Music

Cheap Trick, which was to be the opener for a show by rock band Heart, was announced Friday as the replacement for Heart as grandstand opening-night headliner at 7 p.m. Aug. 28. It will be joined for the show by another 1970s hit rock group — Blue Oyster Cult, best known for its 1976 hit "(Don't Fear) The Reaper."

It's been two weeks since rock band Heart canceled its opening-night headline concert at Allentown Fair, and it looks like the fair is set to announce a replacement.

For the first time, the two-day festival will feature a barbecue competition, along with 11 blues performers. It will take place Friday, July 19 and Saturday, July 20 at SteelStacks.

Through this month, the symphony is offering a 10% discount on tickets to its popular Holiday Pops concert on Dec. 21 and Repertory Dance Theatre's "Nutcracker" on Dec. 7-8, both at Miller Symphony Hall at 23 S. 6th St., Allentown.

Michael W. Smith, who has won three Grammy Awards and 45 Dove Awards and has been inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame, will perform at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 21.

ArtsQuest is holding a one-day sale that eliminates those pesky price-pumping fees on eight of the 11 headline shows at the SteelStage venue. But the sale ends at 11:59 p.m. today, July 12.

The 37th Annual Blueberry Festival runs Saturday and Sunday, with live music, food, kids activities, outdoor games, and of course, blueberries. New this year is the Blueberry Tavern Tent, serving centuries-old tipples for tasting and taking.

The Dickies and The Queers will perform at 7 p.m. Nov. 2 at Maingate Nightclub, 448 N. 17th St. Allentown.

South African rockers Seether, who had the chart-topping songs “Broken (with Amy Lee),” “Remedy,” “Fake It” and “Country Song,” will team up with Skillet, which has had 25 Top 10 Christian chart singles, 12 of which went gold or platinum, to play the event center at 6 p.m. Sept. 21.

Brett Scallions, the original singer of 1990s hit band Fuel, will perform an acoustic solo show at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, July 13, at Signature Event Center, 137 Erin Lane, Brodheadsville. Tickets, at $30, remain available at www.TicketWeb.com.

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.

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.