’ve had kids writing,” she said.
said that’s been
changed, I came out of that camp an 2,500 Jewish Later, she added: “This is one of the
the case with more
orphan. ... Those are the things that make children from greatest honors of my life to be able to
than half of the A
kids stop and think: ‘Wait a minute. The the Warsaw introduce a child to this story.”
Book by Me series.
Holocaust is real. Look how it affected ghetto. Bowen While A Book by Me has been a
That’s one way
this family.’” recalled: “I saw children’s writing project, Bowen has a
the project has
For Quinci – who besides Bowen’s son these two girls writing project of her own. She said she’s
evolved. Initially,
is the youngest author ever in the series – the girl from finishing up a book titled A Walk with
Bowen thought
– there’s another connection to the Ho- Austria and Esther, which she hopes to publish this
that for each book,
locaust. She has spina bifida, and Bowen the girl from summer. It details her own journey, from
authors would
has talked with her about Hitler’s views Germany. They a person who’d never been to a synagogue
need to talk or
about people with special needs. “They didn’t meet their to somebody who has helped young
listen to the people
wanted those people killed and stuff,” person, but they people learn and retell stories from the
they were writing
Quinci said. were engaged. Holocaust.
about.
Quinci said she didn’t know about the They were re- “I walked with these three ladies,” she
But two experi-
Holocaust prior to this project, and it was ally engaged. So said, “and then my walk just kept going,
ences with foreign-
a reminder that children don’t process the then I realized didn’t it?”
exchange students
Holocaust the way adults do when she that the kids can
changed her mind.
said: “Those camps were not good.” just get fired For more information about A Book by
In 2006, she had
But Bowen put Dina’s story in a way up about the Me, visit ABookByMe.com.
two students at her

River Cities’ Reader • Vol. 18 No. 776 • April 14 - 27, 2011

17
 MUSIC
Business • Politics • Arts • Culture • Now You Know • RiverCitiesReader.com
“Something That I Am”
Jordan Danielsen, Night Alone in the City
J
ordan Danielsen has made his
living exclusively from music for
seven years now, so it might seem
a little strange that
he’s in his fourth
semester studying
music performance
at Black Hawk Col-
lege.
Part of the im-
petus, he said in
an interview last
month, was expand-
ing his performance
repertoire from his
natural instruments
of guitar and har-
monica to piano and
drums. And some of
it was self-improve-
ment, a desire to learn to read music
and to better hear harmonies.
But he also had an eye to his career,
hoping to meet horn players and want-
ing to learn to write charts so other mu-
sicians could play them. The ultimate
goal appears to be flexibility – the abil-
ity to hire the musicians he needs at any
time to get what he wants for a project,
without being reliant on a fixed band.
The 31-year-old Danielsen recently
released his debut CD, the 14-track
Night Alone in the City, and it’s largely
the product of years hosting open-mic
nights at venues such as Davenport’s
Bier Stube. The songs are straightfor-
ward and seem designed to connect
instantly to an audience; one can almost
hear where Danielsen expects a cheer
or a laugh from his listeners. In that
sense, the album works, even though
the songs outside of a live context feel
somewhat thin. (“Open Mic” probably
works as a tone-setting invitation in
front of bar patrons, but it feels out-of-
place on a CD.)
Still, there’s no denying the coarse
appeal of the mocking lyrics and the
muscular drums and guitar of “Living
in a Rap Video” – a merciless take-
River Cities’ Reader • Vol. 18 No. 776 • April 14 - 27, 2011
down of white hip-hop poseurs – or
the food-based double entendres laid
on thick in the funk of “Stick It in the
Oven.” “Mr. K-I-N-K-Y” never gets
past single entendres, but its shameless
lust – a gush of words delivered deftly
– comes off as charming and innocent
in the absence of any menace: “Well
I’m convinced that you induce me with
some kinky kind of potion / ’Cause the
way you walk it makes me want to rub
you down with lotion.”
And outside of those tongue-in-cheek
tracks, Danielsen displays a wide range,
18
by Jeff Ignatius
jeff@rcreader.com
adept at everything from guitar work-
outs (“Flood”) to solid, unpretentious
rockers (“Come
on Home to Me
Baby”) to gentle,
good-natured
numbers accented
by horns.
Those horn
3
parts, on the warm
remembrance of
“Summer of 99”
and the soulful
“Company,” were
developed with
Black Hawk’s Edgar
Crockett, and
they represent an
the power of Digital Cable
epiphany Danielsen
Online
had while recording the album over
three years. He said he had originally Phone
hoped to capture the live sound of his
band – guitarist Dustin Cobb, bassist
Sam Doak, drummer Chris Cushman, Bounty Hunter
and percussionist Terry Hanson. But he on Starz®
said that “as it went on, you start to see
possibilities” beyond the standard live
performance.
While Night Alone in the City features digital cable
plenty of relatively loud and aggressive Your favorite HD channels free.
songs, Danielsen said his next record-
Over 5,000 free On Demand titles.
ing will likely be more of a reflection
of the acoustic shows he performs solo
several nights a week. “This was really
my rockin’ CD,” he said. “From now on,
it’s probably going to be a little more
laid back.”
It’s obvious that he views his music
through a lens of potential commercial
success. When I asked him about his
favorite songs on Night Alone in the
City, he said that two – “Summer of 99”
faster online
and “Company” – were “the hits, the Up to 10x faster than 1.5 DSL.
singles.” 15 Mbps speeds and free Web Boost.
“I dream big,” Danielsen said. He said
that although a son would keep him
from touring nationally, he aspires to
perform throughout the Midwest.
But if that doesn’t happen, he said,
he’s fulfilled: “If I don’t ever get any
bigger than this, I’m still doing what I
want to do, and I still think it’s success-
ful. It’s not just something that I do; it’s
something that I am. ... If I’m 31 and unlimited phone Call now!
I’m still thinking the same way as I was Nationwide calls for no extra charge.
when I was 14, it’s probably not going to
13 free calling features like Caller ID. Get incredible
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savings and enjoy
Night Alone in the City is available from the conveniences of
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today’s technology
For more information on Jordan Danielsen,
visit ReverbNation.com/jordandanielsen or
JordanDanielsen.com.
1-800-332-0245 when you take all
three services.

Ask
the Advice Goddess
BY AMY ALKON
This American Strife
My boyfriend of 10 months asked me
for my idea of a romantic evening, and I
said I think it’s really romantic to make
dinner together. He asked for specifics, and
I ended up pretty much describing what my
last boyfriend and I used to do: have wine
and cheese, burn this particular incense
I love, listen to This American Life, then
make dinner together. This is now what
my boyfriend does to “surprise” me. He
has downloaded tons of This American Life
episodes and even burns the same incense
my ex and I used to! I’m certain I sound
like a total creep, but it really isn’t romantic
to have your significant other surprise you
by doing exactly what he was told.
– The Ingrate
With a guy who follows directions as
closely as your boyfriend, you must be a little
disappointed that, when he asked what you
find romantic, you didn’t toss off, “Oh, a man
who builds a 500-foot obelisk to my beauty.”
(“Honey, your obelisk is ready!”)
You’re irritated that he didn’t work harder;
he just went, “Great, now I have my list.”
But he wasn’t the only uncreative one. You
didn’t bother unlocking the old imagination
cabinet. You rattled off details, down to the
brand of incense, as if they were random en-
joyments that came to mind, not the foreplay
report from your last relationship. And come
on, what did you expect? For the guy to say,
“Hey, baby, tell me what you find romantic,”
and then say, “Cool! I’ll do something else!”?
Maybe he reconstituted what you told
him because he isn’t very creative, or maybe
because he’s a guy. Men are often a little
Love Is Bland
How do I find a nice guy? I’m 26, edu-
cated and attractive, and I can spell. I’m a
figure skater, so most of the guys I interact
with are under 18 or gay. I’m really not into
the bar scene, either.
– Circling the Rink
You say you’re looking for a “nice guy,”
then you narrow that down: He can’t be gay,
16, or wearing more Lycra, sequins, and
tassels than you are. When I e-mailed you to
further narrow what you’re seeking, you said,
“I don’t know exactly... nice, intelligent, edu-
cated... not a jerk/boor.” Well, that winnows
it. Shockingly, you aren’t looking for a guy
who’s evil, uneducated, unethical, and crass.
Got A Problem? Ask Amy Alkon.
171 Pier Ave, #280, Santa Monica, CA 90405
or e-mail AdviceAmy@aol.com (AdviceGoddess.com)
©2009, Amy Alkon, all rights reserved.
Business • Politics • Arts • Culture • Now You Know • RiverCitiesReader.com
unsure of themselves in the romance-crafting
department. It just isn’t the lifelong pursuit
for them that it is for so many women, like
the woman on an author panel I moderated
who opened her book with the line “I was
born to be a bride.” Books about men’s lives
tend to start more like “We were somewhere
around Barstow on the edge of the desert
when the drugs began to take hold” or “I
am a sick man. ... I am a spiteful man. I am
an unattractive man. I believe my liver is
diseased.”
Let’s be honest: How many combos are
there for romantic dinners? Should he have
changed wine and cheese to wine and little
canned wieners? Instead of incense, should
he have seen if Raid had come out with a
bug spray called “That Special Evening”? Be
grateful for what you have – a boyfriend who
wants to please you. To help him succeed,
tell him that what you really find romantic
are surprises, and then suggest doing as my
friend and her girlfriend do: Take turns plan-
ning and surprising each other on date night.
The non-planning partner need only show
up at the appointed time and follow any pre-
arranged directions, like “wear a parachute”
or “bring a sharpened machete.”
Should you find yourself a little more
surprised than you were hoping for (“Wow...
a puppet theater to act out our relation-
ship issues!”), see that you don’t squelch his
newfound romantic creativity. Heavily praise
what you’d like more of, and be prepared to
put on your game face for anything short of
a picnic dinner of chocolate-covered crickets
and toasts to your love with rainwater from
the Japanese reactor.
Refining what you want beyond generic
good qualities takes getting a good sense of
who you are and what you value. But if you’re
like a lot of women, you’ll also need to date
the wrong guys to pare down who’s right for
you. This requires leaving the ice rink. Go
River Cities’ Reader • Vol. 18 No. 776 • April 14 - 27, 2011
places. Throw parties. Smile, flirt, be friendly.
Maybe even in bars. No, you don’t have to
join “the bar scene.” Just stop by for happy
hour and flirt with some guy who’s having a
beer with his business partner. He may not
be “nice, intelligent, educated,” but when he
stands up, odds are 26,879,000,000-to-1 that
you’ll find he’s wearing businessman pants,
not electric-blue shimmery tights with fish-
net side panels.
19
 Business • Politics • Arts • Culture • Now You Know • RiverCitiesReader.com

entomology April 14, 2011

March 31 Answers: Right

March 31 Crossword Answers

ACROSS 79. Throb heavily 36. Angling method: hyph.

