Music

Cheap Trick, which was to be the opener for a show by rock band Heart, was announced Friday as the replacement for Heart as grandstand opening-night headliner at 7 p.m. Aug. 28. It will be joined for the show by another 1970s hit rock group — Blue Oyster Cult, best known for its 1976 hit "(Don't Fear) The Reaper."

It's been two weeks since rock band Heart canceled its opening-night headline concert at Allentown Fair, and it looks like the fair is set to announce a replacement.

For the first time, the two-day festival will feature a barbecue competition, along with 11 blues performers. It will take place Friday, July 19 and Saturday, July 20 at SteelStacks.

Through this month, the symphony is offering a 10% discount on tickets to its popular Holiday Pops concert on Dec. 21 and Repertory Dance Theatre's "Nutcracker" on Dec. 7-8, both at Miller Symphony Hall at 23 S. 6th St., Allentown.

Michael W. Smith, who has won three Grammy Awards and 45 Dove Awards and has been inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame, will perform at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 21.

ArtsQuest is holding a one-day sale that eliminates those pesky price-pumping fees on eight of the 11 headline shows at the SteelStage venue. But the sale ends at 11:59 p.m. today, July 12.

The 37th Annual Blueberry Festival runs Saturday and Sunday, with live music, food, kids activities, outdoor games, and of course, blueberries. New this year is the Blueberry Tavern Tent, serving centuries-old tipples for tasting and taking.

The Dickies and The Queers will perform at 7 p.m. Nov. 2 at Maingate Nightclub, 448 N. 17th St. Allentown.

South African rockers Seether, who had the chart-topping songs “Broken (with Amy Lee),” “Remedy,” “Fake It” and “Country Song,” will team up with Skillet, which has had 25 Top 10 Christian chart singles, 12 of which went gold or platinum, to play the event center at 6 p.m. Sept. 21.

Brett Scallions, the original singer of 1990s hit band Fuel, will perform an acoustic solo show at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, July 13, at Signature Event Center, 137 Erin Lane, Brodheadsville. Tickets, at $30, remain available at www.TicketWeb.com.

Celebrate the start of summer with traditional folk dance and son jarocho music at the Charles A. Brown Ice House on Saturday, June 21.

The Smashing Pumpkins founder and frontman Billy Corgan played a two-hour, 22-song set with his new band The Machines of God before a near-sellout crowd of perhaps 1,500 at Allentown's Archer Music Hall.

A cappella group Straight No Chaser, best known for its viral internet video of “Twelve Days of Christmas” mashed with Toto’s “Africa,” will perform at the theater Dec. 7. And Wizards of Winter, the popular rock-music-holiday show, will return at 3 p.m. Dec. 21.

Crumb has started a short tour that brings it later this week to Allentown's Archer Music Hall. Tickets, at $41.80 for general admission standing, with pop band Kassie Krut as opening, remain available for the Thursday show.

The fair said Monday that Ace Frehley, former guitarist for KISS, and 1980s hard rockers Quiet Riot and Great White will perform at 7 p.m. Aug. 30.

The Lehigh Valley Charter High School for the Arts graduate is reuniting with her fellow "The Voice" contestants and will release a new single in the fall.

Thomas Dolby, who had the 1982 Top 5 hit "She Blinded Me with Science," will perform Saturday, Nov. 1, according to the venue's website.

The Celtic Cultural Alliance, which holds the festival, on Friday announced annual details of contests at the Celtic Classic "that everyone can be a part of and celebrate their Celtic heritage."

Lehigh Valley's Dave Goddess Group will perform a free show to promote its new six-track EP, "Kitty Hawk," at 8 p.m. Friday, June 13, at Godfrey Daniels in Bethlehem.

Sporting "Eras" tour outfits, friendship bracelets, and glittery makeup, hundreds of Swifties turned out to the shopping center's celebration and tribute to the pop singer.

Comedian John Mulaney, who for six years was a writer on “Saturday Night Live” and starred in the short-lived FOX-TV series “Mulaney,” will perform at 8 p.m. Sept. 20. Vocal duo Air Supply, best known for its 1980 No. 1 on the Adult Contemporary chart hit "Lost in Love," will perform at 8 p.m. Oct. 18. And "Miracle on 34th Street, the Musical," will offer eight performances Dec. 10-14.

Bachman Turner Overdrive, or B.T.O., which founder Randy Bachman revived in honor of its 50th anniversary in 2023, will perform at 8 p.m. Oct. 23.