Things to Do in Iowa City: Music & Night Life

February 20, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Iowa City is a lively little town. Forget the rural image – If you’re moving here you’ll be surprised at just how much Iowa City has got going for it. (Most folks are – Including me when I relocated here). That’s reason enough for me to show you just how diverse this area of the Midwest is… At the moment I’m concentrating on things to do in Iowa City. In my last post I included movie theaters and community theaters. In this one I’m concentrating more on live music and entertainment venues.

Live Music & Entertainment Venues in Iowa City

Iowa City Summer of the Arts An obvious choice for first spot on this list considering how big these events have become in Iowa City.  In 2005 several organizations with a tradition of providing free family friendly fun events got together under the umbrella organization Iowa City Summer of the Arts. They include the Iowa Arts Festival, the Friday Night Concert Series, the Toyota-Scion Jazz Festival and the MidWest One Movie Series. The great thing about this series of course is that it’s FREE. It runs all summer long and although you won’t find any info yet on this year’s events it’s worth checking out the website and bookmarking it – Summer will be here sooner than you think!

The Mill was voted best live entertainment venue in the area by readers of the Press Citizen. That’s in 2009 and 2010 now… There’s fun stuff going on at the Mill almost every day of the year. And good food too! You will find them @120 E Burlington St – Tel: 319-351-9529

The Yacht Club is another venue for good music @ 13 S Linn St. – Tel: 319-337-6464

The Sanctuary also has regular shows plus a huge assortment of beers @ 405 S Gilbert St. Tel: 319-351-5692

Iowa City Piano Lounge offers a different style of music you can drink martinis to @ 217 Iowa Ave. Tel: 319-351-1797

Wildwood Smokehouse & Saloon, as the name suggests, this venue is for country music lovers. Unlike the others on this list they’re not downtown. They’re located off the Herbert Hoover Highway @ 4919 Walleye Dr SE. Tel: 319-338-2211

Riverside Casino and Golf Resort is obviously also not downtown. They’re @ 3184 Highway 22,  Riverside.  Now if you really want to live it up, then the Riverside Casino and Golf Resort has a variety of options for you. It’s so much more than just a casino! They have plenty of live entertainment, karaoke and buffets that people drive for miles for…

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New Movies and Events in Iowa City & Coralville This Weekend

February 19, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Just one new movie release to share with you this weekend as I round up new movies and events in Iowa City and Coralville for this weekend February 19 through February 21.

You can check the schedule for movies at the Coral Ridge Mall Movie Theatre in Coralville and the Sycamore Mall Cinema in Iowa City… So what’s new? Only one new release, but it’s a real humdinger! It’s Shutter Island, a Martin Scorsese movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Ruffalo. Two US Marshals are called in to investigate the disappearance of a murderess from a high-security hospital for the criminally insane. Sounds very creepy to me! Leonardo DiCaprio gets better and better as an actor and it’s a Scorsese film, so you can’t go wrong…

Moving onto the regular theatre… The Iowa City Community Theatre is taking the stage at The Englert this weekend with performances of Leonard Bernstein’s Musical Wonderful Town.

The Riverside Theater finishes its run of End Days on February 21. If you follow my blog you’ll know this is a play about science, religion and suburbia. (A surprising combination we’re all agreed).

The Mill is one of the liveliest places in town and will deliver it’s usual busy program this weekend.They kick off Friday with Brighton MA - a five piece Chicago rock band and continue through the weekend with a fun packed schedule. You’ll find more info on their website.

If you like your country music with dance then check out the Wildwood Smokehouse & Saloon. Great music and great food and free wi-fi…They often have specials too like all you can eat ribs on Wednesdays…They’re on Facebook and do a great job of keeping fans updated on events and specials on their fan page.


Last, but definitely not least for this week I’m going to round it up again with the Riverside Casino. It’s not all about the casino, they have plenty of live entertainment too. New Odyssey is playing there this weekend – Three guys playing thirty instruments. Impressive!

Plenty to do in Iowa City and Coralville this weekend as you can see – And this only covers things that caught my eye – it’s not an all inclusive list! This is a regular weekly post, so if you have any events to add, just let us know in the comments. I’m sure other readers will appreciate it.

