BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Welcome to LehighValleyNew.com's Fest in Show, a daily offering of some of the can't-miss acts on the free stages of Bethlehem's Musikfest festival.
This year, 422 acts will play those stages during the festival's 11 days.
Read us daily during Musikfest for suggestions of the best music — and more.
Here are music acts you should see today, the second official day of Musikfest 2024, Sunday, Aug. 4:
The Dracu-las, 4:30 p.m. Zinzenplatz
Female-fronted four-piece The Dracul-la's out of Jersey City, New Jersey, play that garage-rock sound from the 1960s that became a strong element of seminal punk rock in the late 1970s, when female rockers were just coming on the scene. "It takes you back to an earlier time in rock 'n' roll history," ArtsQuest Chief Programing Officer Patrick Brogan said. "And they've got a sound that captures younger audiences, but is certainly very accessible to ones that remember the '60s and '70s fondly, and the early era of female rockers."
Jeremiah Tall, 3 p.m. Americaplatz, 7 p.m. Liederplatz
Bushy-haired-and-bearded Bucks County singer Jeremiah Tall performs an often rollicking and roaring set of folk/Americana/roots music on guitar, banjo and mandolin, with a kick drum and cymbal. He's opened for Steve Earle, Gary Clark Jr. and Langhorne Slim, and played sets at The Philadelphia Folk Festival.
Dustin Douglas and the Electric Gentlemen, 6 p.m. Stadtplatz
Wilkes-Barre blues rocker Dustin Douglas (nee Drevitch) is the former guitarist for Northeast Pennsylvania roots rockers The Badlees, who in the 1990s had the hits "Fear of Falling" an "Angeline is Coming Home." He now fronts the swaggering band that captures the vibe of late 1960s and ‘70s blues-laced rock ‘n’ roll, mixing retro-style and groove a la Jimi Hendrix Experience, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Led Zeppelin and Black Crowes. Or, as the band puts it, "brings vintage sound and vibe to modern ears."
Melt, 7:30 p.m. Americaplatz
Female-fronted New York City-based band Melt initially made a name for themselves with their first single, "Sour Candy," which reached No. 5 on Billboard's Viral 50 chart when they were 18 years old. The group has since released its first EP, "West Side Highway," which it describes as "an eclectic mix of artists from Diana Ross to Wilco, The Grateful Dead to Maggie Rogers." ArtsQuest's Brogan describes the group this way: "They have a real pop-indie rock sound that we're excited to have ... some great jams/jam band music in it."
Boat House Row, 9:30 p.m. Americaplatz
Yacht rock — that all-inclusive guilty-pleasure genre of soft rock music from the 1970s — has found a huge new audience 50 years later. Suddenly, the music of Hall & Oates, Michael McDonald, Kenny Loggins, Christopher Cross, Steely Dan, Toto and others so reviled just a few years ago now is being embraced again, and New Jersey-based Boat House Row is one of its foremost cover-band practitioners. How popular is Yacht rock? In November, Boat House Row is scheduled to play two nights of paid-ticket shows at Musikfest Cafe.