1. Sets of mathematical points 80. Centi or milli ending 37. Shakes
5. Middlebreaker 81. Defiant look 38. The Divine Miss M
9. Shrewdness 82. Lane or Keaton 40. Put through a sieve
15. Punning poet 83. Tempestuous 41. Comedy
19. Sacred bird 85. Port city in Libya 42. Bazaar cousin: 2 wds.
20. Son of Jacob and Leah 88. Conflict: hyph. 43. Pas de deux
21. Like some steaks 89. Wallet items 44. Soaks, as flax
22. Wine city 90. Kind of recording 46. Wrestling hold
23. Shabby: hyph. 91. Promises 47. Appraises
25. Drink made with creme de menthe 92. Giant 48. Signified
27. Prodigious 96. Certain contest: 2 wds. 49. Area in a church
28. Combustibles 99. Corseted middle: 2 wds. 53. Scheduled
29. Pass a rope through 100. Water bird 55. Tries to enrage
30. Grammatical gaffe 101. Most loathsome 56. Unassuming restaurant
31. Domesticates 102. Formerly 57. Controlled
32. Educated 103. Great _ 58. Man of Manchester
34. Feign 104. Fish sometimes pickled 60. Items for shoppers
37. Steeplechase participant 105. Puts to use 61. Press
38. Wacko 106. Erosion 62. Punta del _
39. Pep or poison 107. Gen. Bradley 63. Agent: hyph.
40. Colophony 64. Moccasin material
41. A hedge, possibly DOWN 65. Inclined
42. White House monogram 1. “Stretched” car 66. Bawl out
45. Every 2. Old Greek weight 67. Carried
46. Sporting event: 2 wds. 3. _ hall 69. _ de Toulouse-Lautrec
49. Discovery by Holmes 4. “Moby-Dick” narrator 70. Sacha Baron Cohen role
50. Game official 5. Lamentation 73. False god
River Cities’ Reader • Vol. 18 No. 776 • April 14 - 27, 2011

51. Wants 6. “_, c’est moi” 74. Appellations

52. Art Deco designer 7. Tandoor 75. Toys for bathers
53. Leaf 8. Triumph 78. Hassock
54. Testimonials 9. War of the words 80. Fencing maneuver
56. Beauty of movement 10. Calling 81. Skating mishaps
58. Swells 11. Part of the Europe-Asia boundary 82. Loathe
59. Hungry no more 12. Jumble 83. Obliging one
60. Loading device 13. Pothook shape 84. Sufficiently, archaically
61. Allege 14. _ degree 85. Liking
62. Branch of philosophy 15. Table linen 86. Money in India
64. One with great patience 16. Mecca for skiers 87. Ego _
65. Lengthen 17. Jobs or Martin 88. Hussar’s weapon
68. Metalworker 18. Chartered 89. Opera by Puccini
69. Cast 24. Monumental 91. Eye
70. Completely in the red 26. Emulate Daniel Webster 92. Woody stem
71. Greek letter 28. Prima _ 93. “The King and I” setting
72. Treats animal hides 31. Things to do 94. Sch. in Annapolis
73. Scowling: hyph. 32. Medieval weapon 95. Brit. money
76. Parts to assemble 33. Draw a certain way 97. Common contraction
77. Sch. subj. 34. Independently 98. Overrule
20 78. Smooths 35. Superior 99. Astonish
 Live Music Live Music Live

Business • Politics • Arts • Culture • Now You Know • RiverCitiesReader.com

Email all listings to calendar@rcreader.com • Deadline 5 p.m. Thursday before publication