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New Movies and Events in Iowa City & Coralville this Weekend

February 12, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Who knew Valentine’s weekend was such a big weekend for movies? This was news to me until it came time to write my regular post on new movies and events in Iowa City and Coralville for this weekend February 12 through February 14. So much star power out there this weekend… Just keep on reading and you’ll see what I mean...

The first new movie you can catch at the Coral Ridge Mall Movie Theatre in Coralville and the Sycamore Mall Cinema in Iowa City is The Wolfman – This is of course based on the classic Universal film that launched a legacy of horror. It stars Benicio Del Toro, Emily Blunt, Hugo Weaving and Anthony Hopkins, who I am proud to say comes from the same corner of the world as me. (Wales is a tiny country that most folks not living there have difficulty finding on a map, so I need to give it a special mention every now and then!)

The next new movie is Percy Jackson and The Olympians: The Lightening Thief. Percy is a regular high school student who’s life gets interesting when he finds out his father was Poseiden, the God of the Sea, which naturally makes him a demigod. A bit of a Harry Potter knock-off by all accounts, not that it matters. A good story is a good story. Once again there’s a whole bunch of stars, this time in supporting roles. We’ve got Uma Thurman, Pierce Brosnan and Sean Bean supporting Logan Lerman as Percy.

The last new movie for this week has the give away title of Valentine’s Day. Probably no need to say more… And if you thought the previous two movies were star laden, you ain’t seen nothing yet! It seems there are more than a dozen famous names in this movie. Here are just a few… Julia Roberts, Kathy Bates, Taylor Swift, Ashton Kutcher, Bradley Cooper and George Lopez. Pretty diverse group of actors, don’t you think? Dr McDreamy is in it too and Queen Latifah. Like I said, A LOT of famous names in this movie. Wonder if it will make the box office this weekend…

Moving onto the regular theatre… The Englert has landed itself quite a catch this weekend with two performances by the Peking Acrobats on Saturday. I’m sure that will be a totally awesome show not to be missed by anyone who appreciates acrobatics.

End Days continues its run until February 21 at The Riverside Theater If you follow my blog you’ll know this is a play about science, religion and suburbia. (A surprising combination for a comedy for sure).

The Mill will deliver as usual of course. They kick off Friday with the Jazz after Five Concert Series and continue through Valentine’s weekend with other events. You’ll find the schedule on their website.

If you like your country music with dance then check out the Wildwood Smokehouse & Saloon. Great music and great food and free wi-fi…They often have specials too like all you can eat ribs on Wednesdays…They’re on Facebook and do a great job of keeping fans updated on events and specials on their fan page.


Last, but definitely not least for this week I’m going to round it up again with the Riverside Casino. It’s not all about the casino, they have plenty of live entertainment too. This weekend they have landed a special catch too with Kris Kristofferson performing there on Friday. (Now there’s an icon for you!)

Plenty to do in Iowa City and Coralville this weekend as you can see – And this only covers things that caught my eye – it’s not an all inclusive list! This is a regular weekly post, so if you have any events to add, just let us know in the comments. I’m sure other readers would appreciate it.

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New Movies and Events in Iowa City & Coralville this Weekend

February 5, 2010 By Leave a Comment

It’s Friday and we’re heading into Super Bowl Weekend! As you’re preparing for the big game there’s still plenty of time to take a trip to the movies or take in a show before Sunday rolls around. If you’re looking for choices, this is what I’ve come up with in Iowa City and Coralville for this weekend February 5 through February 7...

First, let’s look at new movie releases. Two new movies to share with you this week. The first is From Paris with Love with John Travolta and Jonathan Rhys Myers. John Travolta plays a trigger happy CIA agent with his green side kick (Jonathan Rhys Myers) who are running around the streets of Paris trying to prevent a terror attack. John Travolta is great in this kind of over the top roll so probably steals the show.

The other movie is Dear John, Lasse Hallestrom’s adaptation of Nicholas Sparks’ novel. It stars Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried. It’s about a young man who goes to war after meeting the love of his life. The letters his new love sends him are what get him through his days, but these very letters have consequences that neither could have envisioned. I’ve said it before, I’ve never seen a movie that truly lived up to the book. I love Lasse Hallestrom movies, but I’m going to stick by that statement!

You can catch these movies at the Coral Ridge Mall Movie Theatre in Coralville and the Sycamore Mall Cinema in Iowa City.

