Still Shine throws a Thanksgiving Eve party at Kenny's Westside

Peoria's own acoustic-roots outfit headlines Kenny's Westside Pub on Wednesday, Nov. 25, the night before Thanksgiving.

Every town has a night when everybody is home at once. In Peoria it's the Wednesday before Thanksgiving: college kids back from school, old friends in from out of state, families who have already done their shopping and need somewhere to go that isn't the kitchen. This year a hometown band has claimed it. Still Shine plays Kenny's Westside Pub downtown on Wednesday, Nov. 25, at 8 p.m., a show the ticket listing bills as the Gobble Gobble Get Down.

Tickets are through eTix, and the date was announced Oct. 30. Kenny's holds 400, which is a lot of room for a local band on a normal Wednesday and not much at all on this particular one.

If you haven't heard them, Still Shine plays acoustic, string-band music with some reach to it. When the PBS series *State & Water* gave the group a two-part feature (Part 1, Part 2), it described them as like-minded, seasoned musicians blending acoustic roots and progressive bluegrass. That's a useful description of what to expect: tunes with traditional bones, played by people who have clearly spent years listening to the newer, jammier end of the genre too.

They're a familiar name on Peoria stages. JamBase has them at Friendly Valley Tavern in May 2025, and the Kenny's show puts them in one of the city's bigger rooms on one of its busiest nights.

The Wednesday before Thanksgiving is the one night everybody is home at once.

The room is a big part of why this works. Kenny's Westside Pub sits at 112 SW Jefferson Avenue and started out as a neighborhood bar on Farmington Road. After it moved downtown in 2016, owner Sean Kenny told Peoria Magazine, "We became a live music venue—not just a bar that has live music." The magazine has called the music room the most professional place to hear live music in Peoria, and the booking backs that up. Touring acts have come through, from Daniel Donato in March 2025 to Sneezy this February.

A hometown band headlining that stage on a holiday eve is a different kind of night than a touring show. Half the crowd will know someone in the band, and the other half will be meeting up with people they haven't seen since last November. Bands that play this region's taverns and pubs year-round tend to treat a night like this as a homecoming as much as a gig.

Practical notes: it's a weeknight, but nobody's working Thursday morning, so plan for it to run late. Downtown parking on the busiest bar night of the year fills up early. And Kenny's is known for Irish-inspired food and its signature tater tots, per Discover Peoria, so you can solve dinner on site.

The turkey can wait until tomorrow. Wednesday belongs to a Peoria band, a full room, and everybody who came home.

Sources: JamBase: Still Shine at Kenny's Westside Pub (jambase.com); eTix: Gobble Gobble Get Down with Still Shine (etix.prf.hn); PBS State & Water 111: Still Shine Part 1 (pbs.org); PBS State & Water 121b (pbs.org); JamBase: Still Shine at Friendly Valley Tavern (jambase.com); Peoria Magazine: Pay the Cover, Let Your Mind Be Blown (peoriamagazine.com); Peoria Magazine: Built for Music Lovers (ww2.peoriamagazines.com); JamBase: Daniel Donato at Kenny's Westside Pub (jambase.com); JamBase: Sneezy at Kenny's Westside Pub (jambase.com); Discover Peoria: The Best Irish Pubs in the Greater Peoria Area (peoria.org)