The Last Bigger & Weirder Dance: Heading South – the Peoria Show (Ep. 2)

In the first episode of my trip report, I told you how I reached Rhinelander in Wisconsin from Germany. However, the key intention of this trip was to follow the Bigger & Weirder Tour 2026 by Weird Al Yankovic. On Tuesday, 13th October 2026, he played in Peoria, Illinois – and that’s exactly how this episode is ending. There is quite some sightseeing in between, so that I hope that you enjoy this second entry of The Last Bigger & Weirder Dance.

 

Monday, 12th October 2026

You will find the first half of that day in the first episode of my Trip Report. 

Bye, Bye Rheinlander – a long Drive ahead

It’s been about noon – and as there was still a six hour / 350 miles drive ahead, I did the lasts steps before leaving the town. First of all, I grabbed some merchandise in two stores, one of them dedicated to the Hodag. The people there knew about the link to my home region, by they. My last tasks in Rhinelander was a very German thing: shopping at Aldi. They are simply the cheapest store in the United States nowadays. Then it was time to head down to Iowa. The first part of the trip was in line with the tour I did the day before in reverse order. More or less, the fastest route would have even been even to reverse the entire trip, passing Chicago again. I felt that this was too boring and thus I went for a shorter, but slower route via Wisconsin Falls. I really love that state.

Near Dubuque, I crossed the Mississippi River – the first ever time I am on Iowa State ground. Overall, this has been the 37th state of the United States I have visited. My original goal was that there is a bit of daylight when I reached my hotel, the Spark by Hilton Bettendorf Quad Cities. Also due to another fueling and dinner stop, I missed it by some 30 minutes on that time limit. Nonetheless, I really loved this day.

 

 

Tuesday 13th October 2026

Morning Thoughts

Somehow, that fourth day of the trip was scheduled being a rather relaxing one. After days with a lot of driving and/or flying, there were just 100 miles on my list, a rather short drive compared to some other days of that trip. On the other hand, the trip somehow felt to really start that day, with the first of four concerts on my list. The day started in Bettendorf in the Quad City area. Breakfast at the local Spark by Hilton was even more underwhelming than Spark breakfasts in the USA are usually.

 

Some Quad City Attractions

As I was rather late, feeling exhausted from the days before and the morning was rainy, I went for an indoor attraction first. John Deere has their headquarters in located in Moline, Illinois. They also drive the free entry John Deere Pavilion, which was really fun. I spent some half an hour there, had a brief visit to the John Deere Store and then headed Northwest, to my next stop.

Just a few miles outside the Quad Cities, there is Iowa 80. The facility at Interstate I-80 is regarded being the world largest truck stop. While there is no doubt about it in regards of truck parking lots (about 900!!!), there are some discussions whether the Autohof in Geiselwind, Germany, is bigger. Finally, you have to say that they are different and hard to compare. Unfortunately, I missed that the Iowa 80 Museum next to it is closed on Tuesday.

 

More Big Machines in Peoria

Thus, I had sufficient time for the some 90 minute trip to Peoria, Illinois. My first Weird Al concert on that trip was held there. However, I had a quick visitor at the nicely made Catarpillar Visitor Center there. “CAT” is home to Peoria. Thus, there was quite a lot of Diesel involved on that day – while the US is struggling with increasing Diesel prices. The Staybridge Suites Peoria Downtown I stayed in is quite close to the venue and I just felt like relaxing before the show a bit – also because it was really warm outside. Bad luck, Peoria feels having some really nice spot, especially the Riverfront at Illinois River.

 

Finally, I am back at the Bigger & Weirder Tour

I felt really exhausted before the show. The lines at the doors when the venue opened an hour before the event were massive – and so did they be at the merch stand. Puddles had quite some trouble with the audience support when one fan just did not get that he should eat the treats provided on stage. Nonetheless, I really enjoyed the support act – also because he had slight adoptions to his set compared to the shows I saw in May, June and July 2026.

Luckily, my health deficits faded when Weird Al and the band stepped on stage. I did not like the Peoria Civic Center too much. The 1982-bult 11,000 people venue was quite packed, but did not feel modern at all. I had a central fifth row with a nice view of Stephen. I also could have eye contact with some of the band members – always a fun thing during a show. The show went quite smooth. Again, I felt that the band had improved bits and pieces of the evening a lot. The cover song of the evening had been Aretha Franklin’s (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman, at which especially the ladies had a lot of visible fun. I took a short walk around the venue and headed back to the hotel.

The Last Bigger & Weirder Dance – The Episodes

I split my trip report in five sections (and an introduction post). The first section is about my experience in Rhinelander, Wisconsin. then, there is more or less one episode per concert I visited:

• The Last Bigger & Weirder Dance – Introduction
• The Last Bigger & Weirder Dance – from Rheinland to Rhinelander
• The Last Bigger & Weirder Dance – Heading South – the Peoria Show
• The Last Bigger & Weirder Dance – Heading East to Indiana – the Fort Wayne show
• The Last Bigger & Weirder Dance – Going back to Wisconsin – Green Bay
• The Last Bigger & Weirder Dance – Farewell at Milwaukee
• The Last Bigger & Weirder Dance – Going Home and Reprise

 

Top Pick! Technical Museums

Here are all my technical museum reviews, which have been assigned a Top Pick! rating:

 

Rides on Rail (USA)

Here are my Rides on Rail postings related to the USA: