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.

The Musical Box, a Canadian band that says it recreates "historic Genesis concerts of the past," will perform the 1973 album "Genesis Live" at 7 p.m. June 15.

ArtsQuest has announced three new shows for Musikfest Cafe.

Archer Music Hall developers City Center and operators Live Nation gave the media an early look at the venue before its scheduled March 8 opening by gold-selling Brazilian metal band Cavalera.

Tickets, at $119, go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday, Jan. 31 at the fair's website or at its box office on Allentown Fairgrounds at 17th and Liberty streets.

Peter Frampton, best known for his 1976 album “Frampton Comes Alive,” which was the biggest-selling live album for more than 20 years, will play Thursday, April 3.

Marilyn Manson, the heavy-makeup-wearing alternative rocker whose 1996 album “Antichrist Superstar” branded him a negative influence on young people but sold double platinum, will perform at 8 p.m. May 7, it was announced.

Nazareth-based Martin Guitar will showcase new guitars, including an acoustic double-neck, at the National Association of Music Merchants trade show in Anaheim this week.

Live Nation, the huge entertainment company that will run the Archer Music Hall, will hold a job fair Thursday and Friday, Jan. 23-24. It has said it expects to fill more than 200 permanent jobs at the venue in nearly 20 categories.

The Burt Bacharach Songbook Live is coming in April to Wind Creek Event Center in Bethlehem.

Pop-soul group Lawrence, best known for its Top 40 Pop chart hit "Whatcha Want," will perform in the venue on Oct. 11, it was announced.

Chicago, which is among the Top 30 bestselling music acts of all time, with more than 120 million copies of its 46 albums sold worldwide, will perform on Musikfest's main Steel Stage on Aug. 5.

The broad range of shows coming to Allentown's new Archer Music Hall includes an all-star revue of New Orleans musicians that headlined Musikfest's main stage, an iconic original punk band and an early 2000s teen chart-topper.