Thursday
2011/04/14 (Thu)
14
Arts & Music Night (6pm) -Uptown Bill’s
Coffee House, 730 S. Dubuque St.
Iowa City, IA
Catie Curtis - Alexis Stevens -The Mill, 120
E Burlington Iowa City, IA
Gong Show Karaoke -Uptown Neighbor-
hood Bar and Grill, 2340 Spruce Hills Dr.
Bettendorf, IA
Jam Session w/ Alan Sweet & the Candy
Makers -The Muddy Waters, 1708 State
St. Bettendorf, IA
Karaoke Night -Applebee’s Neighborhood
Grill - Davenport, 3005 W. Kimberly Rd.
Davenport, IA
Karaoke Night -The Lucky Frog Bar and
Grill, 313 N Salina St McCausland, IA
Karaoke Night -The Rusty Nail, 2606 W
Locust Davenport, IA
Live Lunch with Rachel Schuldt (noon)
-Mojo’s (River Music Experience), 130 W
2nd St Davenport, IA
Lynne Hart Jazz Quartet -Cabana’s, 2120
4th Ave. Rock Island, IL
Miro Quartet -Riverside Recital Hall - St.
Thomas More Church, 405 N Riverside
Dr. Iowa City, IA
Open Mic Night w/ Kung Fu Tofu -
Stickman’s, 1510 N. Harrison St. Bet-
tendorf, IA
Troy Harris, Pianist (6pm) -Red Crow
Grille, 2504 53rd St. Bettendorf, IA
Ultraviolet Hippopotamus -RIBCO, 1815
2nd Ave. Rock Island, IL
Woodsman -Gabe’s, 330 E. Washington St.
Iowa City, IA
FRIday
2011/04/15 (Fri) 15
Adam Beck -Daiquiri Factory, 1809 2nd
Ave. Rock Island, IL
Andy Carlson & Casey Cook - Big Wooden
Radio -The Mill, 120 E Burlington Iowa
City, IA
Barlowe & James (6pm) -Toucan’s Can-
tina / Skinny Legs BBQ, 2020 1st Street
Milan, IL
“Blues Plate Special” Lunch with Ren Es-
trand (noon) -Mojo’s (River Music Experi-
ence), 130 W 2nd St Davenport, IA
Brown Bag Lunch at Noon: Edgar
Crockett Quartet -Bettendorf Public
Library, 2950 Learning Campus Bet-
tendorf, IA
Buddy Olson -Applebee’s - Muscatine, 306
Cleveland St. Muscatine, IA
Cosmic -11th Street Precinct, 2108 E 11th
St Davenport, IA
David Killinger & Friends -G’s Riverfront
Cafe, 102 S Main St Port Byron, IL
Ed Franks -ICONS Martini, 124 18th St
Rock Island, IL
Grand Larsony -The Rusty Nail, 2606 W
Locust Davenport, IA
Jazz After Five: Eric Thompson & the
Talented Tenth (5:30pm) -The Mill, 120
E Burlington Iowa City, IA
Jen Chapin Trio - Amanda Shires -The Red-
stone Room, 129 Main St Davenport, IA
Just 4 Fun -First Christian Church of Daven-
port, 510 E 15th St Davenport, IA
Just Cuz -Purgatory’s Pub, 2104 State St
Bettendorf, IA
Karaoke Night (members only) -Moose
Lodge - Davenport, 2333 Rockingham
Rd Davenport, IA
Karaoke Night -Circle Tap, 1345 Locust St.
Davenport, IA
Karaoke Night -Creekside Bar and Grill,
3303 Brady St. Davenport, IA
Karaoke Night -Paddlewheel Sports Bar &
Grill, 221 15th St Bettendorf, IA
Karaoke Night -Stickman’s, 1510 N. Har-
rison St. Bettendorf, IA
Lee Blackmon (6:30pm) -Mojo’s (River
Music Experience), 130 W 2nd St
Davenport, IA
Mercury Brothers -The Muddy Waters, 1708
State St. Bettendorf, IA
Brains! Brains! Brains! @ RIBCO – April 16
“Mi-Do-Ri” Composition Contest Perfor-
mance (5pm) -Adler Theatre, 136 E. 3rd
St. Davenport, IA
Midwest Explosion -Gabe’s, 330 E. Wash-
ington St. Iowa City, IA
Night People -Cabana’s, 2120 4th Ave.
Rock Island, IL
Open Mic Night -Uptown Bill’s Coffee
House, 730 S. Dubuque St. Iowa City, IA
Roster McCabe CD Release Party - Messy
Blend - UV Hippo -Iowa City Yacht Club,
13 S Linn St Iowa City, IA
Shemekia Copeland -The Washington, 306
Washington St Burlington, IA
Southern Thunder Karaoke & DJ -Hollar’s
Bar and Grill, 4050 27th St Moline, IL
The Bucktown Revue -River Music Expe-
rience, 129 Main St Davenport, IA
The Quartermoon Tinsnips (6pm) -Cool
Beanz Coffeehouse, 1325 30th St. Rock
Island, IL
The Slough Buoys -Kuehl’s Pub, 213 Wash-
ington St. Prophetstown, IL
This Must Be the Band -RIBCO, 1815 2nd
Ave. Rock Island, IL
Tom Sadge as Neil Diamond -Quad-Cities
Waterfront Convention Center, 1777 Isle
Parkway Bettendorf, IA
Tronicity -Uptown Neighborhood Bar
and Grill, 2340 Spruce Hills Dr. Bet-
tendorf, IA
UI Jazz: Johnson County Landmark
-Englert Theatre, 221 East Washington
St. Iowa City, IA
Wayne Famous Band -Martini’s on the
Rock, 4619 34th St Rock Island, IL
Saturday
2011/04/16 (Sat)
16
BackTrack Band with Hollywood Horns
-The Muddy Waters, 1708 State St.
Bettendorf, IA
Barins! Brains! Brains! CD Release Party
- Surf Zombies - The Old 57’s -RIBCO,
1815 2nd Ave. Rock Island, IL
Buddy Olson -City Limits Saloon & Grill,
4514 9th St. Rock Island, IL
Chrash Record Release Show - Tambou-
rine - Centaur Noir -Tommy’s, 1302 4th
Ave Moline, IL
Corporate Rock - The Belgrade, 2431 16th
St., Moline, IL
David Killinger & Friends -G’s Riverfront
Cafe, 102 S Main St Port Byron, IL
Ed Franks -ICONS Martini, 124 18th St
Rock Island, IL
Eleven Fifty Two - Leftwich - Tear Down
the Tower - DJ Hypntik -Uptown
Neighborhood Bar and Grill, 2340
Spruce Hills Dr. Bettendorf, IA
JJ Heller -Homewood Evangelical Free
Church, 3303 60th St Moline, IL
Josh Jordan Kelly -Daiquiri Factory, 1809
2nd Ave. Rock Island, IL
Karaoke Night -Cheers Bar & Grill, 1814
7th St Moline, IL
Karaoke Night -Creekside Bar and Grill,
3303 Brady St. Davenport, IA
Karaoke Night -Moe’s Pizza, 1312 Caman-
che Ave Clinton, IA
Karaoke Night -Paddlewheel Sports Bar &
Grill, 221 15th St Bettendorf, IA
Mike Blumme Trio (6pm) -Toucan’s
Cantina / Skinny Legs BBQ, 2020 1st
Street Milan, IL
Moe Bandy - The Americana Band
- Country Tradition Band -Mooney
Hollow Barn, 12471 Highway 52 Green
Island, IA
Mommy’s Little Monster -Mound Street
Landing, 1029 Mound St. Davenport,
IA
Polka Club of Iowa, Inc. - Eastern Chapter
“Spring Fling Fest” (noon) -Walcott
Coliseum, 116 E Bryant St Walcott, IA
Smooth Groove -Martini’s on the Rock,
4619 34th St Rock Island, IL
Southern Thunder Karaoke & DJ -Hollar’s
Bar and Grill, 4050 27th St Moline, IL
Talking Heads Tribute w/ This Must Be
the Band - Illphonics -Iowa City Yacht
Club, 13 S Linn St Iowa City, IA
Tapped Out -Cooter’s Tavern, 403 2nd Ave.
Matherville, IL
The Civil Wars - Nat Baldwin - Arum
Rae -The Mill, 120 E Burlington Iowa
City, IA
The Night People -Len Brown’s North
Shore Inn, 7th Street and the Rock
River Moline, IL
Tripolar Xxxpress -The Rusty Nail, 2606 W
Locust Davenport, IA
uneXpected -Van’s, 3333 Harrison St.
Davenport, IA
Vodkaseven -The Pour House, 1502 W.
Locust St. Davenport, IA
Who Cares -Carbon Cliff Eagles Club, 911
Mansur Ave. Carbon Cliff, IL
Widetrack -Generations Bar & Grill, 4100 4th
Ave. Moline, IL
Zither Ensemble (10am) -German Ameri-
can Heritage Center, 712 W. 2nd St.
Davenport, IA
sunday
2011/04/17 (Sun) 17
Glenn Hickson (5:30pm) -O’Melia’s Sup-
per Club, 2900 Blackhawk Rd. Rock
Island, IL
Hersong 23rd Annual Benefit Spring
Concert: What Matters? -Davenport
Unitarian Church, 3707 Eastern Ave
Davenport, IA
Juvenile Diabetes Battle of the Bands
-Iowa City Yacht Club, 13 S Linn St
Iowa City, IA
Karaoke Night -11th Street Precinct, 2108
E 11th St Davenport, IA
Karaoke Night -The Rusty Nail, 2606 W
Locust Davenport, IA
Karaoke w/ Steve K and the Gang -The
Muddy Waters, 1708 State St. Bet-
tendorf, IA
No Joy -The Mill, 120 E Burlington Iowa
City, IA
Polka Club of Iowa, Inc. - Eastern Chapter
“Spring Fling Fest” (noon) -Walcott
Coliseum, 116 E Bryant St Walcott, IA
Terry Hanson Ensemble (10am) -Brady
Street Chop House, Radisson QC Plaza
Hotel Davenport, IA
Third Sunday Jazz Series featuring Seme-
nya McCord (6pm) -The Redstone Room,
129 Main St Davenport, IA
Continued On Page 22

