Music

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.

Goo Goo Dolls, the 1990s-2000s alternative rock group who produced the platinum hits “Name,” “Iris,” “Slide,” and “Black Balloon,” has sold out its concert for tonight, Aug. 9, on Musikfest’s Steel Stage.

From lack of parking and gridlock traffic to the increased prices for headliner tickets, as well as upticks in costs for food and beverages, there are plenty of reasons why some of the Lehigh Valley’s residents don’t like — with a contingent even going so far as to actively avoid — Musikfest.

Here are the Musikfest acts and more you should see today, Wednesday, Aug. 9.

Six years ago today, local noted musician Sal Ritz Jr. passed away shortly after performing at Musikfest. His widow, Laurie Ritz Dragotta, says a return to Musikfest is still too emotional for her.

Dan + Shay, a country duo from Nashville, played to a roaring crowd on the main stage at Musikfest 2023 on Sunday night. The two are just returning to touring as they've been recording a new album due out this fall.

The Lovin' Spoonful will perform on a bill with 1960s pop-rockers The Buckinghams at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 28, at Easton's State Theatre.

Bailey Spinn, who has nearly 16 million followers on TikTok and nearly 5 million subscribers to her YouTube channel — and viral YouTube pop-punk songs, as well — will perform at 6 p.m. June 18. Party Iconic: Hot to Go — a dance party named after Chappell's 2023 double-platinum hit and featuring music by the Grammy Awards' Best New Artist — will be at 8 p.m. March 29. And Let’s Sing Taylor — A Live Band Experience Celebrating Taylor Swift will perform at 2 and 6:30 p.m. p.m. April 5.

Arrival From Sweden: The Music of ABBA will perform July 18 at the venue, 301 W. Mill St., Quakertown, as part of the Sounds of Summer Concert Series.

Hollywood Undead, best known for the 2008 hit "Undead" and 2009's "Everywhere I Go," will perform a paid-ticket concert at the venue at 7 p.m. May 13, it was announced. The show also will feature gold-selling rock band Set It Off and charting rap-rocker Zero 9:36.

Sting, who topped the charts with such songs as "Every Breath You Take" as bassist and vocalist of The Police, then with "If You Love Somebody Set Them Free" as a solo artist, will perform Nov. 20-21.

Live Nation head of club programming Molly Warren said the Archer is viewed as a resource being built where there's already a "thriving community" for music — the Lehigh Valley — that embraces artists of many genres.

A punk band that started at Nazareth Area High School will perform at 7 p.m. April 12 in the venue's The Arrow room. And Emo Night Brooklyn, which started as parties in the 2010s that captured the youthful, Do It Yourself milieu of the genre, will perform at 8 p.m. March 22, also in The Arrow.

James Arthur, who won the ninth series of "The X Factor" in Britian 2012 and is best known for the 2016 hit "Say You Won't Let Go," will perform at the event center at 7:30 p.m. July 3.

Three chart-topping reggae-based bands will perform at 8 p.m. June 11 at the Musikfest Cafe. Joining Tropidelic will be reggae-rock band Ballyhoo! and Reggae-punk band Authority Zero.

Sanguisugabogg, a Columbus, Ohio-based band that released its debut EP "Pornographic Seizures" in 2019, will perform Monday, May 12.

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.