John J. Moser
News DirectorI’m deputy director for news at LehighValleyNews.com and have been a reporter and editor at newspapers in Pennsylvania and North Carolina for nearly 40 years. I spent more than 30 years at The Morning Call in Allentown as a reporter, copy editor and editor, and for 12 years was its music critic and entertainment writer. I’ve captured more than two dozen statewide and national awards for writing and editing, and was part of a team of reporters in North Carolina that was runner-up for the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service. Contact me at JohnM@lehighvalleynews.com or 610-984-8183.
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Sugaray Rayford, who in 2020 won the Blues Music Awards for B.B King Entertainer of the Year and Soul Blues Male Artist of the Year, will perform at the festival, which will be held noon-10 p.m. June 24 along Hamilton Street.
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Over a 19-song, hour-and-40-minute show, Live’s performance in the summer's first paid-ticket show at Levitt Pavilion SteelStacks ranged from acceptably perfunctory to positively stunning, but not with the consistency the band had with its former members.
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El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico, a popular Puerto Rican salsa band widely known as El Gran Combo, will headline the main Steel Stage at the massive music festival in downtown and South Side Bethlehem on Aug. 11, it was announced Tuesday.
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Walk The Moon, best known for its 2014 hit "Shut Up and Dance," will headline the main Steel Stage at the massive music festival in downtown and South Side Bethlehem at 7 p.m. Aug. 4, it was announced Tuesday.
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Jay Pharoah, who spent seven seasons on "Saturday Night Live," will perform at Musikfest Cafe at ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks at 8 p.m. Sept. 28.
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Bluesy rocker Boz Scaggs, best known for his 1970s hits "Lowdown" and "Ledo Shuffle," performs at 7 p.m. Sunday at Miller Symphony Hall in Allentown.
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ArtsQuest announced a grand re-opening of the first floor of its ArtsQuest Center in Bethlehem will be held 5:30 p.m. Monday. The organization also announced a "generous gift" from Crayola for its planned ArtsQuest Cultural Center, which is slated to replace the Banana Factory in Bethlehem.
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Vanessa Collier, a saxophonist/singer, will open this year's season of free concerts at Levitt Pavilion SteelStacks in Bethlehem with a performance at 7:30 p.m. Friday, May 19.
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J&J Demolition Derby, a Labor Day mainstay at Allentown Fairgrounds, will return to the fair for its closing-night grandstand entertainment offering.
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A new ArtsQuest festival that will bring three days of family-friendly music, games, food and amusements to Upper Macungie Township, announced in February as a paid-ticket event, now will be free, organizers announced.
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The event, which features trucks 12 feet tall and 12 feet wide sitting atop 66-inch-tall tires, will have sessions at 7 p.m. Feb. 21; noon and 6 pm. Feb. 22; and noon and 6 p.m. Feb. 23.
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The Darkness is on a U.S. tour that stops Tuesday, Sept. 9, at Allentown's Archer Music Hall. Tickets, at $45.75 and $48.05, remain available at the Archer website.
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The Tilghman Street exit from Route 309 — an intersection that averages more than 77,000 vehicles a day — will have new traffic patterns starting Monday.
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Trans-Siberian Orchestra will return to Allentown's PPL Center with its The Ghosts of Christmas Eve: The Best of TSO & More show on Friday, Nov. 21, it was announced.
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A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held at David and Jackie Jaindl Family Birth and Newborn Center at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest.
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The Bacon Brothers play Zoellner Arts Center's Baker Hall, 420 E. Packer Ave., Bethlehem, at 6 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 7.
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Top country band Old Dominion plays Allentown's PPL Center at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 4. Tickets, at $49.70-$187.95, remain available at the PPL Center website or the box office at 701 Hamilton St., Allentown.
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Country singer Kane Brown's concert headlining Allentown Fair's grandstand Friday showed not only that it's real enough to connect with fans of both genres, but really good, too.
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Country rock group Alabama on Thursday played a record 10th headlining show at Allentown Fair grandstand (it first played there 42 years ago).
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Heart's headline opening night of Allentown Fair's grandstand on Wednesday wasn't the typical 50th anniversary blowout, but seemed more an acknowledgement of the band's triumph.
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John Fogerty, who with the group Creedence Clearwater Revival sold 30 million albums — 13 of which sold gold or platinum — will perform his Legacy Tour at 8 p.m. Nov. 8.
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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.