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21
 Business • Politics • Arts • Culture • Now You Know • RiverCitiesReader.com
Live Music Live Music Live
Email all listings to calendar@rcreader.com • Deadline 5 p.m. Thursday before publication
Continued From Page 21
monday
2011/04/18 (Mon) 18
Acoustic Showcase -Iowa City Yacht Club, 13
S Linn St Iowa City, IA
Glenn Hickson (5:30pm) -Phoenix, 111 West
2nd St. Davenport, IA
Open Mic w/ J. Knight -The Mill, 120 E
Burlington Iowa City, IA
The Decemberists - Justin Townes Earle
-Iowa Memorial Union Main Lounge
- University of Iowa, 125 N. Madison St.
Iowa City, IA
“True Blue Mondays” Lunch w/ Ellis Kell
-Mojo’s (River Music Experience), 130 W
2nd St Davenport, IA
tuesday
2011/04/19 (Tue) 19
Cirque du Soleil’s Dralion -i wireless Center,
1201 River Dr Moline, IL
Glenn Hickson (5:30pm) -O’Melia’s Supper
Club, 2900 Blackhawk Rd. Rock Island, IL
Karaoke Contest Night -The Rusty Nail,
2606 W Locust Davenport, IA
Karaoke Night -Creekside Bar and Grill, 3303
Brady St. Davenport, IA
Karaoke Night -Sharky’s Bar & Grill, 2902 E.
Kimberly Rd. Davenport, IA
Open Mic w/ Jordan Danielsen -Bier Stube
Davenport, 2228 E 11th St Davenport, IA
Quad-Cities KIX Orchestra -Mojo’s (River
Music Experience), 130 W 2nd St Dav-
enport, IA
The Chris & Wes Show -Circle Tap, 1345
Locust St. Davenport, IA
wednesday
2011/04/20 (Wed) 20
4/20 with Gabe’s: Deejay Kage - DJ Kronik
- The Messy Blend - Koplant No - 5 in a
Hand - Johnny on Point - The Sullivan
Gang - Nebula Was - The Ryan Persinger
Project - Ty James (4:20pm) -Gabe’s, 330
E. Washington St. Iowa City, IA
River Cities’ Reader • Vol. 18 No. 776 • April 14 - 27, 2011
22
4:20 Mind Melter w/ Dead Larry & Insec-
toid -Iowa City Yacht Club, 13 S Linn St
Iowa City, IA
Daphne Willis - Dave Tamkin - Megan
McCormick -The Redstone Room, 129
Main St Davenport, IA
Jeff Miller (6pm) -G’s Riverfront Cafe, 102
S Main St Port Byron, IL
Karaoke Night -Applebee’s Neighborhood
Grill - Davenport, 3005 W. Kimberly Rd.
Davenport, IA
Karaoke Night -RIBCO, 1815 2nd Ave.
Rock Island, IL
Karaoke Night -Sharky’s Bar & Grill, 2902
E. Kimberly Rd. Davenport, IA
Live Lunch with Brent Feuerbach (noon)
-Mojo’s (River Music Experience), 130 W
2nd St Davenport, IA
Open Mic Night w/ Alan Sweet and Siri
Lorece -Mojo’s (River Music Experi-
ence), 130 W 2nd St Davenport, IA
Open Mic Nightw/ Luis Ochoa -Uptown
Neighborhood Bar and Grill, 2340
Spruce Hills Dr. Bettendorf, IA
Southern Thunder Karaoke -Hollar’s Bar
and Grill, 4050 27th St Moline, IL
The Chris & Wes Show -Mound Street Land-
ing, 1029 Mound St. Davenport, IA
thursday
2011/04/21 (Thu) 21
Arts & Music Night (6pm) -Uptown Bill’s
Coffee House, 730 S. Dubuque St.
Iowa City, IA
Big Funk Guarantee - Amanda Miller
& the Super Secrets -Iowa City Yacht
Club, 13 S Linn St Iowa City, IA
Down Lo - Deploi CD Release Party -
RIBCO, 1815 2nd Ave. Rock Island, IL
Gong Show Karaoke -Uptown Neighbor-
hood Bar and Grill, 2340 Spruce Hills Dr.
Bettendorf, IA
Ha Ha Tonka - The Spring Standards - The
New Bodies -The Mill, 120 E Burlington
Iowa City, IA
Friday April 15th
TRONICITY
Saturday April 16th
Bird’s Birthday Bash
ELEVEN FIFTY TWO
w/ Tear Down the Tower,
Lefwitch & DJ HYPNTIK
Friday April 22nd
une
Saturday April 23rd
SMOOTH GROOVE
Friday April 29th
2nd Annual Half-O-Ween
$1000 COSTUME CONTEST
w/ FUNKTASTIC5
liveatuptown.com
2340 Spruce Hills Drive Bettendorf, IA
Eleven Fifty Two @ Uptown Neighborhood Bar & Grill – April 16
Jam Session w/ Alan Sweet & the Candy
Makers -The Muddy Waters, 1708 State
St. Bettendorf, IA
Jazz Jam with The North Scott Jazz Combo
-Mojo’s (River Music Experience), 130 W
2nd St Davenport, IA
Karaoke Night -Applebee’s Neighborhood
Grill - Davenport, 3005 W. Kimberly Rd.
Davenport, IA
Karaoke Night -The Lucky Frog Bar and
Grill, 313 N Salina St McCausland, IA
Karaoke Night -The Rusty Nail, 2606 W
Locust Davenport, IA
Live Lunch with Keith Soko (noon) -Mojo’s
(River Music Experience), 130 W 2nd St
Davenport, IA
Lynne Hart Jazz Quartet -Cabana’s, 2120
4th Ave. Rock Island, IL
