Music

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

Country music singer Jordan Davis sold out Musikfest's main Steel Stage on Saturday night. It was the fourth headliner sellout of 2025, tying last year's record number of headliner sellouts.

The Black Keys closed out Musikfest Sunday night with an incredible selection of blues-rock hits spanning their entire near-quarter-century catalog.

The 21-song, 80-minute show displayed a more mature, experienced and musically broad Augustana that has grown with its audience, but with the same angst that drew them in the first place.

At his headlining Saturday show, Jordan Davis shared his love for family, faith, and country music heroes, while delivering hits and Nashville-style collaborations.

Welcome to LehighValleyNew.com's Fest in Show, a daily offering of some of the can't-miss acts on the free stages of Bethlehem's Musikfest festival.

Augustana performs at 9:30 p.m. Saturday on Musikfest's Americaplatz stage at Levitt Pavilion SteelStacks, 101 Founders Way, Bethlehem. Admission is free.

Third Eye Blind announced news onstage at Musikfest while encouraging kindness in the crowd Friday on the festival's main Steel Stage.

Welcome to LehighValleyNew.com's Fest in Show, a daily offering of some of the can't-miss acts on the free stages of Bethlehem's Musikfest festival.

Ray Neeb, senior vice president of operations for ArtsQuest, said he and his team are “out here day and night” to be sure of a smooth celebration from July 31 through Aug. 10.

The crowd at Allentown Fair for Cheap Trick and Blue Oyster Cult was there to hear the hits of their youth and — for the most part — got what they wanted.

Blippi: The Wonderful World Tour hits the grandstand stage at Allentown Fair at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 29. Tickets, at $30 each, remain available at the fair website.

Nearly 50 years later, Blue Öyster Cult still is performing, and this year even released "Ghost Stories," its first album of new material in four years and only second in 23 years. The group also will open for fellow 1970s rockers Cheap Trick as the grandstand feature for opening night at Allentown Fair at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 28.

Jayna Elise, who auditioned on "Idol" in both Season 21 in 2023 and Season 22 the past spring, recently was chosen for the role of Turner in Tina: The Tina Turner Musical, which performs at Easton's State Theatre on Oct. 1-2.

Allentown Fair’s main Grandstand stage is inarguably one of its biggest draws — offering top music, performances and other acts in the Lehigh Valley’s largest-capacity arena. Here's how we rank this year's headliners.

The Hooters play Univest Performing Center in Quakertown at 8 p.m. Friday, Aug. 23. The group performed to a nearly sold-out crowd in Quakertown last year.

Performances by tribute bands The Four Horsemen: A Celebration of Metallica on Aug. 30 and Strutter, a tribute to KISS, on Aug. 31 both will be free with fair admission. Maingate is adjacent to the fair and can be accessed from the fairgrounds at 17th and Liberty streets, Allentown.

Jonny Craig, the singer who led indie bands Dance Gavin Dance, Emarosa and Slaves, will perform at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 17, at Northampton's Gin Mill & Grille.

Musikfest, the largest non-gated music festival in the country, said it still had record crowds for its headline Steel Stage, and the most sold-out headline shows in its history.

If you missed the fireworks display that brought Musikfest 2024 to a close, you can catch a time-lapse of it here, recorded from the Univest Public Media Center at SteelStacks in Bethlehem. The 11-day festival ended Sunday night.

Rod Stewart, who in his 55-year recording career has sold more than 40 million albums in the United States alone and had nearly 30 Top 25 hits, will perform at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 23.

While memories still are fresh, the reviewers at LehighValleyNews.com have ranked their favorites of Musikfest's 11 headline shows this year.