Moving onto the regular theatre… If you feel like laughing, then the Englert is worth a visit this weekend. You can see improv sketch comedy at it’s best with the 50th anniversary of Second City on both Saturday and Sunday. This is where some of today’s most famous comedians started out, so you can expect big laughs as the troupe looks back at 50 years of classic sketches.

More comedy at The Riverside Theater where End Days continues it’s run until February 21. This is a play about science, religion and suburbia. (Yes, I did say comedy… And it’s a play about science and religion. Interesting).

Another great weekend at The Mill of course. Friday sees the return of legendary singer-songwriter Dave Moore.  Dave has played on nationally known radio programs like A Prairie Home Companion and The World Cafe.

Just to prove the point that The Mill is “the in place in town” Dr Dog with the Growlers is performing on Saturday and that show is sold out already! There’s a reason The Mill was voted Best Live Entertainment Venue in the Press Citizen’s Best of Area list…

If you like your country music with dance then check out the Wildwood Smokehouse & Saloon. Great music and great food and free wi-fi…They often have specials too like all you can eat ribs on Wednesdays…They’re on Facebook and you’ll find a list of their specials there.


And for those of you who feel like kicking it up a notch the Riverside Casino might be just the ticket. It’s not all about the casino, they have plenty of live entertainment too. This weekend they have quite a show lined up on Friday and Saturday with The Britins, a Milwaukee band who entertain audiences with a tribute to The Beatles.

Excitement all round if you ask me with plenty of choices for entertainment this weekend… All of this of course culminates with the big game on Sunday. Who are you rooting for? I think the soft-hearted amongst us will be rooting for the “underdog.” From what I can see they know how to celebrate in New Orleans and if they pull this off that will be one heck of a party!

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New Movies and Events in Iowa City & Coralville this Weekend

January 22, 2010 By Leave a Comment

The weekend is almost here. Time for my weekly round up of movies and events in Iowa City and Coralville for January 22 through January 24.

Let’s say when it comes to new movie releases we’ve had more exciting opening weekends. I have 3 new movies to share with you. The first (and probably the best) is Extraordinary Measures, starring Harrison Ford and Brendan Fraser. It’s a film based on a true story about a father, (Brendan Fraser) getting together with a brilliant, but unconventional scientist (Harrison Ford) to save his dying children. Definitely a tearjerker, so don’t forget to take tissues with you! The next one is Legion with Paul Bettany and Dennis Quaid. This is a movie that’s probably not going to sit well with everyone – A horror movie where God is unhappy with the world and sends down his angels to bring on the Apocalypse. We’ll see. I don’t see it having much of a chance with Avatar and The Book of Eli out there, but that’s just me…

Our movie for kids this week is The Tooth Fairy with Dwayne Johnson, (and an all time British favorite Julie Andrews). It doesn’t get good reviews, but as I’ve said before, it’s not like they’re never wrong!

You can catch these movies at the Coral Ridge Mall Cinema in Coralville and the Sycamore Mall Theatre in Iowa City.


Moving onto The Mill, a favorite live entertainment venue any day of the week. Tonight you can experience an evening with Dr. Z’s Experiment – who have this to say about themselves: “A unique talent of the group is the ability to go into a free vocal jam at any time, switch instruments inside of a set, or make spontaneous segues from the middle or end of one song into another song, or something totally new.” I guess this is why they have the word “Experiment” in their name!

On Saturday it’s a night with Samuel Locke Ward and the Boo Hoos playing what they’re calling “weirdo lounge” (that’s a new one on me) and rock and roll. With an almost all girl backing group it sounds like it could be interesting. (Now I guess I need to find out what weirdo lounge is!)

For country music with dance then check out the Wildwood Smokehouse & Saloon. Great food, great music and free wi-fi…They often have specials too like all you can eat ribs on Wednesdays…They’re on Facebook and you’ll find a list of their specials there.

And to wrap it up again for this week, Riverside Casino is another very popular local venue. You may be drawn by the casino, but they have plenty of live entertainment too. You’ll find a calender of events on their website too.

Iowa City is a busy little town and Coralville has The Mall, the Ice Rink and Children’s Museum, just for starters. My post is just a snapshot of a few of the highlights this weekend. Another good source for what’s going on in the Iowa City area is the Press Citizen.

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