Mountain Standard Time - Milltown -The
Redstone Room, 129 Main St Daven-
port, IA
Open Mic Night w/ Kung Fu Tofu -
Stickman’s, 1510 N. Harrison St. Bet-
tendorf, IA
The War on Drugs -Sheandoah Davis -
Rozz-Tox, 2108 3rd Ave. Rock Island, IL
Troy Harris, Pianist (6pm) -Red Crow
Grille, 2504 53rd St. Bettendorf, IA
9pm
Party Band
7pm
x
Original Rock
9pm
pected
Party Band
9pm
Dance Band
7pm
The Champagne of Bands
563.359.1015
FRIDAY
2011/04/22 (Fri) 22
“Blues Plate Special” Lunch with Tony
Hoeppner (noon) -Mojo’s (River Music
Experience), 130 W 2nd St Davenport, IA
Caught in the Act -The Rusty Nail, 2606 W
Locust Davenport, IA
Dani Lynn Howe Band -Knuckleheads, 502
N. Linn St. # B Anamosa, IA
David Killinger & Friends -G’s Riverfront
Cafe, 102 S Main St Port Byron, IL
Gray Wolf Band -Martini’s on the Rock,
4619 34th St Rock Island, IL
Hal Reed and MOB Reunion I -The Muddy
Waters, 1708 State St. Bettendorf, IA
Hi-Fi -Len Brown’s North Shore Inn, 7th
Street and the Rock River Moline, IL
High Cotton Blues Band -11th Street Pre-
cinct, 2108 E 11th St Davenport, IA
Jazz After Five: John Schultz Organiza-
tion (5:30pm) -The Mill, 120 E Burling-
ton Iowa City, IA
Karaoke Night (members only) -Moose
Lodge - Davenport, 2333 Rockingham
Rd Davenport, IA
Karaoke Night -Circle Tap, 1345 Locust St.
Davenport, IA
23
Karaoke Night -Creekside Bar and Grill, 3303
Brady St. Davenport, IA Saturday
2011/04/23 (Sat)
Karaoke Night -Paddlewheel Sports Bar &
Grill, 221 15th St Bettendorf, IA Chasing Shade -Gabe’s, 330 E. Washington
St. Iowa City, IA
Karaoke Night -Stickman’s, 1510 N. Harrison
St. Bettendorf, IA Corporate Rock - Missippi Brew, 107 Iowa
Kevin Gordon -The Mill, 120 E Burlington Ave., Muscatine, IA
Iowa City, IA David Killinger & Friends -G’s Riverfront
Mason Jennings -The Redstone Room, Cafe, 102 S Main St Port Byron, IL
Don Estes Student Guitar Recital (11am)
129 Main St Davenport, IA
Night People -Cabana’s, 2120 4th Ave. Rock -Mojo’s (River Music Experience), 130 W
2nd St Davenport, IA
Island, IL
Funktastic Five -The Rusty Nail, 2606 W
Noise Shock Spring Bazaar: STM - X+X
Locust Davenport, IA
- ARU (6pm) -Theo’s Java Club, 213 17th
Hal Reed and MOB Reunion II -The Muddy
St. Rock Island, IL
NSAI (6:30pm) -Cool Beanz Coffeehouse, Waters, 1708 State St. Bettendorf, IA
1325 30th St. Rock Island, IL Head Held High - Satellite Heart - The
Open Mic Night -Uptown Bill’s Cof- Blushing Gun -RIBCO, 1815 2nd Ave.
fee House, 730 S. Dubuque St. Iowa
City, IA
Rock Island, IL
Justin Morrissey & Friends -Bent River
Patio - Festival of Fools -RIBCO, 1815 2nd Brewing Company, 1413 5th Ave. Mo-
line, IL
Ave. Rock Island, IL
Karaoke Night -Cheers Bar & Grill, 1814 7th
Public Property - David Zollo -Iowa City
St Moline, IL
Yacht Club, 13 S Linn St Iowa City, IA
Karaoke Night -Creekside Bar and Grill,
Red Pepper Sage (6pm) -Toucan’s Can-
3303 Brady St. Davenport, IA
tina / Skinny Legs BBQ, 2020 1st Street
Karaoke Night -Generations Bar & Grill,
Milan, IL
4100 4th Ave. Moline, IL
RetroRon -Mojo’s (River Music Experi-
Karaoke Night -Moe’s Pizza, 1312 Camanche
ence), 130 W 2nd St Davenport, IA
Ave Clinton, IA
Smooth Groove -Gil’s Bar & Grille, 2750 S.
27th St. Clinton, IA
Southern Thunder Karaoke & DJ -Hollar’s
Karaoke Night -Paddlewheel Sports Bar &
Grill, 221 15th St Bettendorf, IA
Meet the Press -Jim’s, 311 W. 2nd St. Rock
Bar and Grill, 4050 27th St Moline, IL
Falls, IL
The Fry Daddies -Purgatory’s Pub, 2104 State
Mid-Life Crysys -Martini’s on the Rock, 4619
St Bettendorf, IA
34th St Rock Island, IL
The Tailfins -Col Ballroom, 1012 W. 4th St.
Mountain Standard Time - Pre-Apocalyp-
Davenport, IA
tic Junkyard Orchestra -Iowa City Yacht
Tommy Cash: A Tribute to Johnny Cash
Club, 13 S Linn St Iowa City, IA
-Quad-Cities Waterfront Convention Cen-
ter, 1777 Isle Parkway Bettendorf, IA
Nitrix -Tommy’s, 1302 4th Ave Moline, IL
Noise Shock Spring Bazaar: Sd Yiddish
uneXpected -Uptown Neighborhood Bar and
- Secrets - FeeDBacula (4pm) -The
Grill, 2340 Spruce Hills Dr. Bettendorf, IA
ARTery, 1629 2nd Ave in the District
