Let’s take a walk (don’t run) through our upcoming entertainment adventures for this week in the capital city. It’s time to stop and smell the roses as we enjoy all the enticing excitement available for partaking if you make the choice to participate. So off we go to see what’s out there.
Thursdays are on the move this summer, helped along by a well-placed nudge from the weekly Levitt AMP concert series held downtown at the Y-block in front of the Governor’s Mansion. In case you’ve been hiding under a rock or had your head stuck in the sand, this Levitt AMP thing is pretty cool. Basically, a “small to mid-sized” town or city needs to apply to the Levitt family foundation asking to receive a matching grant to book live music into a community on a regular basis. Jacksonville was the first municipality in our area to achieve this goal several years ago. They no longer work with the Levitt AMP folks, but continue to carry on weekly live music concerts during the summer months. Let’s highly encourage our hometown in that direction as well, but for now we have the next two months booked with touring headlining acts supplied by Levitt AMP and supported (mostly) by local groups every Thursday evening, along with a maker’s row, food trucks and a different “kid’s kickoff event” each night. This week features Anita Michelle Jackson performing “her brand of jazz” with Butter opening the show.
Other Thursday musical activities include Rod Grant going solo on the Casey’s Pub patio and Tom & Geoff doing a duo at Mother Road Diner, plus several karaoke nights and a couple of open mics. We also have some big-time concerts like Aaron Lewis and the Stateliners with local support from Josh Holland Band at the Macoupin County Fairgrounds in Carlinville and Rick Ross, Waka Flocka Flame, Fletchy and DJ Cliffy D at the Devon Lakeshore Amphitheatre in Decatur.
Moving on to the official weekend, Friday brings us a delightful collection of area musicians playing at an assortment of our established venues. To name a few highlights, Long Bridge Golf Course just north of the airport on Illinois Rt. 29 gives us the return of Michael Burnett and the Suns of Circumstance with a very special appearance by the one and only Debbie Ross on vocals, just as our other golf course venue, Brookhills Golf Club on Old Jacksonville Road, delivers Mississippi Leghound with a very special appearance by another one and only, Mr. Bad Bill Robinson, on harmonica.
Saturday comes roaring in with the glorious Debbie Ross Band in Boone’s music garden, while Short Notice, The Woodchips, the Down Bads and DangerU.S. make a four-band splash in the outdoor area at The Library Pizza & Sports Bar (formerly Crow’s Mill Pub) as the Blue Grouch hosts the We are Warped Festival with seven bands, including UNCHAiNED, The Warped Kids, Freddy Vs., Atlas on Fire, Los Injectors, Low Phatt and Black Book. At the north end of town on Peoria Road, the Stadium has Whitehorse (a Chris Stapleton tribute band), while Weebles, in conjunction with 92.7 WQLZ-FM, presents Fivefold in a free concert that includes bands Enamel and Cabretta. Then, just down the way at the Sherman Village Park Amphitheater as part of the Live at the Amp Xfinity ‘26 Concert Series, check out Cody Parks & The Dirty South playing country metal with local Metallica tribute band Phantom Lordz opening the show.
And once again we leave Sunday and the rest of the week out as there’s just too much to do to get it all in. Ain’t we the lucky ones. See ya.
This article appears in June 4-10, 2026.
