Live-music venues worth the trip in Dubuque, Iowa

The outdoor stage behind Q Casino + Resort in Dubuque, which its own site calls Dubuque’s Ultimate Outdoor Amphitheater, runs a summer concert season on the casino grounds.

A downtown Dubuque complex holding a 4,000-seat arena and a restored 1910 historic theater, Five Flags Center’s own site runs a Rock and Roots Series and a 90s Country Gold Series of touring concerts and tribute acts alongside the resident Dubuque Symphony Orchestra.

The showroom inside Diamond Jo Casino in the Port of Dubuque takes its name from the Doobie Brothers lyric. Its own page describes three levels of seating and a state-of-the-art sound and light system, says the room is 21 and up, and lists ticketed touring rock, free regional band nights and touring comedians.

The indoor showroom at Q Casino + Resort in Dubuque, billed on its own site under the heading Legendary Performances, books a band nearly every Friday and Saturday, most of them free, with occasional ticketed national headliners.

A two-level room in downtown Dubuque that its own site calls a Hifi Lounge, Nightclub and Bar & Grill, the Goose pairs a record-listening lounge upstairs with a stage where live performances span every genre. Its about page says the stage also hosts comedy, poetry and other imaginative acts.