Music

1980s hitmakers Styx and REO Speedwagon performed a co-headlining show Wednesday at the opening night of the Allentown Fair grandstand.

The Allentown Fair kicks off its 171st year on Wednesday at 4 p.m. at the Allentown Fairgrounds. The fair, which will include entertainment, rides, food, refreshments, exhibits and more, runs through Monday, Sept. 4 at 9 p.m.

Backed by a four-man band and a back-up singer, Sheena Easton performed 15 songs in precisely 90 minutes at Mount Airy Casino Resort on Saturday.

The summer spectacle returns with headlining concerts, amusement rides, livestock shows and free family fun.

The Hooters performed to a nearly sold-out crowd Friday at Univest Performance Center in Quakertown.

The festival will feature bachata and merengue music and Latin eats such as empanadas and mofongo.

The local singer will debut her newest music at the National Sokols on Saturday.

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.

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.

Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers tribute band Damn the Torpedoes will perform Friday, Jan. 17, at Musikfest Cafe at ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks in Bethlehem.

A top-priced $99 ticket for country star Darius Rucker at Musikfest on Aug. 3 normally would come with a $10 service fee, a $8.50 Musikfest venue fee and a $1 ticket vendor fee. So normally, you'd pay $19.50 in fees (a 19.7% upcharge) per ticket. But not today.

In the last year and a half, Allentown School District spent more than $1.4 million on new instruments and hired 34 educators to teach the related arts, which include band, choir and orchestra, among others.

The Three Kings celebration at the ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks will feature a children's story time, distribution of toys, and an appearance by Einstein the camel.

Operators of The Archer Music Hall — Live Nation — very soon should be announcing the downtown Allentown venue's first shows, especially with February pegged as the opening month.

Starting with a show at Lehigh University's Stabler Arena in 1981, Dylan played the Lehigh Valley 10 times — some of them significant shows.

Ditch the Chinese food and the sweatpants: Here are some fun ideas to help you and yours ring in the New Year in the Lehigh Valley.