Music

With Allentown Fair opening its 173rd year today, music critic John J. Moser has 25 years of reviewing grandstand shows behind him. These are the best he's seen, ranked in order.

Heart will perform a grandstand show at 7 p.m. Aug. 27 on the opening night of Allentown Fair. Tickets remain available.

The new Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton Regional Music Awards has an official website, and is taking nominations for its first ceremony later this year.

The Struts performed Wednesday night at Levitt Pavilion SteelStacks. The focus of the concert was a celebration of the 10th anniversary U.S. release of their debut album, "Everybody Wants."

Cheap Trick, which had its first hit with “Surrender” in 1978 and 10 years later had its biggest hit with “The Flame,” will perform Oct. 22. And Jason Bonham, son of the late Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham, with his Led Zeppelin Evening will perform Nov. 15.

The Struts stop at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 20, at Levitt Pavilion SteelStacks for a paid-ticket show in which it will play the entire album, as well as other songs.

Emblem3, best known for the 2013 song "Chloe (You're the One I Want)," will perform in Archer's Arrow room at 7 p.m. Nov. 14, it was announced.

Neko Case, who has been nominated for three Grammy Awards and also is a member of the high-charting Canadian power pop super group The New Pornographers, will perform at 7 p.m. Jan. 17.

Singer Gladys Knight, who from 1967 to 1991 had nearly three-dozen Top 10 hits in the soul and R&B charts, will perform at Wind Creek Event Center at 8 p.m. Dec. 4. Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday, Aug. 15.

Here's a breakdown of our rankings for the best main Steel Stage shows for the 11 nights of Musikfest 2025 in Bethlehem.

I Want My 80s Tour, featuring 1980s chart-toppers Rick Springfield, John Waite, Wang Chung and Paul Young, will perform at the event center at 8 p.m. July 13.

Terry Fator, who won the second season of “America’s Got Talent” in 2007 with his puppets, who sing in a wide variety of styles, will perform at 8 p.m. July 12.

A new tradition is taking shape in Easton, with the Big Easy Easton Brass Band encouraging people to assemble Krewes for a Mardi Gras parade and ball with a $1,000 cash prize.

"The Geologic Podcast" is no geology. Just Geo(rge) and his logic. Writing sketches and voicing multi-character dialogues has landed a Bethlehem podcaster a Hall of Fame spot.

Mac Powell, who led Christian rock band Third Day to produce 13 gold and platinum albums, will perform at Calvary Baptist Church in Bethlehem Township. Also on the bill are contemporary Christian band Cochran & Co. and songwriter Jon Reddick.

Scott Bradlee’s Post Modern Jukebox, which reinterprets contemporary hit songs as jazz, ragtime and swing music, will perform at 8 p.m. July 26. And "Dancing with the Stars Live," featuring 2024 Mirrorball winners Joey Graziadei and Jenna Johnson, show co-host Stephen Nedoroscik special guests, will perform at 7:30 p.m. April 17.

The a cappella group will scheduled to perform at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Feb.7 at Zoellner Arts Center.

Napalm Death, the English band credited as pioneers of the grindcore genre, will perform Tuesday, May 6, with The Melvins, the Washington band often credited with helping form Nirvana.

Sabrina Carpenter won two Grammy Awards on Sunday: Best Pop Solo Performance for her chart-topping hit "Espresso," and Best Pop Vocal Album for "Short n' Sweet," and also performed on the awards broadcast.

Easton's State Theatre will offer its final Blue Suede: The Premiere Elvis Birthday Bash, at 4 p.m. today, Feb. 2

Sixteen hardy souls braved the elements Friday to buy the first tickets for Kane Brown and top comedian Gabriel "Fluffy" Iglesias, who will perform Sept. 1.

Totally Tubular Festival, which features acts including Right Said Fred, The Motels, The Tubes, Men Without Hats and more, will perform Thursday, July 17.