As I posted in yesterday’s teaser post, last Saturday was a super-fun blockbuster bash/party/festival/concert to help support the renovation of The Madison Theatre in beautiful downtown Peoria.
I went and of course took a ton of photos and they are all below this. Scroll on down to see this fun and festive day and evening celebrating a true Peoria landmark!
The event happened right here and all you had to do was follow the signs to find your way into this festive and fun celebration!
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The VIP Tent
I bought VIP tickets and I made my way into the VIP tent and met Jack Berres and his crew from Jack’s on Adams who were working and volunteering at the VIP tent!
Great to see all of them and wonderful of them to volunteer their time for this event!
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The Madison Theatre Mural By Jeremy Berkley
This mural on the side of the wall of the Madison Theatre was drawn and created by local artist, Jeremy Berkley.
What a fantastic piece of art to honor this legendary Peoria theatre!
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The Madison Theatre
They had tours of the theatre earlier in the day, but I didn’t get there till early evening and the tours were all done.
Maggie Whalen Misselhorn was kind enough to open the theatre up for me and let me in to take some photos. Let’s go take a look around and thank you, Maggie!
Wow, I haven’t been inside of this theatre for decades! Crazy to see it again and I’m looking forward to it being fully restored!
There’s a lot of work still to be done, but with your donations it can happen!
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The Nut House Pop-Up Shop
They had a Nut House Pop-Up Shop in the front of the theatre with displays and memories of this beloved shop and some cool photos from the Madison Theatre archives.
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Faces From The Blockbuster Bash
Here’s some of the smiling faces that I captured with the trusty MBIP Camera. Great to see everyone and thanks for posing and smiling for these photos!
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Music
The music and entertainment started at 11AM, I missed the early acts, but made it in time to see the final three musical acts on the bill. First up…
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Still Shine
Still Shine is a group rooted in acoustic and progressive bluegrass music.
They sounded wonderful and as you can see, I’m not the only one taking photos!
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Food And Drink
There were several vendors offering up selections of food and drink including: Grill ‘Em All, Jane’s Sweet Addicitons and Kenny’s Westside Pub.
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Pizza From Jack’s On Adams
The real treat of the evening if you had a VIP ticket was free pizza from Jack’s on Adams! Jack’s donated a ton of pizza and it was appreciated by everyone in the tent.
If you haven’t tried Jack’s on Adams pizza, check it out as soon as you can! They’re open for lunch, dinner and late-night munchies!
Check out this week’s featured pizza, The Double Decker!
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A Few Shots From The Madison’s Across The Street Neighbor, Selfie Space
One of Peoria’s most fun and unique businesses is located right across the street from the Madison Theatre and that business is Selfie Space!
Renee is the owner and operator of this fun and unique downtown business and it was her birthday last Saturday! Happy birthday, Renee!
It was recently the one year anniversary of Selfie Space and you can see photos from that celebration by clicking here.
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Greg Batton The Shadowy MC For The Evening
Meanwhile, back at the Blockbuster festival, Greg Batton from The Greg and Dan Show was the host and MC for the evening portion of the show, I took several photos of him but his hat left a shadow on his face in each one! If you want to see what Greg looks like, just click here!
And now, ladies and gentlemen, please welcome…
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The BraziLionaires
The fun and lively band, The BraziLionaires were next up on the musical bill and they did not disappoint.
They have a distinctive style featuring jazzy, Latin styled-music and a wonderful stage show.
The crowd loved them!
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Sun Stereo
The amazing and truly unique and original band, Sun Stereo closed the show.
If you have never seen this band, you really need to check them out.
They describe their act as a “wedding reception on acid minus the chicken dance” and that’s a pretty apt description!
It was the perfect act to end this joyous blockbuster day and evening celebration of The Madison Theatre!
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You Can Still Donate
Even if you missed this celebration, you can still help by donating to help the restoration of this historic and landmark Peoria theatre. Just click here to help out!
Thanks to everyone who came and to those that put this fantastic festival and party together for The Madison Theatre!
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The Madison Preservation Association
502 Main Street
Peoria
309-431-1612
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Related Posts: Meanwhile, Back In Peoria’s Past: The Madison Theatre and Places In Peoria: The Madison Theatre.