Wes Weeber & Sage Weeber Plus One
Rock Island, IL
-Mojo’s (River Music Experience), 130 W
Only Thieves - Maylane - Is World - Carver
2nd St Davenport, IA
-River Music Experience, 129 Main St
Wookiefoot - Insectoid -Gabe’s, 330 E.
Davenport, IA
Washington St. Iowa City, IA
e Music Live Music
Quarter Moon Tinsnips -Mojo’s (River
Music Experience), 130 W 2nd St
Davenport, IA
Rob Dahms & Detroit Larry Davidson
(6pm) -Toucan’s Cantina / Skinny Legs
BBQ, 2020 1st Street Milan, IL
Smooth Groove -Uptown Neighborhood
Bar and Grill, 2340 Spruce Hills Dr. Bet-
tendorf, IA
Southern Thunder Karaoke & DJ -Hollar’s
Bar and Grill, 4050 27th St Moline, IL
Tapped Out -Kavanaugh’s Hilltop Bar, 1228
30th St. Rock Island, IL
The Night People -11th Street Precinct,
2108 E 11th St Davenport, IA
Uh Huh Her -The Blue Moose Tap, 211 Iowa
Ave. Iowa City, IA
Who Cares -Rick & Kathy’s Lounge, Sil-
vis, IL
Wicked Nature -The Pour House, 1502 W.
Locust St. Davenport, IA
Wild Oatz -Purgatory’s Pub, 2104 State St
Bettendorf, IA
Zither Ensemble (10am) -German Ameri-
can Heritage Center, 712 W. 2nd St.
Davenport, IA
SUNday
2011/04/24 (Sun) 24
Five Bridges Jazz Band (9am) -Hotel Black-
hawk, 200 E. 3rd St. Davenport, IA
Glenn Hickson (5:30pm) -O’Melia’s Sup-
per Club, 2900 Blackhawk Rd. Rock
Island, IL
Karaoke Night -11th Street Precinct, 2108
E 11th St Davenport, IA
Karaoke Night -The Rusty Nail, 2606 W
Locust Davenport, IA
Karaoke w/ Steve K and the Gang -The
Muddy Waters, 1708 State St. Bet-
tendorf, IA
Neutral Uke Hotel - Golden Bloom - The
Michael J. Epstein Memorial Library
-Gabe’s, 330 E. Washington St. Iowa
City, IA
Rob Dahms’ One-Man Band -The Lucky
Frog Bar and Grill, 313 N Salina St Mc-
Causland, IA
monday
2011/04/25 (Mon)
25
Acoustic Showcase -Iowa City Yacht Club,
13 S Linn St Iowa City, IA
Glenn Hickson (5:30pm) -Phoenix, 111
West 2nd St. Davenport, IA
Live Lunch with Randy Arcenas (noon)
-Mojo’s (River Music Experience), 130 W
2nd St Davenport, IA
Open Mic w/ J. Knight -The Mill, 120 E
Burlington Iowa City, IA
“True Blue Mondays” Lunch w/ Ellis Kell
-Mojo’s (River Music Experience), 130 W
2nd St Davenport, IA
tuesday
2011/04/26 (Tue) 26
Glenn Hickson (5:30pm) -O’Melia’s Sup-
per Club, 2900 Blackhawk Rd. Rock
Island, IL
Karaoke Contest Night -The Rusty Nail,
2606 W Locust Davenport, IA
Karaoke Night -Creekside Bar and Grill,
3303 Brady St. Davenport, IA
Karaoke Night -Sharky’s Bar & Grill, 2902
E. Kimberly Rd. Davenport, IA
Live Lunch with Steve Couch (noon) -Mojo’s
(River Music Experience), 130 W 2nd St
Davenport, IA
Open Mic w/ Jordan Danielsen -Bier
Stube Davenpor t, 2228 E 11th St
Davenport, IA
Psychostick -Rascals Live, 1418 15th St.
Moline, IL
Senior Music Series: Jazz Band (5pm)
-River Music Experience, 129 Main St
Davenport, IA
The Barehanded Wolfchokers (5pm) -The
Redstone Room, 129 Main St Daven-
port, IA
The Chris & Wes Show -Circle Tap, 1345
Locust St. Davenport, IA
Mountain Standard Time @ The Redstone Room – April 21
wednesday
2011/04/27 (Wed) 27
Jeff Miller (6pm) -G’s Riverfront Cafe, 102
S Main St Port Byron, IL
Karaoke Night -Applebee’s Neighborhood
Grill - Davenport, 3005 W. Kimberly Rd.
Davenport, IA
Karaoke Night -RIBCO, 1815 2nd Ave. Rock
Island, IL
Karaoke Night -Sharky’s Bar & Grill, 2902
E. Kimberly Rd. Davenport, IA
Live Lunch with Siri Lorece & Alan Sweet
(noon) -Mojo’s (River Music Experience),
130 W 2nd St Davenport, IA
Open Mic Night w/ Alan Sweet and Siri
Lorece -Mojo’s (River Music Experience),
130 W 2nd St Davenport, IA
Open Mic Nightw/ Luis Ochoa -Uptown
Neighborhood Bar and Grill, 2340 Spruce
Hills Dr. Bettendorf, IA
Southern Thunder Karaoke -Hollar’s Bar
and Grill, 4050 27th St Moline, IL
The Burlington Street Bluegrass Band
-The Mill, 120 E Burlington Iowa City,
IA
The Chris & Wes Show -Mound Street
Landing, 1029 Mound St. Davenport,
IA
The Jam -Iowa City Yacht Club, 13 S Linn
St Iowa City, IA
The New Pornographers - The Walkmen
-Iowa Memorial Union, 125 N. Madison
St. Iowa City, IA
thursday
2011/04/28 (Thu) 28
Arts & Music Night (6pm) -Uptown Bill’s
