BETHLEHEM, Pa. — The season of outdoor music at the SteelStacks campus almost is upon us, and performers already are announcing shows that ArtsQuest hasn't yet.
ArtsQuest on Monday finished announcing its list of headliners for its Musikfest festival with word that 1990s rockers Third Eye Blind will perform there for the second year in a row.
But ArtsQuest hasn't yet announced its summer lineup for its free Levitt Pavilion SteelStacks series, or for its various genre summer festivals.
And maybe it hasn't finished announcing its paid-ticket Levitt Pavilion shows yet.
Performers are announcing shows themselves.Artist websites
But performers are announcing shows themselves.
Grammy Award-winning New Orleans funk-style roots music group Hot 8 Brass Band, says on its website it will play Levitt Pavilion SteelStacks on May 23.
Irish roots music singer-songwriter-guitarist Gráinne Duffy says on her website that's she'll play ArtsQuest's Blast Furnace Blues Festival at 7 p.m. July 18.
Also saying she will play Blast Furnace Blues is Lehigh Valley singer Bev Conklin and BC Combo, whose website says she will open the festival with a performance at 5 p.m. July 17.
And popular tribute band Dirty Deeds, the AC/DC Experience, says on its website that it will perform at Levitt Pavilion SteelStacks at 8 p.m. Oct. 23.
ArtsQuest has not announced any of the shows.
The Hot 8 Brass Band show would be during Memorial Day weekend.
That's typically right after the opening weekend of ArtsQuest's Levitt Pavilion SteelStacks summer series of more than 50 free concerts.
ArtsQuest has not announced the Levitt free concert lineup for this year; it usually does that at the end of April.
Hot 8 Brass Band
Hot 8 Brass Band in 2021 won a Grammy Award for Best Regional Roots Music Album and also was nominated in that category in 2015 and 2017.
The group is celebrating 30 years this year. It formed from two Fortier High School student groups, the High Steppers and the Looney Tunes Brass Bands.
After Hurricane Katrina, the group began touring the United States to encourage and support other displaced Katrina victims and promote New Orleans’ recovery.
It opened on tour for R&B singer Lauren Hill and were featured in the Spike Lee documentaries "When the Levees Broke" in 2006 and "If God Is Willing and Da Creek Don’t Rise' in 2010.
It is promoting a new album, "Big Tuba,' its first since 2019, featuring a cover of Bill Withers’ “Ain’t No Sunshine” and “Fight Song.”
Blues Fest and AC/DC tribute
Duffy released her debut album, "Out of the Dark,” in 2007. She released her most recent fifth album, her fifth disc "Dirt Woman Blues," in 2023.
She is a sister of the popular Irish actress Joanne Brennan.
Conklin is a popular Lehigh Valley area blues music performer, and is found of the annual Lehigh River Blues Jam, an early blues festival that has continued for more than 15 years.
She also has been a frequent performer at the Blast Furnace Blues festival.
ArtsQuest had previously announced that Blast Furnace Blues would return July 17-18, but has not announced performers.
The concert by Dirty Deeds would typically be outside the usual run of the free Levitt Pavilion free concerts, which typically ends in September. In 2025, its last show was Sept. 13.
ArtsQuest already this year has announced two paid-ticket concerts for Levitt Pavilion this year.
Seminal alt-country band Wilco will perform on June 17 and platinum-selling hit-making jam band Blues Traveler, with hit-makers Gin Blossoms and Spin Doctors at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 25.
Tickets remain available for both shows.
Dirty Deeds, which says it performs an "authentic, immersive, interactive" show of AC/DC songs, performed inside Musikfest Cafe at SteelStacks in February 2025.
