Music

The Weight Band, featuring former The Band guitarist Jim Weider, will perform at 8 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 24, at Musikfest Cafe at ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks.

The Hooters, who combined ska and folk-rock on 1980s hits such as “Day By Day” and “And We Danced,” will perform at 8 p.m. at Univest Performance Center, 301 W. Mill St. Gates open at 6, and an opening act will go on at 6:30 p.m.

Starting Wednesday, gates at the Allentown Fairgrounds will close between Liberty and Chew Streets, the north and south borders of the grounds.

While the Lehigh Valley IronPigs’ stadium again will have music emanating from its baseball diamond — and will look to do more — it doesn’t mean the park is likely to become a steady stop on the concert circuit, General Manager Kurt Landes said.

Organizers had hinted that this year's crowds were expected to break records. On Tuesday, ArtsQuest confirmed it. More than 1.3 million visited Bethlehem during the 11 nights of Musikfest 2023.

The time-lapse was shot from the weather camera atop the Univest Public Media Center on the SteelStacks campus.

The 40th Musikfest drew to a successful close on Sunday night in Bethlehem. The nation's largest open-gate free music festival delivered more than 500 free performances, plus paid-ticket headliners. Organizers believe a record of roughly 1.25 million attended the 11-day event. An official count is expected to be announced Tuesday.

The legendary salsa group performed their biggest hits and displayed perfectly-timed dance moves.

The ArtsQuest annual fête has an estimated 900 volunteers in 2023.

The Goo Goo Dolls played a concert of 25 songs in 107 minutes at Musikfest that included all of its hits, deep cuts and new songs.

Archer Music Hall, the new downtown concert venue, has announced a concert series that will showcase Pennsylvania acts. The series, called Pennsylvania’s Own, will start May 9 with Motionless in White.

The Struts, whose style recalls bands such as The Rolling Stones and Queen and who has had the hits “Could Have Been Me” and “Kiss This,” will perform at 8:30 p.m. Aug. 20.

Z.Z. Top, which had the hits “Tush” in the 1970s and “Legs” and “Sharp Dressed Man” in the 1980s, will perform at Wind Creek Event Center at 8 p.m. Sept. 21, it was announced Tuesday.

Three Dog Night, which from 1975-83 had 19 Top 30 hits on the Billboard Singles chart, and Little River Band, which had 11 Top 30 hits from 1977-83, will perform at 6 p.m. Aug. 15.

The festival will be held Friday and Saturday, July 18-19, on the SteelStacks campus, with performances at Levitt Pavilion SteelStacks and the Town Square Community Stage.

Punk band Pissed Jeans, which started in the Lehigh Valley, will perform at Archer Music Hall in Allentown on April 12.

Chris Janson, whose song “Buy Me a Boat” peaked at No. 2 and sold double-platinum in 2015, will perform at Wind Creek Event Center 8 p.m. Oct. 9.

Swan Lake, written 150 years ago by Russian composer Tchaikovsky and one of the most popular ballets of all time, will return to the theater at 2 p.m. Oct. 26. And Let’s Sing Taylor — A Live Band Experience Celebrating Taylor Swift, which calls itself “the ultimate tribute to the music of Taylor Swift,” will perform at the center at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 20. And it will include a tribute to an even more recent hitmaker — Olivia Rodrigo.

Dylan Scott will perform Sept. 12 as the final show for the Sounds of Summer concert series. And Led Zeppelin tribute band Get the Led Out is set to perform Aug. 29.

Gilberto Santa Rosa, nicknamed "El Caballero de la Salsa" (The Gentleman of Salsa)," will perform on the festival's main Steel Stage at 7 p.m. Aug. 7.

Chris Cagle, who had the No. 1 hit "I Breathe In, I Breathe Out" in 2001, and topped the Country Albums chart with his self-titled disc in 2003, will perform at 8 p.m. June 20.

Pretty Poison plays a free show from 7-11 p.m. today, April 4, at Wind Creek Casino's Molten Lounge.