Coffee House, 730 S. Dubuque St.
Iowa City, IA
Ezra Furman & The Harpoons - Tristen &
Apache Relay -The Mill, 120 E Burling-
ton Iowa City, IA
Gong Show Karaoke -Uptown Neighbor-
hood Bar and Grill, 2340 Spruce Hills Dr.
Bettendorf, IA
Heartbreak Hotel: A Salute to Young Elvis
-Circa ‘21 Dinner Playhouse, 1828 3rd Ave.
Rock Island, IL
Jam Session w/ Alan Sweet & the Candy
Makers -The Muddy Waters, 1708 State
St. Bettendorf, IA
Get Your Gig or Venue
HIGHLIGHTED
Advertise in the Reader.
Call 563-324-0049
Janiva Magness -The Redstone Room, 129
Main St Davenport, IA
Karaoke Night -Applebee’s Neighborhood
Grill - Davenport, 3005 W. Kimberly Rd.
Davenport, IA
Karaoke Night -The Lucky Frog Bar and
Grill, 313 N Salina St McCausland, IA
Karaoke Night -The Rusty Nail, 2606 W
Locust Davenport, IA
Live Lunch with Dave Maxwell (noon)
-Mojo’s (River Music Experience), 130 W
2nd St Davenport, IA
Lynne Hart Jazz Quartet -Cabana’s, 2120
4th Ave. Rock Island, IL
Mason Jennings -Iowa Memorial Union
Main Lounge - University of Iowa, 125
N. Madison St. Iowa City, IA
Open Mic Night w/ Kung Fu Tofu -Stickman’s,
1510 N. Harrison St. Bettendorf, IA
Rude Punch - Matter of Fact -RIBCO, 1815
2nd Ave. Rock Island, IL
Sovereign Sect - HooD-TeK -Iowa City
Yacht Club, 13 S Linn St Iowa City, IA
Troy Harris, Pianist (6pm) -Red Crow
Grille, 2504 53rd St. Bettendorf, IA
FRIday
2011/04/29 (Fri) 29
“Blues Plate Special” Lunch with Ren Es-
trand (noon) -Mojo’s (River Music Experi-
ence), 130 W 2nd St Davenport, IA
Bow ‘N Arrow Barfight -Del’s, 1829 2nd
Ave Rock Island, IL
Caught in the Act -Martini’s on the Rock,
4619 34th St Rock Island, IL
Charley Hayes Trio (6pm) -Toucan’s
Cantina / Skinny Legs BBQ, 2020 1st
Street Milan, IL
David Killinger & Friends -G’s Riverfront
Cafe, 102 S Main St Port Byron, IL
Deja Vu Rendezvous featuring The Late
Nite Blues Brothers -The Redstone
Room, 129 Main St Davenport, IA
Down Lo -The Lucky Frog Bar and Grill, 313
N Salina St McCausland, IA
Funktastic Five -Uptown Neighborhood
Bar and Grill, 2340 Spruce Hills Dr. Bet-
tendorf, IA
Business • Politics • Arts • Culture • Now You Know • RiverCitiesReader.com
Generationals -Gabe’s, 330 E. Washington
St. Iowa City, IA
Gray Wolf Band -Assumption High School,
1020 Central Park Ave. Davenport, IA
Jazz After Five: Equilateral (5:30pm) -The
Mill, 120 E Burlington Iowa City, IA
Karaoke Night (members only) -Moose
Lodge - Davenport, 2333 Rockingham
Rd Davenport, IA
Karaoke Night -Circle Tap, 1345 Locust St.
Davenport, IA
Karaoke Night -Creekside Bar and Grill,
3303 Brady St. Davenport, IA
Karaoke Night -Paddlewheel Sports Bar &
Grill, 221 15th St Bettendorf, IA
Karaoke Night -Stickman’s, 1510 N. Har-
rison St. Bettendorf, IA
Lee Blackmon (6pm) -Cool Beanz Coffee-
house, 1325 30th St. Rock Island, IL
Liz Mandeville -The Muddy Waters, 1708
State St. Bettendorf, IA
Night People -Cabana’s, 2120 4th Ave.
Rock Island, IL
Open Mic Coffeehouse -First Lutheran
Church - Rock Island, 1600 20th St.
Rock Island, IL
Open Mic Night -Uptown Bill’s Coffee
House, 730 S. Dubuque St. Iowa City, IA
Orangadang -RIBCO, 1815 2nd Ave. Rock
Island, IL
Retro Ron -Mojo’s (River Music Experience),
130 W 2nd St Davenport, IA
Smooth Groove -Edje Nightclub at Jumer’s
Casino and Hotel, I-280 & Hwy 92 Rock
Island, IL
Southern Thunder Karaoke & DJ -Hollar’s
Bar and Grill, 4050 27th St Moline, IL
Tripolar Xxxpress -Purgatory’s Pub, 2104
State St Bettendorf, IA
Uniphonics - More Than Lights -Iowa City
Yacht Club, 13 S Linn St Iowa City, IA
Vintage Torque Fest: Sur f Zombies
(4:45pm) - Rhythm Dragons (6pm)
- Rumble Seat Riot (8pm) - Mad
Trucker Gone Bad (9:15pm) - The
Afterdarks (10:30pm) -Jackson County
Fairgrounds, junction of Iowa State
Highways 62 & 64 Maquoketa, IA
River Cities’ Reader • Vol. 18 No. 776 • April 14 - 27, 2011
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 River Cities’ Reader • Vol. 18 No. 776 • April 14 - 27, 2011 Business • Politics • Arts • Culture • Now You Know • RiverCitiesReader.com

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