ALTERNATING CURRENTS Alternating Currents, the Quad-Cities music, film and comedy festival, is back this weekend in downtown Davenport, Bettendorf and Rock Island. The fest is completely free to the public and happens at 44 different stages across downtown Davenport, Bettendorf and Rock Island. It's put together by the Downtown Davenport Partnership, an affiliate of the Quad Cities Chamber of Commerce.
Alisha Espey, program director for the Downtown Davenport Partnership, said Alternating Currents had grown quite a bit since the fest started in 2017. What venues are hosting? At this year's festival, there are more venues and more acts than ever before. Want to see a show at a barber shop? That's possible at Allied Barber & Supply.
What about a vintage shop? Pop by Ragged Records and Trash Can Annie's Vintage Clothing. How about outdoor options? There are many, including at Kaiserslautern Square in Davenport and Schwiebert Riverfront Park in Rock Island. Restaurants like Ruby's, Armored Gardens, The Half Nelson and Front Street Brewery have multiple shows throughout the weekend too.
New hosts for 2024 include boutique cinema The Last Picture House, the new film hub for Alternating Currents' film festival, and Great River Brewery, a host at the festival before the brewery closed in 2019 "It's really meaningful to us to bring (Great River) back," Espey said. "They kept that Alternating Currents poster up from 2019 until basically a week or two before they opened (this year). "And every day we'd walk by and be like, 'We want this back so badly.
' " There's also Schweibert Park in Rock Island, which Espey called a "beautiful place to see a show." The Espey also praised recurring spots like Daiquiri Factory and Mac's Tavern, which will be busy throughout the weekend. To see all of the locations involved in the fest, go to www.
alternatingcurrentsqc.com . When is Alternating Currents? Alternating Currents will be held from Thursday, Aug.
15, to Sunday, Aug. 18. The first performances on Thursday will start at 5 p.
m. at Front Street Taproom in Davenport (Lewis Knudsen) and Schwiebert Park in Rock Island (Justin Golden). Events run from 10 a.
m. to just past midnight on Friday and Saturday, and 10 a.m.
to 7 p.m. on Sunday.
There is so much to see at Alternating Currents this year that it can be overwhelming, but the best way to stay updated and organized is via the Alternating Currents app, which allows attendees to make their own custom schedule. By the numbers In total, Alternating Currents has 16 film events showcasing 26 films; 10 comedy shows featuring 33 comedians; more than 70 makers, visual artists and vendors; over 100 concerts, 75 musical acts and 275 total musicians. Of those artists, 34% come from the Quad-Cities and another 25% of them are from within a three hour radius.
In the future, Espey said she'd love to see more diversity in the lineup and continue to expand the roster of, currently, 84 community partners and sponsors. That number is the one Espey said she's most proud of. "What I would like to see in the future is more organizations latching onto this and using Alternating Currents as a platform," she said.
"It is a community festival." The comedy Local comic Chris Schlichting helped assemble the comedy roster for the third straight year and said he's proud of the wide variety of comedians on the list. "We have comics from all over the Midwest, people that are not only funny but just good people," Schlichting said.
It all starts on Thursday night with Greg Warren performing at 8 p.m. at the Capitol Theatre.
Warren is one of the most recognizable names on the Alternating Currents lineup. He's a frequent guest on The Nate Bargatze Show and has nearly 100,000 followers on Instagram. "In my opinion, he is one of the top five touring comics right now," Schlichting said.
The Warren show will be opened by Brent Terhune, who Schlichting said is "on the verge of blowing up." The show will be a clean, family friendly comedy night, too. It's not just about the national acts, though, Schlichting said.
He's excited to show off the blossoming local comedy scene, in venues that aren't exactly comedy clubs. He booked the lineup with one motto in mind: Get local news delivered to your inbox!.
