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Holiday
Pops
The
Mark of the Quad Cities
Saturday,
November 18, 7:30 p.m.
 Early
as it may seem, TV commercials, shopping malls, and Tim Allen have,
for weeks, signaled the arrival of the holidays. I prefer to think of
November 18 as this year's official kickoff, as that date brings
with it the annual Holiday Pops concert at the Mark of the Quad
Cities. Talk about a stocking stuffer! You'll see routines by the
Figure Skating Club of the Quad Cities, who will glide along to John
Williams' Olympics theme, "Call of the Champions." You'll
hear seasonal songs by the Sanctuary Choir of the First Presbyterian
Church and the Holiday Pops Children's Chorus, with accompaniment
by the Quad City Symphony Orchestra - led by the San Antonio
Symphony's David In-Jae Cho - and, on the harp, Quad City Arts
Visiting Artist Julie Ann Smith. You'll thrill to the sight of
7,000 audience members holding miniature lights during the concert's
climactic rendition of "Let There Be Peace on Earth." And,
following the Holiday Pops performance, you're invited to stay for
the lavish desserts offered at the Mark's "Sweet Encore" party,
although the post-show bash does sound a tad superfluous - the
whole evening sounds
pretty sweet. For tickets, call (309) 764-2000. -
Mike Schulz
Happy
Birthday Amy
Penguin's
Comedy Club
Thursday,
November 16, 9 p.m.
 Amy
Smith is a clever lady. You know how you can get irrationally upset
if a friend doesn't greet you with "Happy Birthday!" on your
special day? Smith gets to hear "Happy Birthday, Amy!" all the
time;
all she had to do was make
that the name of her group. (I can imagine the discussion with
bandmates Miles Cramer and Dillon Smith - "Y'know, Happy
Birthday Miles
has a nice ring to it... ." "Yeah, but Happy Birthday Dillon
really rolls off the tongue
... .") On November 16, Penguin's Comedy Club presents
progressive rockers Happy Birthday Amy, the Nashville ensemble
featuring vocalist Amy on keyboards, Miles on drums, and Dillon (a
Davenport native) on violin and bass. According to the group's
press release, the up-and-comers' debut CD The
Holidays delivers "haunting
lyrics, playful, intricate rhythms, solid musicianship, and
dance-tastic moments" from "a three-piece conglomeration of
musical co-dependence." Of course, I'd always understood
co-dependence to be a bad thing,
but hey, it's her birthday - Amy can be as co-dependent as she
wants. Happy Birthday Amy will play Penguin's alongside The Parish
Festival and Chrash, and more information is available at
(http://www.myspace.com/penguinslivemusic). -
Mike Schulz
The
Great Train Expo
Quad
City Expo Center
Saturday,
November 18, and Sunday, November 19
"Thank
God for model trains," says Jennifer Coolidge in A
Mighty Wind. "You know,
if they didn't have the model trains they wouldn't have gotten
the idea for the big trains."
I couldn't agree more. Model-train enthusiasts - and anyone who
appreciates the pastime's detail and craftsmanship - will be in
locomotive paradise on November 18 and 19, when the national Great
Train Expo pulls into the Quad City Expo Center station; as the
event's press release states, it's "the only hobby where you
can be the city planner, structural engineer, and conductor all at
the same time." In addition to the numerous displays (some as large
as 40 feet by 50 feet), the expo will feature railroad memorabilia;
dealers, collectors, and appraisers from across the country; special
children's activities; and demonstrations and clinics on everything
from developing scenery to maintenance - "If there isn't a
seminar geared to your question," boasts the press release, "all
you have to do is ask." Okay, so here's a question: Who came up
with the idea
to create big trains based on models? I mean, that's brilliant!
How long did it take for ... oh, wait a minute ... there's a chance
that Coolidge may have been joking ... . For further information,
visit (http://www.greattrainexpo.com). -
Mike Schulz
The
Quad City Comedy Tour
Nighswander
Theatre
Saturday,
November 18, 7 p.m.
Some
of Chicago's funniest up-and-coming stand-ups are coming to town in
the Quad City Comedy Tour, hitting Davenport's Nighswander Theatre
on Saturday, November 18. Comedians Vince Carone, Jim Flannigan, Jay
Harris, Dustin White, and emcee Nick Lullo will perform as part of a
special Midwestern tour designed to showcase Chicago stand-up. "The
city has a great improv scene," says show producer Lullo, "but
stand-up comedians from the
area seem to be less prominent." That being said, this lineup is
ready to show us what they got - and they got mad street cred!
Carone, who recently auditioned for Saturday
Night Live, has opened for actor-comedian John Witherspoon
(Ice Cube's dad in Friday),
while Flannigan has opened for Jamie Kennedy; Harris has performed at
nearly every major comedy club in the Midwest; White is a veteran of
Chicago's Second City (whose famous alumni include Bill Murray,
Chris Farley, and Steve Carell); and Lullo - who once worked as an
anchor for Chicago's Indian-entertainment program Bollywood
Buzz - has produced more than 40 other comedy shows.
Tickets are $10 - only $8 if you
bring a copy of this article with you! - with
refreshments provided, and more information is available at
(http://www.quadcitycomedy.com). -
Brad Vidmar
The
Jumbies
Rock
Island Brewing Company
Thursday,
November 16, 10 p.m.
 When
I initially heard about the Des Moines-based band The Jumbies, my
first reaction was, "Aw, how cute!"
I'm sorry, but "Jumbies" is just a cute name. It brings to mind
movie-theatre candy. Or Muppets. But the moniker "Jumbies"
actually originates from the Trinidadian word for "mischievous
spirits," and after learning of the group's spicy musical style,
it sure doesn't sound like they're aiming for "cute." Expect
the band to make some serious mischief when they return to the Rock
Island Brewing Company on November 16, playing what percussionist
Creighton Gaynor calls "very upbeat, party-type music." The
Jumbies' sets incorporate a variety of exhilarating styles -
salsa and Latin beats are intertwined with calypso rhythms and the
sound of the steel drum - and make use of the traditional,
Trinidanian technique of soca, which Gaynor, in the Iowa
State Daily, described as
"calypso with a faster, dance-oriented beat." Sounds like hot
stuff, even though the Jumbies' Myspace page
(http://www.myspace.com/jumbies) does describe the group as "a
Caribbean/Afro-Latin/funk version of Dr. Teeth & the Electric
Mayhem Band." So I guess they're aiming for a little
bit cute. For more
information, visit (http://www.ribco.com). -
Mike Schulz
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