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 Doobie Brothers played Allentown's PPL Center on Saturday, Sept. 28. One of its biggest hits, the band tells everyone to "Listen to the Music." That song was sage suggestion for those who saw the band Saturday at PPL Center. The story of the show could be told in the song's lyrics.

The Doobie Brothers tour stops at 8 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 28 at Allentown's PPL Center. Tickets, at $39-$250, remain available at the PPL Center website.

Alan Doyle, a singer-guitarist for Great Big Sea, will perform at 7:30 p.m. March 6 — a week before St. Patrick's Day — at Musikfest Cafe at ArtsQuest Center. Tickets go on sale Friday.

College Hill PorchFest is back on Sunday, September 29, with its largest event yet, featuring around 70 performers across 35 porches, along with plenty of other community-based activities.

The Temptations, who from 1965-89 had 45 Top 10 R&B hits, will perform at 8 p.m. April 25. They will be joined by The Four Tops, who from 1965-72 had 15 Top 10 hits on the R&B chart.

The International Cultural Festival will he held at J. Birney Crum Stadium in Allentown from noon to 6 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 22.

Miller Symphony Hall is marking two major milestones for the Symphony Orchestra's 74th season as the hall celebrates its quasquicentennial and its music director celebrates 30 years.

Bullet for My Valentine, which has had 16 Top 40 songs on the Mainstream Rock and Alternative Rock charts, will perform at 6:30 p.m. May 9 at Wind Creek Event Center. Joining it on the show will be Trivium, whose 2011 album "In Waves" hit No. 13 and whose 2015 song "Until the World Goes Cold" hit the Top 10 on the Mainstream Rock chart.

Performers Kassi Ashton, Kelsey Hart, Meghan Patrick and Annie Bosko will be the lineup for Cat Country 96 Jingle Jam, which traditionally night for up-and-coming country acts performing acoustic music.

”A Sousa Band Concert” with the Allentown Band playing the music of famed composer and conductor John Philip Sousa will be held Sunday, Oct. 13, at Miller Symphony Hall, 23 N. Sixth St., Allentown. At the show, the first Sousaphone — the large-belled instrument in the tuba family named after Sousa — will be displayed.

Allentown Farmers Market, Brass Rail and food truck fare complement free local and regional musical talent through mid-October.

In the decade since Allentown's PPL Center opened on Sept. 12, 2014, with a concert by The Eagles, the venue has presented 83 concerts, including comedy shows.