It would be easy for Kevin Eubanks to play it safe. As the former leader of Jay Leno’s 'Tonight Show" band, he could coast along playing smooth jazz and standards.

But Eubanks, a Philly native who lived in Allentown for a few years, did an hour and 45 minute set Friday night that was accessible but challenging. Each tune at the Musikfest Café at SteelStacks in Bethlehem was about 20 minutes long, beginning slowly and building to a dramatic end.

Eubanks was low key and engaging, sitting down at the side of the stage. He was generous in giving the spotlight to his band members. Sax player Bill Pierce had as much solo time as he did. Joey De Leon had the most dramatic solo of the night during “The Messenger,” switching from his drum kit to congas and bongos.

There were many duets. De Leon paired with electric standup bassist Rene Camacho. Eubanks and Pierce on tenor started off “The Gloaming,” a reverie to be released on the group’s new album this spring. They also gave a contemplative feel to Miles Davis’ “All Blues,” with Pierce on soprano.

Eubanks rapidly used his fingers for his playing, based around chords with a few subtle electronic effects. He could tear off incredibly fast single notes, but more often used chording like his idol Wes Montgomery, who he honored in his first song, “Blues for Wes.”

The 24-piece Saucon Valley Jazz Ensemble opened with a rousing half hour that featured “Red Top,” Duke Ellington’s “C Jam Blues (Ala Mambo),” “Back in Blue Orleans,” and Benny Goodman’s “Sing Sing Sing.” The high school group is made up of 7^th through 12^th graders, with three adult guest musicians. Director Kevin O’ Connell announced he was retiring soon after 35 years of service, and added a plea to maintain funding for school music programs.

The winner of the third season of the talent reality show, Objetivo Fama, took a census of the audience as soon as he took the stage, singing Juan Luis Guerra's song "Woman del Callao." 

He realized that the largest groups in the crowd were from Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, and he catered to them several times throughout the night.

The highlight of the night was his interpretation, almost accapella of the Rafael Hernandez hymn "Preciosa," an ode to Puerto Rico that demands exceptional singing prowess. Marlon had sung the tune at the reality show in 2005, earning the hearts of the people in Puerto Rico, where the show was recorded.

Marlon simply began singing while the musicians waited in the background. Eventually the pianist came in with the chords and before long there was no where else to go but forward. The audience went crazy at the end of the song.

He tried to do something similar for the Dominican Republic, singing to "Quisqueya," an endearing name for the Caribbean island, acapella. But the musicians didn't follow. It didn't matter because his salsa renditions of Guerra's hits, "Estrellitas y Duendes and "Bachata Rosa" where tributes enough.

Marlon was grateful for the support of the audience and of the HOLA radio station, which set everything up for the young artist. However, there was apparently no budget for his band.

Marlon made it work to his credit. But I wish I would have heard him with his regular group of musicians. Maybe next time.

But minutes before the show by veteran blues-rockers Fabulous Thunderbirds, rain that an hour earlier was torrential simply stopped, and the skies became – literally – a shining example of what makes shows there so good.

Much like Fabulous Thunderbirds’ show.

“Welcome back,” Jim Creedon, president of Friends of the Levitt Pavilion, told the crowd from stage before the show.  And come back they did – from a still-impressive audience of perhaps 300 who arrived with ponchos and umbrellas, braced for the rain, the crowd swelled to perhaps 1,800 after the skies cleared.

And in an 80-minute show, Fabulous Thunderbirds played 16 songs of pop-leaning but tradition-rooted blues rock that literally had people dancing – the whole idea of The Levitt. It’s a venue where music aficionados (there were plenty) can mingle with families (there were kids playing on the lawn) for a good time.

Kim Wilson

And a very good time it was.

“This is a pleasant surprise, seeing you all out here just after it rained cats and dogs,” T-birds front man Kim Wilson, looking cool dressed all in black, told the crowd.

The band opened with a blues shuffle on the Willie Dixon song “My Babe,” with Wilson dancing slightly.

The band held that groove for most of the show, but by three songs in, on “Wait on Time,” guitarist Johnny Moeller was playing mean, fiery riffs – then later a wah-wah solo on “Wild About My Lovin’” -- and getting applause for it.

It wasn’t until the fifth song that Wilson brought out his harmonica, but the crowd had clearly been waiting for it. As Wilson leaned back and blue, lifting his leg, the crowd cheered.

A couple of songs later, he played a 12-minute instrumental, including a seven-minute solo, that was simply amazing. Eyes closed, leg pumping and shaking, he wailed and chugged before the band returned.

Johnny Moeller

“Whoa,” Wilson exclaimed, as the crowd gave him a standing ovation. “Kind of humid out here for that.”

His harmonica playing was featured on just two other songs, but there also were guitar showcases: the  hot licks of Mike Keller and an instrumental string-bending session by Moeller, with Wilson’s final harmonica, as dusk fell on the main set’s penultimate song.

Of course, the crowd reacted to the hits.

 “Wrap It Up” came a third of the way into the show. Wilson, now 61, sang it as much more of a plea – arms held open wide -- than the swaggering posture of when it came out 25 years ago, offering a great new perspective on the song. But it still made people dance: a half dozen were up and moving around.

And they closed the main set with “Tuff Enuff,” for which the crowd rushed the stage to dance en masse. With band introductions, the song stretched to seven minutes.

For an encore, the band pulled out its 1980 nugget “The Crawl,” but not before Wilson instructed the audience that it was a crowd-participation song, and that they would have to scream back “crawl” when he told them to.

And they did – virtually the whole crowd coming together for a good time.

That’s what’s good about The Levitt.

The Levitt season continues with 52 more shows through Sept. 1. Tonight is the official kickoff with Luau at the Levitt, featuring Mr. Ho's Orchestrorica at 7 p.m. 

Alternative rap duo Chiddy Bang, who played radio station B104 Night at Allentown’s Mayfair festival on Saturday and who had a Top 10 album with its February release “Breakfast,” has an East Stroudsburg resident among its members in rapper/front man Chidera “Chiddy” Anamege.

Chiddy Bang, with Chidera 'Chiddy' Anamege. left. and Noah Beresin

The duo is known as a Philadelphia band because it came together when its members were freshman at Drexel University in 2008. And Philadelphia is, indeed, the hometown of the duo’s other member, drummer Noah Beresin.

But Chiddy is a 2008 graduate of East Stroudsburg North High School in Bushkill, where he was an honor roll student during the two years he attended there.

Chiddy gave a shout out to his current hometown backstage at B104 Night. He said he grew up in Newark, but “my parents moved from there to the Poconos because they wanted to live better” for his final two years of college. He still maintains a resident there, he said.

“So I know about Allentown,” Chiddy said. “I know about Lehigh Valley.”

Chiddy Bang first broke on the scene in 2010 with its EP “Chiddy Bang: The Preview,” which went to No. 11 on the Rap Albums chart and had a Top 100 hit with the title track.  “Breakfast” produced another hit, “Mind Your Manners,”  which went to No. 19 on the Heatseekers chart.

Chiddy not only is a hot rapper – he’s a Guiness World Record holder. Last year, during the first MTV O Music Awards, he broke the record for Longest Freestyle Rap as well as the Longest Marathon Rapping Record by rapping for nine hours, 18 minutes and 22 seconds.

Chiddy at Mayfair on Saturday
Photos by Kevin Mingora/The Morning Call

That broke the two-year-old record of M-Eighty, who rapped for nine hours, 15 minutes and 15 seconds. Chiddy also beat out D.O. (a.k.a. Duane Gibson, Canada) for Longest Marathon Rapping session. D.O. rapped for eight hours and 45 minutes.

After Chiddy gave his shout out to East Stroudsburg at Mayfair, partner Beresin wasn’t about to let the opportunity slide.

“Philadelphia!” he chimed in.

Boys Like Girls at Mayfair on Friday. From left, guitarist Paul DiGiovanni, drummer John Keefe, singer Martin Johnson and bassist Morgan Dorr
Photos by Kevin Mingora/The Morning Call

So it was no surprise the band opened its set at radio station B104 Night, Friday’s centerpiece concert of Allentown’s Mayfair festival at Cedar Creek Park,  with familiar songs: “The Great Escape” and “Hero/Heroine,” the gold and platinum singles from its debut album in 2007. (Plus a snippet of Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the USA.”)

But it was a couple new songs from the band’s upcoming album “Crazy World” (due out in October, lead singer Martin Johnson said from stage Friday) that were the most interesting in the band’s 13-song, hour-long set. The songs show diversity and maturity – a rare trait for a band from the later 2000s pop-punk wave, and promising for the group’s future.

“Life of the Party,” has hit written all over it. Combining a country lilt with elements of R&B and rock, the song has a more complicated structure than most pop-punk fare, but still is hooky.

“You smell that Allentown?” Johnson said, sniffing the air. “It smells like Boys Like Girls is back to me. You heard it here first.”

Boys Like Girls singer Martin Johnson

In fact, it was announced that two of the four new songs the band played (which ones were not noted) got their first public performances. Two other new songs – the slow “Your Everything,” in which Johnson sang in a falsetto, and another whose title was not announced but may be “Never Get a Second Chance,” were closer to classic Boys Like Girls.

But the new disc’s title track also was good – also more mature and a bit of country. On it, Johnson played harmonica and whistled, and guitarist Paul DiGiovanni added some expressive country-rock guitar licks. It got a big cheer from the crowd of perhaps 2,000 – predominantly young female -- under Mayfair’s Cabaret tent.

“We missed you,” Johnson told the crowd.  And, of course, to make the crowd happy, the band played its hits. “Now that I’ve talked about the new record, we’re going to play some old songs,” Johnson said.

And they played them pretty well, in a set that was so tight, one song often led into another. It was 15 minutes and four songs before an extended break in music.

Halfway through, it played “Five Minutes to Midnight” with enthusiasm, DiGiovanni jumping up on a riser. The crowd was energized, as well. “Allentown, you look good tonight,” Johnson said. “Are you sweating yet?” New bassist Morgan Dorr, who played confidently, also sang on that song. It got big screams.

Johnson did “Thunder” alone on the stage on acoustic guitar as the crowd sang loudly along, before the rest of the band returned.  They again left Johnson alone to sing strongly near the end of a nicely paced “Two is Better Than One,” which closed the main part of the set, and then he went into “Top of The World.”

They closed the encore with “Love Drunk,” the first notes of which got big screams. Clearly the crowd wanted to hear those hits. But I’m betting by the next time the band comes around, they’ll want to hear those new songs.

Supporting act Chiddy Bang played an exceptionally good eight-song, half-hour set, drummer Beresin laying down a simple but solid and steady beat as Chidera Anamege speedily rapped above it.

Chiddy Bang singer Chidedra 'Chiddy' Anamege

Even on the songs that weren’t standouts, such as “Handclaps and Guitars,” Beresin was solid, and Anamege worked up a sweat with his constant pacing while he rhymed.

By far its best songs were its best known. A good “Ray Charles” had the crowd cheering and singing. And “Mind Your Manners” was especially fun.

But the best was the closing “Opposite of Adults,” with the crowd swaying and bopping and waving its arms.

Opener Chris Rene, the third-place finisher from last year’s TV reality show “X Factor,” also was surprisingly good in a three-song, 10-minute set.

In his trademark gray felt hat, he dropped a lot of the hood personae he had on the show – though he did lift his shirt to show a tat emblazoned across his stomach saying “Love Life” – to play on acoustic guitar on “We’re Still here” and a Jason Mraz-like “Trouble.”

                                                  Chris Rene

He has a much more nuanced voice than he let on for the show, and he had an infectious upbeat attitude and mischievous smile. “Be good to each other,” he told the crows. “Do good things, give smiles, give hugs.”

But his best was the closing “Young Homey,” his minor-hit single, sung to a backing track.

Martina McBride will play Penn’s Peak near Jim Thorpe on Oct. 28, the venue has told its Sneak Peak Club – whose membership gets first chance to buy tickets.

Tickets, at $85 for premium reserved seating and $62 for regular reserved seating, is on sale to Sneak Peak members now, and will go on sale to the public on June 2 at www.pennspeak.com or by calling 866-605-7325.

Call 866-605-PEAK or e-mail spc@pennspeak.com for more information on joining the Sneak Peak club.

Martina McBride

McBride set a then-record for ticket prices at Musikfest when she charged $57 for her show in 2010. That record was broken a year later when Steely Dan charged $69. The highest ticket prices at this year’s Musikfest are $49.

But Musikfest at that time had 6,500 seats in its main RiverPlace stage.

Penn's Peak seats about 1,400 for a reserved-seating show.

McBride’s song “I’m Gonna Love You Through It” is up for the Female Video of the Year Award at the 11th anniversary CMT Awards live from Nashville on June 6 on CMT and CMT.com.

McBride’s latest album, 2011’s “Eleven,” hit No. 4 on the country album chart. In addition to “I’m Gonna Love You Through It,” a Top 5 single, it produced two other Top 20 songs: “Teenage Daughters” and “Wrong baby Wrong.”

In all, she’s sold 15 million copies of her 15 albums, including the double-platinum, No. 1 “Martina” in 2003 and No. 1 platinum “Timeless” in 2005 and triple-platinum No. 1 “Greatest Hits” in 2001. In all, eight of her discs have gone Top 5.

She’s had 20 Top 10 hits, including the No. 1s “Wild Angels” in 1995, “A Broken Wing” in 1997, “Wrong Again” in 1998, “I Love You” in 1999 and “Blessed” in 2001. “I’m Gonna Love You Through It” was her biggest hit in nearly a decade.

No worries, King told the crowd, “We’ll play a f---ing extra half hour.”

Flogging Molly, with Dave King at center

That was a bit of blarney. The set the six-member Irish band played not only was the one it had prepared for the night, but essentially the one it’s been doing all along its current tour.

But that didn’t diminish the thought – that Flogging Molly plays its heart out with, as King promised in the same opening remarks, “lots of dancing, lots of singing and lots of smiling faces.”

There was all that in an hour-and-50-minute blast that had the intricate instrumentation of Celtic music but the agitated spirit of punk.

Both those things were on display from the opening “The Likes of You Again,” which started from a slow prelude of fiddle and accordion into a whirlwind that had King dancing around the stage and the crowd – likely around 3,000 -- pumping its fists.

And, after King cheekily drank a beer “toast” to the crowd – he drank at least three of those on the night – the audience erupted even more for a rollicking “Swagger.”

That was just the first two songs of a 23-song set that carried those elements of Celtic and punk throughout.

The Celtic element was evident on “Life in a Tenement Square,” with Bridget Regan on tin whistle an two predominantly acoustic tunes, “The Son Never Shines (On Closed Doors) “ and “A Prayer for Me in Silence,” on which Regan sang with King (who is her husband).

But the epitome of the Celtic spirit was “Whistles the Wind” – a perfect combination of fiddle and accordion to capture the forlorn feeling of lost love..

But thankfully, it punk was more prevalent. King did a jig as he strummed his acoustic guitar madly and spit out the words to the title track of the band’s newest disc, “Speed of Darkness.”  On “Revolution,” with its layered vocals, guitarist Dennis Casey did a split jump like Dee Dee Ramone.

After spotting a kid in the crowd wearing a Clash T-shirt, King dedicated the new “Saints and Sinners” to that band’s iconic front man, Joe Strummer, and channeled Strummer’s spirit on the song – shaking with intensity as he sang the line “save me Jesus!”

“Pennsylvania, get on your dancing shoes,” King told the crowd on “Drunken Lullabies” – and dance they did. Flogging Molly tied that tight to one of the night’s best songs, a very punk “Requiem for a Dying Song” – the band’s biggest hit, with Kings’s words biting and spitting as he hopped around stage.

Even the new songs conveyed punk spirit. In classic punk fashion, “The Power’s Out” railed against those who pull the strings, and by the end of the thumping song, the crowd was pumping its fists along.

Before playing a punk version of Bob Dylan’s “The Times, They Are A-Changin’ “ – which the band contributed as a standout cut to the Dylan tribute/Amnesty International charity album “Chimes of Freedom,” King noted Thursday was Dylan’s 71^st birthday and sang “Happy Birthday” to him.

That song was another highlight of the set, with each verse starting as a measured Celtic chantey, only to burst into punk.

The band played a 13-minute version of its early song “Black Friday Rule,” again starting classically Celtic, then leaving the stage to only Casey and drummer George Schwindt  for a five-minute jam. When the band returned, King joined the drummer on his kit, then high-stepped a jig till the song’s end.

The show finished even stronger. By the time Flogging Molly played “Rebels of the Sacred Heart” two-thirds of the way through the show, the rowdy crowd had formed a full-bore circle-slam pit. And for “Devil’s Dance Floor,” people all the way to the back of the crowd were dancing.

“If I Ever Leave This World Alive” was traditionally Celtic, with a mournful violin. But King yelled the lyrics – and he, too, danced. “Your dancing skills are epic,” he told the crowd.

That ran right into a wonderful “What’s Left of the Flag,” with which the crowd sang along.

And then they closed the main set with “Seven Deadly Sins.”

The band returned with “The Worst Day Since Yesterday,” from its first album.

“There’s no way getting from this one,” King said, as he started the song on acoustic guitar with drums before the full band joined him.

And then they went out with the favorites “Salty Dog” and “Float,” which he dedicated to the memory of the rusting Bethlehem Steel that surrounds the Sands Event Center.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re from Dublin or Bethlehem or Detroit,” King told the crowd. “Life is about one thing: sticking together and keeping your head above water.”

And a band that can pull together Celtic and punk music as well as Flogging Molly should keep its head held high.

But that was nearly three years ago — a virtual lifetime in the world of pop radio.

Boys Like Girls, from left, are drummer John Keefe, singer Martin Johnson and guitarist Paul DiGiovanni

Now the band is preparing to release “Crazy World,” its first new album since then, in a music world that has changed drastically since 2009.

As the band prepares to headline Allentown's Mayfair Festival of the Arts' radio station B-104 Night with hot Philadelphia hip-hoppers Chiddy Bang and television singing competition “The X-Factor” third-place finisher Chris Rene, Boys Like Girls guitarist Paul DiGiovanni says in a telephone call from Los Angeles that the band has changed, too.

As he was rehearsing for Boys Like Girls its first show in more than a year — last weekend’s Bamboozle festival in Asbury Park, N.J.-- DiGiovanni talked about the past three years, where the band is now, and the new album.

Here’s a transcript of the call:

LEHIGH VALLEY MUSIC: Are you guys in the studio still or is the new album done?

PAUL DIGIOVANNI: “No, the record is actually done. We were rehearsing all of last week; we finished up last night. Just running through, making up new sets for all these shows coming up. We just made the set for the show coming up. We just incorporated all the new songs, learned how to play them all live, and we did a 30-minute set, a 45-minute,and hour and an hour 15. So we have everything ready for every kind of show. And everything went really smooth. So I’m really excited. And now we’re in L.A. for the rest of the week until we go to Bamboozle, and then Allentown after that. It’s one of our first shows back, and it should be really exciting.”

Great. Look forward to having you guys here.  So tell me about the new disc.

“It’s gonna come out late summer. We have a single coming out in a few months from now. Can’t really announce the [song] names or anything yet; still working on that. But it’s cool. It’s really interesting; it’s a lot different. You can still tell it’s us but we did it a lot more organically; there’s a lot of different kind of instruments. It’s like more mature. We have a lot of cool stringed instruments, we have gospel singers on some songs. So there’s something for everybody. So it’s really exciting.”

OK, so let me take a step back. Tell me what the last almost three years have been like. Obviously you guys were out on tour. But then you stopped touring – how quickly do you start the new disc? There was stiff out there on – whatever – like Facebook, MySpace, back in September 2010, saying you guys were putting together a new record. But tell me what has happened in the meantime.

“Um, well, we did the summer Bamboozle road show.  Two summers ago we did a full festival tour all summer long. That was really the last thing we had done. And then after that, we went to Brazil for a couple weeks, and we’d been working on stuff for a new record, but it was tough because it was one of those things that at that time the radio wasn’t playing any guitars at all, no rock bands or anything. And it was kind of sh---y for us. And I guess one of things that happened was our fourth single off our last record, we sent it to radio and some of the people at radio were like, ‘Can you send us  version without guitars?’ [Laughs] It’s like, we’re a rock band and that was a rock song, and it was like, ‘Man, this blows. This isn’t what we want to be doing.’

“So we kind of changed the sound up a little bit, and [singer] Martin [Johnson] had wrote a bunch of these other songs that were kind of really electronic-based, and this and that, and it just didn’t make sense for the time. So we stopped and we took an break and we waited it out and waited for everything to come back around. And Martin had gone to Nashville to write with a bunch of artists and he’d written a bunch of songs for us, in the meantime,  while he was there. So they have a little bit of a Nashville feel, a few of them. So we kind of came back and we got back together to do this record in November. And we met out in L.A. and we have these songs that are really cool, and they just seemed like they made sense. And then radio kind of came back around, and everything just really fit. And we just spent the last seven months doing the record, and we’re really proud of what came out of it.”

In the meantime, there was some word out that Martin was going to do a solo project. That never came to be, correct?

“Yeah. I mean, some of the stuff he had written was for that – for himself.  It wasn’t really for – I don’t know, I’m not sure. It doesn’t make sense. I remember when he called me, he was like, ‘Man, I was going to do this thing, but it just didn’t make sense. Now, when I’m thinking about putting a band together, I’m going to want John on drums, I’m going to want you on guitar. Why wouldn’t this just be a Girls Like Boys record? I’m like, ‘Yeah, man, we’re in.’ And then two days later we flew to L.A. and we’ve been here ever since.”

What happened to bassist Brian Donahue? What’s the story there, with him leaving?

“Um, mainly just musical differences. We were just going in different directions, and we all had different visions. And after the break, when we all talked and got back together, it just didn’t make sense anymore and we needed to make changes. We had different ideas, and we kept finding his going against the grain of what we were all trying t achieve here. And it was just something that needed to happen for the band to become what it is. And all of us are on the same page right now. We all have the common goal in mind and we’re all really, really excited and it’s just all going the way it should be now. And we’re really excited about that.”

And there was word that you and Brian were going to do a side project at one time – Early Morning Blues?

“That was his thing. That was him. I helped out – I gave him a hand and did some guitar work on it, just ‘cause we’re good friends and all that. But I never had like an official project with him. I believe he’s still working on that now, though.”

Are you guys going to replace him? Or have you replaced him permanently? Or just going to use a use a touring bassist?

“Yeah, we have a friend out right now from home that we’ve been rehearsing with for the past … He just sat at home and watched all our YouTube videos and learned everything for our live show. And we came out, like I said, this past week at rehearsals, and it was the first time we all played together. And everything’s been good. So we’re just taking it one step at a time, though. We’re just excited about getting the record out and single out and playing shows again and we’ll deal with that. That’s all.”

OK.  Going back to your last album – how did it come about that you worked with Taylor Swift on “Two is Better Than One’?

“Well, Martin had written with her, ‘cause he did a lot of writing with other artists and he met up with her a couple of years ago and wrote some songs and they became friends and that was that. And then basically we were in the studio working on the second record. And the song ‘Two is Better Than One’ was done and he did vocals on the entire song. He sang the whole thing. And we loved it, we were excited. But it was just, man, it’s such a kind of an intimate, emotional song that it would be really cool to have someone guest – a girl – on it, and it would kind of all make sense. And he just texted her, and she has a little studio on one of her buses, I believe, and she just sang it and sent it back, and we just flew it into the track, and said, ‘this is perfect.’ It was really a cool feeling. We didn’t actually do it with he there, but she just kind of e-mailed  the track over to us and it was interesting.”

Last time I saw you guys was in ’09 -- you guys played the Crocodile Rock Café here in Allentown .

“Oh yeah, we’ve been there a few times.”

Yes you have. And I remember writing in my review that that was the kind of songs she really should be doing. But she didn’t listen to me.

“Oh no? It’s too bad.”

So tell me a little about Bamboozle. How many years in a row have you guys played it?

“ We did 2008, I believe. We did 2009., 2010. We didn’t do last year. Bamboozle is so huge for us. It’s always been incredible. We’ve done such great shows, such a great crowd. It’s one of the most exciting things ever. And it’s like there’s no better way for us to pop back into all this than Bamboozle. We haven’t played a show together in over a year. And we’re playing totally new material that we’ve never performed in front of anyone before. It’s really – I just cannot wait. … We’re going to fly in Friday and just go early and watch all the band just get pumped up, just get back in the atmosphere. We’re just like starving for music and to play. And it’s going to be really incredible. We’re so excited about it.”

“The big thing now is that we got this record done. Martin produced the whole thing. We finished it – we did it at a few different studios in the area, but we finished it at his house. We did like half of it. We did everything by ourselves this time, and it’s just a really cool, organic type of record. Some of the songs sound like older BLG, some are going to really throw you off, and you’re going to be like, ‘Wow, this doesn’t sound like them at all.’ But hopefully it’s so cool and catchy. We just love this stuff so much, and rehearsing it, it really felt good and exciting. We just really can’t  wait for everyone to check it out. And yeah, it’s just a really big thing for us to get back out there and be charged from the past six years of touring and the one year off. And we’re just ready to go and get it and win, really. So we just hope everyone loves it and checks out the live show and likes the new songs and has a really good time.”

BOYS LIKE GIRLS, with Chiddy Bang and Chris Rene, B-104 Night, 7:30 p.m. May 25, Mayfair Festival of the Arts, Cedar Beach, Allentown. free with festival admission of $5 single day pass; $10 all festival; free, ages 10 and under and military personnel with valid ID. Info: www.mayfairfestival.org, 610-437-6900

The Levitt Pavilion SteelStacks in Bethlehem

More than 24,000 people attended the 43 free concerts at the amphitheater lawn venue.

So when it came to putting together the second season, it was easy to follow that template: Open with a big act and offer a broad variety of genres and styles by high-quality artists. All free.

That’s what the Levitt will do as its 2012 season starts at 7 p.m. May 26.

It kicks off the season with blues rockers the Fabulous Thunderbirds, who in the 1980s had the hits “Tuff Enuff” and “Wrap It Up,” and since then have continued to play a broad and deep selection of blues. The band last June played a paid-ticket show in ArtsQuest Center’s Musikfest Cafe.

Fabulous Thunderbirds

It follows that with a Luau at the Levitt starting at 4 p.m. Sunday that will feature Polynesian orchestral music of Mr. Ho's Orchestrotica — whose show at the Levitt last year was rained out — and surf rock by the Great White Caps. There also will be children's activities, a pig roast and Hawaiian-themed contests.

The pavilion then will offer 53 concerts through Sept. 1, highlighted by soft rockers Orleans, who in the 1970s had the hits “Dance with Me” and “Still the One,” on July 28; and Firefall, another ’70s soft-rock band (“You Are the Woman” and “Just Remember I Love You”), on Aug. 18. Grammy-winning folk group The Tom Chapin Band will play July 12.

There also will be shows by Latin, Celtic, blues, jazz and even Japanese rock artists.

There’s more than music new this year at the Levitt.

The Mack Truck Stop, a large concession stand, has been completed on the west end of the pavilion and is expected to be open by the first or second week of June to offer a wide variety of food and drink, Zemeski says. Visitors also will be greeted by a shiny red, white and blue Titan truck by Mack on display next to the stand, giving the appearance of it pulling the stand as a trailer.

Also new this year is a large video screen on the side of the pavilion stage. While the amphitheater is intimate and doesn’t really need a projection screen for concerts, it will let artists project images along with the music, ArtsQuest spokesman Mark Demko says.

But just because the best of the Levitt Pavilion’s first season will be back, don’t think there won’t be changes.

This will be the Levitt’s first full season. Delayed by construction, it opened on the July 4 weekend last year, cramming its 43 concerts into two months instead of four.

The extra breathing room this year will let the schedule, well, breathe, Creedon says.

For example, he says officials found that mid-week concerts had the poorest attendance, so Levitt has scheduled just two, both children’s shows, on Wednesdays and only six on Thursdays, and none of those until after the Fourth of July.

Holding children’s daytime shows on Sunday followed by adult shows made the day too hectic, Creedon says, so the children shows have been move to Saturdays, pairing them with ArtsQuest’s free Peas & Q’s Saturday activities.

Creedon says the first season also taught Levitt officials that blues and R&B drew well, so nine of the shows have an element of that music, starting with Fabulous Thunderbirds.

“We wanted to open with something big, and The Stones aren’t touring yet,” Creedon says with a laugh.

Levitt Executive Director Robin Zaremski (who has replaced Olga Negron), who booked the lineup, says the Fabulous Thunderbirds also have a broad appeal, playing blues, rock and even Texas country.

“What a better way to open our season than a band that would touch on all those genres?” Zaremski says.

Both Creedon and Zaremski also mentioned Masters of Motown, a Motown tribute act set for the Fourth of July weekend.

Creedon noted the band is a departure for Levitt because it’s not the original act, “but it’s a really fun night for people to come out.”

Zaremski said, “I think people always enjoy Motown music, and this is the highest quality I have ever seen it done.”

Other R&B and blues shows include a July 8 show by The Soul Rebels, a New Orleans horns band, and the Valley’s Craig Thatcher Band on June 30.

The New York-based, non-profit Levitt Foundation, which helped fund construction of the $2.9 million pavilion and has committed $1.2 million over five years for its programming, requires an element of local programming.

It also requires at least 10 children's shows a year. Last year's abbreviated season had only six, but this year will offer 11. The first is June 2, with African Benga Stars, Kenyan musicians who play that country’s native popular music. Also, on June 9 will be Bash The Trash, which provides environmental education while playing musical instruments built from trash.

Beyond children’s programming, the foundation requires only that headline shows be paid performances by nationally touring acts who are family-friendly.

The local Levitt board’s goal was simpler. Creedon says: “We wanted to present the right genres of music at the right time, and get the best artists that we could.”

Latin music also did well last year, with the Lehigh Valley’s significant Latino population — nearly 43 percent of Allentown's population and 24 percent of Bethlehem's. There are five Latin music shows, including those at the Sabor! Festival June 22-24. Salsa singer Luisito Rosario & Orchestra kick off the Latin shows on June 22.

“Part of the Levitt mission is to reach out into the different elements of our local community, and have elements of the community sit together on our lawn,” Zaremski says. “To have people who aren’t necessarily familiar with a type of music come down and enjoy it.”

After that, Creedon says, the Levitt board “did what our audience told us they were looking for.”

The 1970s soft-rock band Ambrosia was one of the top three attended concerts last year. “We all went out to get the greatest hits CD afterward,” Creedon says. So this year the Levitt booked similar 1970s acts Orleans and Firefall.

Something new will be the Aug. 16 show by The Doo Wop Project, featuring members of the Broadway musical “The Jersey Boys,” which tells the story of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons.

Other acts Zemeski says she’s looking forward to are Americana group The Steel Wheels on July 15 – “they offer the highest quality of musicianship,” she says — and up-and-coming indie rockers Miracles of Modern Science on June 15. Indie rock also is new for the Levitt.

Both Zemeski and Creedon say they’re excited about the season-closing show by Joe Grushecky and the House Rockers on Sept. 1. Creedon, a Springsteen fan, says Grushecky has written and recorded with Springsteen and plays in The Boss’ hometown of Asbury Park.

“Having Joe there on Labor Day in front of those steel stacks is going to be a great thing,” Creedon says. “That’s going to be a real end-of-the-year party to close the place out.”

The pavilion again will have a post-season fund-raising show — another requirement of the Levitt Foundation. Last year, it was 1960s favorite Blood Sweat and Tears.

Zaremski isn’t saying yet who it will be this year, but promises “it will be very fun.”

LEVITT PAVILION AT STEELSTACKS, SteelStacks campus, 101 Founders Way, Bethlehem, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, 7 p.m. Saturday. FREE. www.artsquest.org, 610-332-1300

Here's the full Levitt 2012 schedule:

Sat

May 26

7pm

The Fabulous Thunderbirds featuring Kim Wilson

Blues, Rock

Sun

May 27

7pm

Mr. Ho's Orchestrotica

Orchestra, Polynesian

Fri

June 1

7pm

Boris Garcia
*Highmark Blue Shield Giveaway ~Highmark Stain Sticks

Jam

Sat

June 2

11am

African Benga Stars

Children's

Sat

June 2

7pm

The Flowdown

Funk, R&B

Fri

June 8

7pm

Feufollet

World, French, Cajun

Sat

June 9

11am

Bash The Trash
*Highmark Blue Shield Giveaway ~Floss-its

Children's

Sat

June 9

7pm

The Bobby Kyle Band with the Hot Horns

R&B

Fri

June 15

7pm

Miracles of Modern Science

Indie Rock

Sat

June 16

11am

The Deedle Deedle Dees

Children's

Sat

June 16

7pm

Frank Viele & The Manhattan Project

R&B

Sun

June 17

7pm

Tartanic

Celtic Rock

Fri

June 22

8:30pm

Luisito Rosario & Orchestra
part of ¡Sabor! Latin Festival™

Latin

Sat

June 23

11am

Hector Rosado Latin and Caribbean Drum Workshop
part of ¡Sabor! Latin Festival™

Latin, Children's

Sat

June 23

8:30pm

Santa Mamba
part of ¡Sabor! Latin Festival™

Latin

Sun

June 24

7pm

BELEZA!
part of ¡Sabor! Latin Festival™

Latin, Brazilian

Fri

June 29

7pm

Avi Wisnia

Contemporary Jazz

Sat

June 30

11am

Stacey Peasley Band

Children's

Sat

June 30

7pm

Craig Thatcher Band

Blues, Rock

Sun

July 1

7pm

Comas

Irish

Thur

July 5

7pm

Hollywood Nights

Classic Rock

Fri

July 6

7pm

Masters of Motown

Revue

Sat

July 7

11am

Seona McDowell

Children's

Sat

July 7

7pm

Orquesta Rumba con Son

Latin

Sun

July 8

7pm

The Soul Rebels

Blues, R&B

Wed

July 11

11am

Big Bang Boom

Children's

Thur

July 12

7pm

Tom Chapin Band

Light Adult Contemporary

Fri

July 13

7pm

Keys N Krates
*Highmark Blue Shield Giveaway ~Kaychains

Indie Rock

Sat

July 14

11am

Miss Amy & her Big Kids Band

Children's

Sat

July 14

7pm

Duke Ellington Legacy Band

Big Band

Sun

July 15

7pm

The Steel Wheels

Americana

Wed

July 18

11am

Moona Luna

Children's

Thur

July 19

7pm

Rani Arbo & daisy mayhem

Bluegrass, Roots

Fri

July 20

7pm

Sprag Session

World, Celtic

Sat

July 21

11am

Princess Katie and Racer Steve
*Highmark Blue Shield Giveaway ~Splat balls

Children's

Sat

July 21

7pm

Holy Ghost Tent Revival

Rockabilly

Sun

July 22

7pm

Please Please Me

Indie Rock

Thur

July 26

7pm

Incendio
*Highmark Blue Shield Giveaway ~Crocodile Clips

Rock

Fri

July 27

7pm

Karen Lovely

Blues

Sat

July 28

11am

The Anna Banana Band

Children's

Sat

July 28

7pm

Orleans Trio

Adult Contemporary

Sun

July 29

7pm

Shonen Knife

Pop, Punk, Rock

August 3-12. Join us for Musikfest

Thur

Aug 16

7pm

The Doo Wop Project feat. members of The Jersey Boys

Doo Wop, A cappella

Fri

Aug 17

7pm

The Dirty Dozen Brass Band

New Orleans, R&B

Sat

Aug 18

7pm

Firefall Trio

Adult Contemporary

Sun

Aug 19

7pm

HuDost

World

Thur

Aug 23

7pm

Tartan Terrors
*Highmark Blue Shield Giveaway ~Note pads

Celtic, Scottish, Bag Pipes

Fri

Aug 24

7pm

The Prodigals

Celtic

Sat

Aug 25

7pm

Junior Toots

Reggae

Sun

Aug 26

7pm

Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys

Zydeco, Cajun

Thur

Aug 30

7pm

Classical Jam

Contemporary Strings

Fri

Aug 31

7pm

Jump City Jazz Orchestra

Swing, R&B, Dance

Sat

Sept 1

7pm

Joe Grushecky and the House Rockers

Rock n' Roll

        Butch Hancock took Bethlehem’s Godfrey Daniels for a ride across Texas Wednesday evening, beginning with the town of Terlinqua (he asked if anyone had ever been there, and if so, why?) The casually dressed 67-year old used his small Art & Lutherie guitar and various rack mounted harmonicas, telling stories with a clear, slightly twangy voice.

        He sang about “Leo and Ledna,” traveling folk just getting by, remarking that “a circle of love is a work of art.” “Road Map for the Blues” implied many people did not need one, since they find blues naturally. “You Coulda Walked Around the World” said “you could have walked in Jesus ‘shoes,” and “you could have talked with masters instead of jabbering with fools.”

        His hour and a half set was nearly all originals. Some expressed simple emotions, like “If You Were a Bluebird,” with lines like “if you were a hotel, I’d call you my home.” He said a few people around Austin told him that “Firewater” was their life story of carousing.

    On the other hand “Danglin’ Diamond, from his upcoming CD “Seven Cities of Gold,” was philosophical, beginning with, “I thought I had a fix on religion/’till I found this trail of truth.” “Me and Jonah” had Hancock “singing from the heart and living in the belly of the whale.”

         Hancock said there should be a “hard listening” record chart where his work could be listed. With his easygoing manner and fluid guitar work he was not hard to take, but his lyrics often called for close listening. 

        Hancock was a bit unusual and quirky. He talked through a long musical saga about his characters Split and Slide, two troublemakers who were “born to lose.” The rambling plotline had them die and go to heaven, and Hancock plans to have them take on the Federal Reserve in the future.

        Hancock will appear with his friends Joe Ely and Jimmie Dale Gilmore in The Flatlanders at the Sellersville Theater on June 28.

But that was the case Tuesday with WIOQ-FM Q102’s Springle Ball, the new springtime addition to its yearly Christmastime  Jingle Ball, that brought five hours of music to Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Center.

Hot Chelle Rae's Ryan Follesé: Good, but not the best at Springle Ball
Photos by Brian Hineline/Special to The Morning Call 

And the singer in question was Enrique Iglesias.

True, the 37-year-old Iglesias had a pretty stunning comeback with his 2010 disc “Euphoria,” his best-charting and –selling disc in the United States in more than a decade. And three of the four songs he did in a 25-minute set.

But it was his performance as much as his songs that made him the hit of the three-quarters-full arena.

Enrique Igelesias hypes the crowd at Q102 Springle Ball at Philadelphia's Wells Fargo Center

It was a flat-out, scorched-earth blast. Dressed blue-collar in a cap, T-shirt and jeans, he energetically ran from side to side of the main stage (and much further; more about that in a minute), playing to the crowd and egging it on as he sang, backed by a six-man band and a female singer.

And his singing was surprisingly good, with him appearing to put a lot of effort into the opening “Tonight (I’m Loving You)” and “Dirty Dancer,” on which he dueted with big-screen images of Usher and Lil Wayne.

But he turned it up a notch for his only non-“Euphoria” song, “Hero,” for which he ran the distance of the arena hidden in a hoodie to the side stage. There, he told anyone who wanted to come down on the floor to do so (and they did, in droves), and nicely sung the tender song.

But even better, he pulled a young man, “Josh,” out of the crowd to sing the song while Iglesias whirred around him with “Josh’s” cell phone, recording it. Such stunts can be hokey, but Iglesias was so candid  that the episode was really fun.

The singer returned to the main stage for his big comeback hit, “I Like It,” and it was as if the crowd had been ignited, there was so much energy. He ended big, too, blasting off confetti cannons and tossing his water bottle halfway across the arena.

The oddity was that Iglesias wasn’t the closing act – Flo Rida closed with a very good half-hour set. In fact, three acts had the unenviable task of  following Iglesias.

Train did well with its set, playing five songs in 25 minutes. Front man Patrick Monahan – as is the case every time I’ve seen Train – performed with intensity, opening with the emphatic “If It’s Love.”

                            Train's Patrick Monahan

They followed that with two songs from its new disc, “California 37,” released in April – the nice new single nice “50 Ways to Say Goodbye” (with a trumpet) and  its recent, hooky, poppy, Top 10 single “Drive By.”

But it was its huge hit “Hey, Soul Sister” that was best. After three years and ad nauseum plays, the song still holds up very well, and Monahan again sang the heck out of it.

They closed their set with 2001 hit – they’ve been around almost as long as Iglesias – “Drops of Jupiter (Tell Me),” with Monahan mentioning that he’s an Erie native and dedicating the song to his father, Jack, who had died earlier in the day after a lengthy illness. It was heartfelt, but not maudlin.

Playing two sets totaling 15 minutes before and after Train, Philadelphia’s Chiddy Bang – who play Allentown’s Mayfair festival on May 25 – played four songs to a backing track with member Noah Beresin drumming live.

They were hot on their first set, opening with “Ray Charles,’ then with vocalist Chidera Anamege singing with Train’s Monahan on “Baby Roulette” – Monahan held his own. But the second set was even better, with them doing their best songs: “Mind Your Manners” and the closing “Opposite of Adults.”

It was a promising sign for Friday’s Mayfair show.

Another Springle Ball act that will be at Mayfair was Chris Rene, third-place finisher on last year’s singing competition “The X Factor.” He did just one song in five minutes – he was scheduled for 25 minutes.  But it was his “X Factor” song “Young Homey.

With him playing acoustic guitar and backed by a player on cajon drum, it was far better than on “X Factor” – actually pretty good.

Adam Lambert

Another reality show runner-up, “American Idol’s” Adam Lambert, was similarly OK, but frustratingly diva-like.

Even though his stage was set, he made the audience wait 10 minutes after his starting time to put on a set that lasted just about 20 minutes, including introductions of his 4-person band and two backup singers (!).  And he seemed in some sort of snit on the first two songs – an OK version of  the title song of his new album “Trespassing” and “Kickin’ In,” another song from the disc.

Another song from the disc, “Naked Love,” was undistinguished disco, and his next single, “Never Close Our Eyes” – which he performed on “Idol” last week, wasn’t much better. The closing “Cuckoo” also from the new disc, was better – actually pretty good.

But by far his best was a slow, rearranged version of his hit “Whataya Want From Me.” He was far better than he was on “Idol” – seemingly much more in control of his voice, which can be impressive.

Chart-topper Carly Rae Jepson was very good on two of the three songs she performed in a 12-minute set. The opening “Tug of War” was, in fact, really good, and she was full of energy – jumping and bouncing in her pink shirt and black skirt.

And, of course, her hit “Call Me Maybe” drew huge screams from the crowd, which sang along unabashedly. It’s quite an earworm, and backed by a four-man band, it had power.

                                       Carly Rae Jepson

But Jepson wasn’t nearly as successful on “Curiosity,” a slower song that required more power and texture. Instead, she sang it a lack of energy that she seemed to mistake for seriousness.

Also surprisingly good was rising Australian teen-idol Cody Simpson, who looked like a Justin Timberlake-in-training with good dance moves that drew huge screams from young girls. But he also was very good when he sat alone with an acoustic guitar to sing “Angel (I Must Be in Heaven.)”  He can actually sing very well.

But at this stage of his career – he’s 15 -- image is important, too, and he had plenty of it, entering with the song “Listen to My Heartbeat,” singing to a backing track and with two female dancers, in a black suit and sunglasses, “Men in Black”-style.

He also sang well on his closing “All Day.” His 12-minute set should have been doubled – he could have played his hits “iYiYi” and “On My Mind” – instead of making the audience wait for Lambert, who followed him.

Cody Simpson

Openers The Wanted, who played a 15-minute, three-song set, and Hot Chelle Rae, who did five songs in 15 minutes, both were very good.  

The British Boy Band’s best was their platinum hit from last year, “Glad You Came,” and “Lightning” also was good.

Hot Chelle Rae opened with its energetic, hooky hit “I Like It Like That,” with Q102 DJ Maxwell providing New Boyz’s rap interlude on the song.  It was a little rough on its new single “Honestly,” but closed strong with “Tonight Tonight,” adding to it the opening rap from “Fresh Prince of Bel Air,” with its appropriate references to West Philadelphia.

By far the worst of the night was another young heartthrob, 16-year-old Texan Austin Mahone – at the polar opposite end of the spectrum from Simpson. His 17-minute set was simply awful. His voice was bad – especially so when trying to hit a high note on the closing “Say Something” – and his dancing just as bad.

In fact, his whole set was clumsy, from the opening “11:11,” the title track from his upcoming debut CD. It was especially awkward pairing him with a thug rapper for “Hey You,” while his voice sounded like he was trying to get his girlfriend to go to a middle school dance.

                                            Austin Mahone

But he was greeted with huge screams, and an intern with Q102 told me social media was off the chart for him that day, so expect him to be a hit anyway. Who knows? Maybe he’ll develop.

But for now, “Josh,” the kid who sang with Enrique Iglesias, was better than Mahone was.

Courtney N. Moser contributed to this review

Paul Anka performs Sunday at Sands Bethlehem Event Center

Diane Downing of Allentown was chosen from among those entered to win the tickets by correctly identifying a Paul Anka song title hidden in items on this blog over the past three days.

Actually, Downing was among those readers who found all three titles, meaning she got three chances to win, plus three bonus chances, as per the rules of our contest.

But everyone who correctly identified one song title was entered to win by having his or her name randomly chosen from all entries.

The correct hidden song titles were “Lonely Boy,” “My Home Town” and “You Are My Destiny.”

Lehigh Valley Music got the tickets from The Sands Event Center (http://www.sandseventcenter.com/), which opened last week, bringing top-name entertainment to the south Bethlehem casino resort.

Anka no doubt will sing all of those songs in his show.  

Good seats to see Anka still are available at $49.50, $59.50 and $75 at www.sandseventcenter.com.

1. FLOGGING MOLLY

Since The Pogues announced last year it likely will never tour the United States again, that leaves Flogging Molly as the premier Celtic punk group you’ll see on these shores. The band might have held that distinction anyway.

After topping the independent charts with 2004's “Within a Mile of Home,” its 2008 release “Float” climbed to No. 4 on Billboard's album chart and its 2011 album “Speed of Darkness” peaked at No. 9.

But the real measure of its talent may be that, of the 72 songs by top artists on the new Bob Dylan tribute album “Chimes of Freedom,” Flogging Molly’s rollicking-yet-righteous “The Times They Are a-Changing” just may be the best.

8 p.m. May 24, Sands Bethlehem Event Center. Tickets:  $32.50. www.sandseventcenter.com, 800-745-3000.

2. ADAM LAMBERT

When “American Idol” Season 8 runner-up Adam Lambert kicked off his first headlining tour at Wilkes-Barre’s F.M. Kirby Center in 2010, it sold out in a flash. Later that year, he played to a sellout crowd of 6,500 at Bethlehem’s Musikfest.

His sophomore album, “Trespassing,” was released last week; he has a new single, “Never Close Our Eyes”; and he appeared on “Idol” last week. He also has a gig as Queen’s lead singer for three shows this summer, and hot opening acts Neon Hitch (who with Gym Class Heroes has the current hit “A—Back Home”) and the Cab.

So why are there still tickets left for Lambert’s return to Kirby?

With Neon Hitch and the Cab, 7:30 p.m. May 25, F.M. Kirby Center, 71 Public Square, Wilkes-Barre. Tickets: $55.65 and $71.55, www.kirbycenter.org.

3.  ONE DIRECTION

I’m not advocating boy bands. But when a concert goes from originally being booked at the 3,000-seat Tower Theatre in Upper Darby to the 25,000-capacity Susquehanna Bank Center and still sells out, you have to pay attention.

One Direction, which took third on the British version of “The X Factor” TVsinging competition, saw its first album, “Up All Night,” debut at No. 1 on Billboard’s albums chart – the first UK band to ever do that. It’s already selling out dates for its 2013 tour.

Its first single, “What Makes You Beautiful,” has hit the Top 5 and gone gold – and with good reason. It’s hooky, beat-y and fun. Dang, maybe I am advocating them.

7:30 p.m. May 28, Susquehanna Bank Center, 1 Harbour Blvd., Camden, N.J. Sold out, but available on StubHub and other third-party brokers. www.livenation.com, 856-365-1300.

4.  THE FABULOUS THUNDERBIRDS  

In June, when The Fabulous Thunderbirds played at Musikfest Café at ArtsQuest Center at the SteelStacks campus in South Bethlehem, tickets started at $32. The year before, it headlined the Pocono Blues Festival at Big Boulder Ski Area for $39.

That shows the band’s worth. In addition to its hits “Tuff Enuff” and “Wrap It Up,” the band plays a wide and deep variety of blues. Last year, it released “The Best of The Fabulous Thunderbirds: The Early Bird Special,” songs from the original tracks from their first four albums, live versions and later hits.

When The Fabulous Thunderbirds open the second season of Levitt Pavilion at SteelStacks, the show will be free. That shows the worth of the Levitt season, which will offer 53 free concerts on its lawn this year through Sept. 1.

7 p.m. May 26, Levitt Pavilion at SteelStacks, 101 Founders Way, Bethlehem. Free, www.levittsteelstacks.org

5. NIKKA COSTA

Nikka Costa admits she’s always been “a little outside the box.” So with the release of her newest music – “Pro*Whoa!,” the first in a series of EPs via her label Gofunkyourself Records – she says she “decided to remove the box completely.”

Costa also recently launched her own YouTube channel, cheekily named Nikka’s Box (www.youtube.com/nikkasbox) featuring intimate performances and  guests ranging from Jon Gries (Napoleon Dynamite) to Adam Lambert to Jesus.

It’s a distance from Costa’s career beginnings under the wing of her father, producer/arranger Don Costa, surrounded by names such as Quincy Jones, Sly Stone and her godfather, Frank Sinatra. In 1981, she released her self-titled debut album featuring the single “Out Here On My Own” from the musical “Fame.” She’s since branched out into soul, funk and rock. But that’s Costa.

With Anya Marina, 8 p.m. May 25, Sellersville Theater 1894, 24 W. Temple Ave., Sellersville. Tickets $21.50 (Cabaret section sold out). www.st94.com. 215-257-5808.

It was staying afloat, but after five years of bailing out of debt, a less-than-successful year last year again has it below the water line. But it had veered far from the festival of the arts it was intended to be.

So when new Executive Director Arlene Daily came on board in January, the idea was to put it back on course.

The challenge was quickly turning around a sailing ship, and when Mayfair kicks off at 4 p.m. today, it still will be in familiar waters. But organizers say it’s headed in a different direction.

The focus is less on music and more on all the arts — visual, dance, creative and even culinary – all of them of the high quality one would expect from a fine arts festival.

“We have a great fair in Allentown, so we don’t want to be that,” Daily says. “We have Musikfest, so we don’t want to be that. What we don’t have except for Mayfair is a great arts fest. So we want to do the one thing we can be good at.”

That’s not to say the festival won’t have music. In fact, organizers say there will be more music, and more diversity.

But over Mayfair’s life, its bigger focus on music had come at the expense of other art, Daily says. She says she hopes this year helpsget the message out that Mayfair is all about broader, higher-quality art.

Even last week, she still was “working to bring in new opportunities for people to enjoy,” and was talking with three more artist vendors last Friday – “some neat, exciting stuff that hasn’t been at Mayfair before,” she says. “If it’s exciting for patrons, we’ll take in on and find a way to make it happen.”

Here’s what you’ll see at this year’s Mayfair.

Artists and crafters

“We really wanted a very high-quality artist marketplace,” says Daily of the stretch of artist and craft vendors along the festival’s main walkway, and in a new area called the Esplanade off of Ott Street.

Daily says that some of the first things she did as executive director was to reach out to artist guild meetings and art shows — “places where we would talk to artists,” she says.

“The first thing we had to do was really to communicate what the focus was going to be,” Daily says. “We wanted to stress the focus on art.”

Despite setting the bar higher for participants, the festival will have 70 crafters and artisans artists – up 40 percent.

There will be sculpture, jewelry, painting, clay designs and more. Ceramic artist Michael Cho of Allentown has been juried nationally. Milan Melicharek, an art teacher who was voted best in show and people’s favorite in tthe past at Mayfair, is back at the festival with his watercolors.

There will also be more artist demonstrations. A hamlet of “artists in action” is next to Kid Space — a wood carver, a pottery maker with wheels for the public to try throwing pottery, a couple of painters, a woman who develops poetry on the spot.

Also among them is Philadelphia painter David Ohlerking, who made headlines in February after he set up his easel on Hamilton Street in downtown Allentown to paint cityscapes and was asked to leave by city police.

And there’s more arts and crafts for kids — four tents worth at KidSpace.

Returning is the finals of Lehigh Valley Art Wars 8-11 p.m. Saturday at KidSpace. Artists who won earlier “battles” and came out on top in semi-finals will race the clock to create a piece of work.

There also will be more strolling performers and artists: Puppeteer Scott Wagstaff, magician Joe Keppel, singers Lehigh Valley Harmonizers, the Banjo Man and the Cat in the Hat. 

Music and entertainment

Of course, Mayfair wouldn’t be Mayfair without its headline music, and Friday’s centerpiece B104 Night, the national pop concert by radio station WAEB-FM, is back featuring pop-punk band Boys Like Girls, hip-hoppers Chiddy Bang and Chris Rene, a finalist for TV’s “The X Factor.”

Also back is Saturday’s radio station WHOL-FM HOLA! Latin Night, this year featuring Marlon, the 2005 winner of “Objetivo Fama,” a singing competition on Univision Puerto Rico; Bachata Heightz, a family quintet from New York that performs Bachata music, and up-and-coming Dominican merengue singer Maffio.

All of the festival’s five performance stages are back — Cabaret, Lakeside, Master Class, KidStage and the newly named Esplanade stage (formerly the Inspiration Zone).

But Daily says the focus was on broadening the offerings. And with earlier programming on Friday, there were even more performance slots to fill.

“We wanted to make sure of people having the sense of diversity — jazz, blues, rock, classic rock, country, Latin, pop,” Daily says.

There even will be Broadway—– on Saturday night, Muhlenberg Summer Theatre will perform on the Cabaret stage, and Mirage Musical group will do Broadway songs, as well. Winners of the Freddy Awards high school musical theater program also will perform.

“Our hope was for people to find something that would compel them to come out,” Daily says.

Most of the musical performers are popular local and regional acts such as Blues Brotherhood, Main Street Cruisers, BC Combo, Ian Holmes, Sarah Ayers, Craig Thatcher and Zen for Primates.

Charles Kalan, who returned this year as Mayfair’s programming director, said that was by design.

“To go back to the beginning, to this being a festival of the arts, we had to take a look at what to do this year, and to do it right, we had to get back to the idea of community,” Kalan says. “Bottom line, I want community. I want community involvement. We’ve got local groups that people just want to see.”

Kalan says he also brought in more jazz and blues, which have strong local followings but which he says had not been represented well enough in recent years.

“I had to go with my heart,” Kalan says. “And that was making it a community festival.”

The popular WORD-FM Christian music night is not back this year because Kalan says it wasn’t the right fit for Mayfair.

There also will be more strolling performers and artists, including puppeteer Scott Wagstaff, magician Joe Keppel, singers Lehigh Valley Harmonizers, the Banjo Man and the Cat in the Hat.

Food and drink

Even the food at this year’s Mayfair will have an artisan feel, Daily says. While the number of vendors — 30 — is down slightly from last year, there will be a better selection of higher-quality food.

For example, Penn State Creamery will do gourmet ice cream and gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches. MMG Concessions will offer crab cakes and fish.

“We wanted to continue to grow in that vein,” she says. “We’re trying to get more of the art of food into the festival.”

There also will be more crafters in the culinary arts, selling things such as flavored vinegars, oils and hot fudge sauces.

There also will be artisanal wine and beer. Allentown Brew Works will have a 16-by-16-foot tent with café seating, and Blue Mountain Wines also will have a booth.

Down the road, Daily says, the festival would like to have more wine vendors offering “a good representation of the Lehigh Valley wine trail” as well as craft brews.

And craft brewing has so boomed that the festival was interested in having multiple breweries, but will need more time to do that.

Financing

In addition to creating a festival with a new focus, Daily has had to help find a way to pay for it — pursuing sponsorships, donor appeals and seeking and growing community support.

A sometimes-criticized admission fee that Mayfair instituted in 2005 will remain, along with the chain-link fence around the festival. But it remains the same — $5 per day and $10 for an all-festival pass.

Mayfair board President Mike Hill says the festival couldn't survive without it. He says admission covers 50 percent of costs.

Daily says part of her duty is to get people to understand what a bargain the festival is.

“Do you ask Symphony Hall why they’re not free?” she says. “Do you ask Civic Theatre why they’re not free?”

When people see the intensity of the experience we provide, they understand Mayfair’s purpose. Our mission is providing low-cost or free programming.”

Mayfair has even expanded its programming for school-aged children.

On Friday morning, there will be a free arts field trip for schools – something that’s needed, especially with cutbacks in public education, Daily says. “But the arts programming that we’re putting on takes staff and money.”

Daily notes that Mayfair attracts 50,000 people in its five-day run. “For some organizations, that’s what they see in a year,” Daily says.

“We provide such an access to the arts. It’s just an amazing institution and hopefully we’ll be able to better communicate that message so people can better understand all that Mayfair provides to the community.

“For the few months I’ve been here, I became more and more proud of what Mayfair does for the community.”

The future

Daily notes that, after she was hired, the festival had just February to April to put together this year’s run. That thwarted of a lot of ideas for change this year, she says.

More changes are planned for next year, Daily says. For example, the festival expects to expand the Kid Space area for children.

“There are areas of growth,” she says. “We have all these cool ideas for next year. We’re thinking about next year already.”

MAYFAIR FESTIVAL OF THE ARTS

What: Celebration of music, arts, crafts and food with more than 120 performances and more than 100 arts and food vendors.

When: 4-11 p.m. May 24, noon-11 p.m. May 25-27; noon-7 p.m. May 28

Where: Cedar Beach, Hamilton and Ott streets, Allentown

How much: $5, single day; $10, all festival pass; free, ages 10 and under,  military personnel with valid ID and up until 4 p.m. Friday

Food, beer: Must be bought with festival tickets; sold in increments of 50 cents.

Parking: No on-site parking, except for handicapped parking on Ott Street between Turner and Parkway Boulevard. There is lots of parking on streets around the park; be prepared to walk.

Info: www.mayfairfestival.org, 610-437-6900.

Bernard “Pretty” Purdie, known as  “the world's most recorded drummer, " will sit in with the band at its 9:30 p.m. free concert at Riverjazz.

Purdie and played with Craig Kastelnik and Friends at festivals, concerts and club venues in recent years.

Purdie was Aretha Franklin’s musical director for five years in the 1970s and also worked on the soundtrack album for the 1978 movie “Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.” He also was the drummer for the 2009 Broadway revival of “Hair” and appeared on the Broadway cast recording.

He’s released 18 albums of his own, and appeared on nearly 50 by other artists. Just think: You’ll be able to say you saw him in my home town.

Craig Kastelnik and Friends is made up of keyboardist Kastelnik,  vocalist/percussionist Pat Flaherty and guitarist Tom Kozic

The Boys of Summer show May 31, headlined by Ryan Cabrera, Aaron Carter and Greg Raposo, has added to the bill the group 5-L.

                                                           Booboo Stewart

5-L is made up of Booboo Stewart, who stars as werewolf Seth Clearwater in the “Twilight” films and his sister, Fivel (pronounced “5-L”). Booboo plays guitar and his sister sings.

Booboo Stewart is hot property right now. He first appeared in the 2010 movie “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse,”  among the youngest members of the werewolf pack. In the movie, he stays with main vampire characters Bella (played by Kristen Stewart) and Edward (played by Robert Pattison) and acts as a connection to the pack.

In the following “Twilight: Breaking Dawn” movie released in November, Booboo Stewart’s character developed an unlikely friendship with Edward, and attends his and Bella's wedding.

Booboo, 18, is said to have “a constant presence” in the final movie, set for release in November.

The show’s other stars are no slouches, of course.

Cabrera for a brief moment in 2004 was at the top of the teen-heartthrob heap, with Top 10 pop hits "On the Way Down" and "True," both gold-sellers from his gold-selling Top 10 album, "Take It All Away." He also was well-known as the then-boyfriend of singer Ashlee Simpson.

Carter was the dominant teen idol a decade ago as 13-year-old  singer of "That's How I Beat Shaq" and selling out Musikfest’s main stage in a then-record three hours. He later did stints on "Dancing with the Stars" and the reality show "House of Carters."

Both Carter and Cabrera are making new albums,

Raposo, formerly of the boy band Dream Street, which also included Jesse McCartney.

Also on the bill are Talinday and A.D.D. Doors open at 5 p.m.

Tickets to the show are $18 in advance and $20 at the door. They’re available at www.crocodilerockcafe.com or by calling 610-434-4600.

Tickets for a VIP meet-and-greet with all of the performers, which includes photo opportunities, an autograph session and the chance to tell them, "You Are My Destiny," are $118. They’re available at www.ticketfly.com.

Guitarist Jacob Kelchner, 15, and his harmonica-playing brother Janson, 11, both of Hamburg, will study under Pinetop Perkins scholarships in the 2012 Master Class Youth Workshops, June 12-15 in Clarksdale, Miss., it was announced by 2nd Story Blues Alliance.

Kelchner brothers Janson, left, and Jacob

The Kelchner brothers will  play with The New Kings of Rhythm and headliner Lil' Ed and the Blues Imperials at 8 p.m. May 25 at 2^nd Story Blues, 1205 Broadway, Fountain Hill. Tickets, at $25 each, are available through www.Ticketweb.com, at 866-468-7619 or by calling Les or Donna at 610-882-1710.

The alliance, a non-profit organization that oversees 2^nd Story Blues and the Lehigh River Blues Jam festival in Catasauqua, gave the youth a recommendation to the Pinetop Perkins Foundation.

The foundation’s primary mission is to provide encouragement and support for young people at the beginning of their musical career, as well as helping provide care and safety for elderly musicians at the twilight of their career.

Jacob Kelchner will participate in a master class guitar workshop being taught by Bob Margolin, an award-winning blues guitarist and singer who played for many years with Muddy Waters, Hubert Sumlin, and Willie "Big Eyes" Smith.

Margolin is familiar with Janson Kelchner, having brought him on stage to jam at last year's Blast Furnace Blues Festival at SteelStacks.

With his brother along, Jacob Kelchner won’t be a lonely boy.

Janson Kelshner will participate in the harmonica master class workshop taught by Gary Allegretto, an award-winning recording artist and educator whose non-profit organization Harmonikids offers music therapy to children.

You could have The Times of Your Life.

The Morning Call's Lehigh Valley Music blog wants to give you tickets to do that.

Lehigh Valley Music, with the help of The Sands Event Center (http://www.sandseventcenter.com/), is ready to give away a pair of tickets.

So today we'll start the "Times of Your Life” contest.

Starting today and continuing for two days after that – three days total – one of the blog items posted on Lehigh Valley Music each day will include a Paul Anka song title.

You'll have to search blog items — we post several on most days — and know (or search) Paul Anka song titles so you'll be able to identify them. Only one blog item each day will include the song title.

Every time you recognize a title, e-mail me at johnjmoser@gmail.com with the correct title, your name and a telephone number at which you can be reached. Only one entry per person per day.

You have the find the three titles we intended. Don't try to argue "but THESE words are a Paul Anka song, too." That won't cut it —our choices are final. AND TODAY’S ENTRY NOT THE CONTEST’S TITLE.

At the end of the three days, we’ll take all the correct answers and put them in a hat. Anyone who gets all three answers correct will be entered an bonus three more times, doubling their chances to win.

The winning name will then be pulled randomly from the correct and bonus entries.

The winner will be notified by Lehigh Valley Music and YOU WILL HAVE TO PICK UP THE TICKETS AT THE MORNING CALL.

If you’ve never seen Anka in concert, his shows are great. His show at the Musik at the Sands series in 2010 was my No. 3 concert of the entire year, and his performance at the same series last year was my No. 14 concert of the year.

To check out the seating arrangement other information, go here: http://www.sandseventcenter.com/event/paul-anka/

So start reading Lehigh Valley Music, themorningcall.com/lehighvalleymusic, very closely later today. And we'll see the lucky winner on May 24.

—John J. Moser

And a tribute act that pays homage to a King (no not THAT one) looks like it may be headed to Lehigh University’s Stabler Arena in Bethlehem.

Larry The Cable Guy, the comedian character whose catchphrase is "Git-R-Done," is slated to play the Event Center on Oct. 6.

And Who’s Bad, the Ultimate Michael Jackson tribute show, will play Stabler on Sept. 28.

Both of those dates are according to the concert-industry magazine Pollstar.

                                 Larry The Cable Guy

Listings on the Pollstar website for the Sands Event Center, which opened last week with concerts by alt-rockers Incubus on Wednesday, The Beach Boys 50^th anniversary reunion on Thursday, The Eagles singer and guitarist Glenn Frey on Friday and country mega-star Alan Jackson on Saturday, only go up to Oct. 5.

So the Larry the Cable Guys show isn’t listed.

Stabler’s site does not list the Who’s Bad date, and Lehigh spokeswoman Lauren Sammak said nothing has been confirmed yet.

Larry The Cable Guy, whose real name is Dan Whitney, has had three of his seven comedy albums certified gold and starred in the movies “Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector,” “Delta Farce” and “Witless Protection.” He also voiced the character Mater in the animated “Cars” movies.

He appears on the History Channel TV show, “Only in America,” on which he tries out different and dirty jobs countywide and in February showed him cleaning out porta-potties at Bethlehem’s Musikfest festival.

Larry the Cable Guy last played the area in August, when he appeared at the Mountain Laurel Center for Performing Arts in Bushkill.  He played Stabler Arena in 2008 and played Allentown Fair in 2005.

Who’s Bad describes itself on its website, www.whosbadmusic.com, describes the show as “a jaw-dropping musical extravaganza that pulls from 3 ½ hours of Michael Jackson’s catalogue and spans four decades of Michael Jackson’s extraordinary music career.”

Country singer Alan Jackson had a big screen at his show Saturday at Sands Bethlehem Event Center -- but didn't need it

That gives us a moment to reflect on impressions of the three seated shows we’ve just seen there after opening night’s standing show for alt-rockers Incubus.

Lehigh Valley Music has sat on the main floor, on both elevated wing sections and in the VIP suites over the course of the shows this week.

“This took a long time to put together,” event center co-owner Jeff Trainer, speaking from the stage, told the audience before Alan Jackson’s show Saturday. “We think it turned out pretty good.”

Here’s what we think:

The floor:  Despite its big-name acts and big-time feel, Sands Bethlehem Event Center still is pretty intimate. I’ve heard people – including concert veterans from promoters Live Nation – remark that it has the feel of a bigger arena, in a good way.  But I can’t count the times I’ve overheard people mulling inside the arena say, “it’s not that big” – also in a good way.

The bottom line is that you really don’t need big screens to see projections of the performers as you did, say, at Musikfest’s old RiverPlace main stage, even though you’re getting the same level of performers (and in some cases, the very same performers).

Having said that, it’s also clearly not perfect. Because it’s a flat floor, there’s always the danger of having someone very tall sit in front of you. And the farther back you sit, the more danger because of so many rows in front of you. The seats are staggered so that you’re looking between the seats in front of you, so that mitigates the problem somewhat, but I had a very tall person in front of me at the back of the elevated left wing section, and had to lean slightly the whole show. The seats are tethered together, so moving them even an inch is out of the question.

Without any obstructions, even the seats in the back of the arena are pretty good.

The wings: As with the standing shows, the elevated wings offer a nice view – especially the seats closest to the rails. Plus, I’ve seen people rest their drinks – and even their legs -- on the elevated wall. They’re also arranged at a slant to diminish the chance of having someone directly in front of you.

The chairs: They’re folding chairs, but they’re molded plastic, so they’re more comfortable than metal, but for a long show you still would do well to not sit too early before the show. The space between rows is ample for a concert setting – your knees won’t be in anyone’s back, and people can make their way in and out without too much problem. They’re on the high side of standard width, so two bigger people sitting side by side still will bump, but not that bad.

The VIP suites:  The VIP suites are balconies at the back of the arena, with the farthest seat 137 feet back and 22 feet off the floor. Sponsors get the first right to buy the seven boxes’ 136 seats, but a month before the show, unsold seats are offered to the public.  Of course, the cost is about 50 percent above general seating.

But the view is impressive – elevated enough to give a great view, but not too far back. The chairs are even better:  theater seats with a stiff but thick padding that remains comfortable throughout the show. Plus, the suites have rooms behind the seats in which you can stand to watch, private food and drink service and restrooms. When you add in those amenities, it’s really not that expensive.

The sound: We raved about the event center’s sound after the Incubus show, which had rock volume. But for the quieter show by The Beach Boys on Thursday, there was a distinct echo from the back of the room. And for the even more nuanced show by Glenn Frey on Friday, it occasionally was annoying.

Co-owner Jerry Deifer Jr. said officials noticed it, too: It was coming from the flat front of the balcony where a scrolling sign was planned by had not been put in. By Saturday’s Alan Jackson show, a heavy black curtain hung on the balcony and the echo had disappeared.

"We are adjusting the minor fixes that come with new facilities to ensure the best quality of entertainment possible,” Deifer said. “Adjustments are being done immediately.”

The rowdiness: My experience has been that seated casino crowds are much more sedate than crowds for general arena shows [and make no mistake, the event center crowd is a casino crowd]. That’s proven true.  The crowd stayed seated for most of the concert at the three seated shows I saw, and rose at appropriate times – when the artist asked, when there was a particularly celebratory moment, and for the last songs. That made for nice concert experiences.  

Food and drink: This is topic I haven’t explored enough yet, but the snack bars and beverage stations offer the typical concert food and drink at typical (or better) prices -- $3 for a bottle of water $4 soft drinks and beer and liquor at higher prices; $4 hot dogs.

One surprise is that you can’t carry food or drink outside the arena – which impacts you more than you might think, because the general rest rooms are actually outside the arena. So you can’t carry a drink to the rest room. I saw patrons stopped when they were trying to carry leftover nachos out the door after a show, and I even had a security person take my half-empty water bottle before deciding it was OK to leave with water.

Parking, traffic redux: Four concerts with different crowd sizes and genres, and I still haven’t experienced parking or traffic difficulties. I got to Alan Jackson’s sold-out seated show – 2,250 – just a half-hour before show time and got a parking spot perhaps 300 feet from the door. I’ve left the shows quickly and had not traffic problems. A lot of people appear to be lingering at the Vision Bar after the show, spreading out the crowd’s departure.

That’s how it was intended, and it’s working well on all levels.

That’s what Jackson plays: Not pop or rock with a twang, as virtually every other top country artist now plays. But country.  

And that’s what he played Saturday at Sands Bethlehem Event Center in what easily was the best concert so far in the new arena.

Alan Jackson at Sands Bethlehem Event Center on Saturday
Photos by April Bartholomew/The Morning Call

Jackson crammed 20 of those country songs – 15 of them No. 1s -- into an 80-minute concert, tying them tightly together and playing and singing them extremely well. Simple as that – no flash, no acting the outlaw. Just good music that was full and rich.

He foreshadowed what was to come by opening with “Gone Country,” upbeat, fun and well-sung, backed by an eight-man band that added fiddle, lap steel guitar. Then he ran through eight songs in a  half hour, barely a break between them.

While all the songs were country, the 53-year-old Jackson -- wearing a white cowboy hat and black shirt -- did offer a change up the country elements.

“Small Town Southern Man” was tender traditional country (he ended it by changing the phrase to “small town Pennsylvania man.”) “A Woman’s Love” had a honky-tonk piano break. And a cover of Hanks Williams Jr.’s “The Blues Man” was slow, with sensitive laps steel guitar and high-picked mandolin.  He contrasted that with the upbeat “Long Way to Go,” which had people clapping along.

But the closest to rock he got was his 1994 No. 1 hit cover of Eddie Cochran’s “Summertime Blues,” which he ended with a slight yodel.

Jackson built the show impeccably. Almost halfway through, he played his big hit “Itty Bitty,” starting with a fiddle solo and occasionally deepening his voice and adding a growl.  Then he paired two emotional songs – “Drive (For Daddy Gene)” and “Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning).”

The former, with harmonica and resonator guitar, got a big hand (interestingly, the audience didn’t react to its Mario Andretti reference).  And the latter, which he wrote in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, was inspiring – he sang it exceptionally well in a spotlight against a starry-sky background. It got a standing ovation.

He did a three-song mini-set while seated, starting with a short version of his first hit, “Here in the Real World.” His latest hit, “So You Don’t have to Love Me Anymore” (off his new album, “Thirty Miles West,” due June 5), which also is slow, traditional country heartbreak, got a surprisingly big hand.

“As She’s Walking Away,” his latest No. 1 with Zac Brown Band  (his guitarist donned a Brown knit cap to sing Brown’s part) got an even bigger hand.

And then he finished with a run of his biggest hits – all gold No. 1s.

“Remember When,” with its piano intro, was tender and sentimental, and he sang it emotionally and dramatically. “Good Time” was pure honky tonk. And “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere” had the crowd singing along with his very good singing.

He closed the main part of his set with a rollicking  “Chattachoocie,” its first notes sent a rush through the crowd, then got them up and dancing.

He came back for an encore of “Where I Come From,” played loose and fun while a big screen showed Bethlehem scenery.

The fact that the show sold out in 30 minutes showed people know what to expect from Jackson, and he delivered it to them. (He noted correctly that it’s been awhile since last played the Valley at Allentown Fair in 2005).

In fact the only possible complaints about the show might be its brevity, but Jackson accomplished that by cutting the usual concert fat. And, with 50 Top 10 songs and 25 No, 1s, there might be some room to quibble with the setlist. For example, he skipped his last solo No. 1 hit, “Country Boy,” and “She’s Got the Rhythm (And I Got the Blues)” – the latter played as a snippet during a video introduction.

But those are minor matters.  Jackson played the Sands crowd plenty of country songs.  

Glenn Frey, singer and guitarist for The Eagles, emotes during a solo show Friday at Sands Bethlehem Event Center
Photos by Kevin Miongora/The Morning Call

But Glenn Frey, singer and guitarist for 1970s soft rockers The Eagles, has embraced the idea in a way that neither of those others did, as he showed at a concert Friday at the new Sands Bethlehem Event Center.

Rather than take a modern approach to the songs or to bend them to his style, Frey has immersed himself in the music. And in a 20-song, 95-minute show, he not only sang eight songs from his new standards album “After Hours,” but took some of his solo songs and Eagles hits with him.

Dressed in a dark suit and backed by a nine-man band that very capably supplied instrumentation and jazz- and big-band arrangements, Frey opened the show with a trio of Eagles hits, each more-or-less faithfully to the original versions, with nice harmonies, though obviously not as good as The Eagles.’

He opened with “Peaceful Easy Feeling,” with him on acoustic guitar. “Tequila Sunrise” was more sedate than the original, with a trumpet.

 And on “Lyin’ Eyes,” the 63-year-old Frey’s voice was in fine form.  That was key when he started a seven-song, half-hour run of songs from the new disc.

Frey’s phrasing and delivery were textured like a long-time standards singer – not some rocker taking on the Great American Songbook.

He attacked Bobby Troup’s R&B standard “Route 66” with confidence, leaning into the microphone and snapping his fingers as he sang, his band sympathetic. He was especially good on “For Sentimental Reasons”: His voice was a nice fit, and his delivery appropriate; as if he was very comfortable with it.

That wasn’t true of all the standards he sang. He attacked “The Shadow of Your Smile” with similar gusto, and his voice was technically strong. But it wasn’t dynamic enough  – though, in fairness, it’s tough to measure up to Tony Bennett.  It also seemed as if his voice was sometimes too low in the sound mix.

 The same was true on Burt Bacharac’s “The Look of Love,” though Frey coughed mid-song, so there may have been other reasons.

Frey sang two more contemporary songs as standards: His voice was sometimes too slight for his approach to Randy Newman’s “Same Girl,” though he kicked in strongly late in the tune.  But on The Beach Boys’  “Caroline, No” – which that band did the night before during its show at the same venue – Frey reached for high notes and hit them, and his band was particularly sensitive.

A good reading of Ray Charles’ “Worried Mind” found Frey clearly in a groove.  “That’s drinkin’ music,” he said afterward. And his original title track from the new disc – which he explained was written for his gold 1984 disc “The Allnighter” – was soft and soothing. It’s unimaginable the song was left behind 28 years ago.

But perhaps the best was when he combined his own songs and The Eagles’ with the standards treatment.

A smoky jazz shuffle arrangement of his solo hit “The Heat Is On,” with heavy bass, brushed drums, sax and guitar, had him snapping his fingers and dancing slightly. And a chugging, dirty blues version of “Smugglers Blues’ was among the best of the night.

The near-sellout crowd of perhaps 2,300 responded well to the standards and new arrangements – they particularly cheered “The Shadow of Your Smile” and “The Heat Is On.”

 He also connected well between songs, giving heartfelt introductions to the tunes and seeming genuinely fond of the fact that his father, Edward, is a Nazareth native and that his aunt Betty Jean and several other members of his extended family from Nazareth, Allentown and Bath were at the show.

But the crowd was clearly there to hear the hits. And Frey obliged.

He closed the main set with his solo “You Belong to the City,” growling the lyrics as the band filled in strongly, with nice sax.

After a standing ovation, Frey  returned for two encores. The first offered two Eagles songs: a very nicely sung “Take It to the Limit,” then a showcase “Desperado,” with him standing alone in a spotlight, emoting with conviction.

The second encore was a strong, well-sung version of Buffalo Springfield’s “On the Way Home,” then closed with The Eagles’ “Take It Easy” – lighter, livelier and sung with energy and emphasis.

The crowd was standing and dancing, and many rushed the stage – none of which is normally seen at a  concert of standards.  

The Gabriel Alegria Afro-Peruvian Sextet took its Allentown audience Friday on an exciting journey through the musical vistas of coastal Peru. Its sounds carried the colors of twilight at the ocean shore and the rhythmic vitality of their homeland's African roots. And all of it seemed to fuse seamlessly with jazz harmonies as traditional as George Gershwin's "Summertime."

The group began the show at the Rodale Community Room in broad daylight. "Summertime" took off with the beat of the Peruvian cajon, setting the pace for Yuri Juarez to paint with his nylon string guitar. By the time Gabriel Alegria came in with the trumpet, the band was already strolling to the percussive pulse of Freddy "Huevito" Lobatón. The combination of Alegria with Laura Andrea Leguía on tenor and soprano saxophone was remarkable all night long.

The group is promoting its first live album and so they played the first set identical to the recording. It was a way to cement the experience in the subconscious so that those who bought the record could picture themselves at the show. Great idea because I wouldn't mind reliving what I experienced at the show a few more times. Particularly, hearing Leguía's composition "Puerto Pimentel" over and over again. The timber of Yuri Juárez's guitar matched well with the dim light of dusk adorning the room. Leguia's voice through her tenor sax was warm, reminiscent of the late Stan Getz.

Everyone in the band had a time to shine in almost every piece. Alegria offered brief explanations about the traditional beats that carry their compositions. But some tunes needed little introduction, such as Henry Mancini's "Moon River," which Alegria performed masterfully.

The group is about to record an album this August. They shared many of their new tunes in the second part of the show.

"Carucel de Luces" was a true Carousel of Lights. It featured a playful dialogue between Leguia and Alegria and a rhythmic celebration between Lobatón and Francis Benitez on drums. The 22-year-old drummer held his own next his brother John Benitez, a jazz star in his own right, and the older members of the band. Juárez was consistant throughout the night, taking the tunes to ever new imaginative places in his guitar solos.

Lobatón sealed the night with a shoe-tapping demonstration of the traditional Afro-Peruvian zapateo. The free thumping dance was joyful and free--a great synopsis of what the show was all about.

The Beach Boys, from left, David Marks, Mike Love and Al Jardine at Sands Bethlehem Event Center on Thursday
Photos by April Bartholomew/The Morning Call  

And when the band stopped at Sands Bethlehem Event Center with its 50^th anniversary reunion tour Thursday, that’s still what it represented: Memories of those carefree teenage summer beach days.

Unfortunately, summer ends.

 And for half of a show that offered 46 songs over two hours and 25 minutes of music (plus a 25-minute intermission), those memories were far better than what was onstage:  A lifeless,  through-the-motions performance in which The Beach Boys, unable to do the things it once did, let the 10-member backing band not only carry them , but often simply take over, playing and singing leads.

From the appropriate opening song “Do It Again” (this was the first time the band has toured with Brian Wilson in 28 years and the first time with Al Jardine and David Marks in more than  a dozen years), it was hard to determine precisely how much of what you were heading was the actual band.

Brian Wilson

Buried beneath harmonies from the many backup singers, lead singer Mike Love’s voice was detectable, but little else from the band was detectable: snippets from Marks of vocals on “Hawaii” and guitar on “Surfin’ Safari.”

The sellout crowd of 2,550 – which like the band was older, too -- was eager to embrace that escapism, clapping along on “Catch a Wave” and cheering a small twirl by Love. Just the introduction of Brian Wilson – who sat, expressionless and moving little, at his piano nearly all night -- got a standing ovation.  

 And the band embraced being older: Love, who’s 71, made jokingly half-hearted hula waves, and joked during his first comments (after five songs) that it was time to “take an intermission, followed by a nap,” then later that the album “Surf’s Up” was recorded in 1892.

                                                     Al Jardine

There were other flashes of Beach Boys brilliance in the first set: Wilson’s singing on “Surfer Girl,” for example, was very good.  Al Jardine’s singing on a cover of The Crystals’ “The I Kissed Her” also was pretty good, as was Love’s singing on “Be True to Your School.”

But there also were cringe-inducing bad moments. A member of the backing band handled the guitar leads on “Dance Dance Dance.” And on “Don’t Worry Baby,” a member of the backing band sang all of the lead, including the distinctive high parts, as he also did on a cover of Frankie Lymon and The Teenagers’ “Why Do Fools Fall in Love.”

Love’s voice was weak on “Little Honda” and, especially, on “When I Grow Up (To Be a Man),” the lyrics of which – “Won’t last forever/It’s kind of sad” – were perversely poignant.

But the set ended better. Jardine urged people to stand on “Little Deuce Coup,” and the did – and danced. When the set closed with “I Get Around,” it seemed as if the crowd was excited to simply hear songs from its youth.

But the second set seemed like a totally different concert.

It opened with all of them gathered around Wilson’s piano to sing “Add Some Music to Your Day,” with Wilson singing lead and the band filling in with the best harmonies of the night.

Mike Love

That was followed by a stretch that was the best of the concert: a cover of The Mamas and the Papas’ “California Dreamin’” that had Jardine and Wilson singing lead, then Wilson singing especially well on an evocative “Sloop John B.” And “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” had all of the energy the entire early set lacked.

Wilson also was very good on a bluesy “Sail On Sailor,” and “In My Room” was touching.

The band chose to pay tribute to its late members Dennis and Carl Wilson by having them sing lead, via big-screen video, on “Forever” and “God Only Knows,” respectively, as they backed them  up.

“No one could do this as beautifully as he could,” Love said of Carl Wilson on “God Only Knows.” “So we’re not even going to try. The crowd seemed to agree, clapping along spontaneously, then giving the performance a partial standing ovation.

David Marks

The band asked for the crowd’s indulgence for a new song – the title track first single from “That’s Why God Made Radio,” the group’s first disc of original material in 20 years and the first with Marks in 49 years. The song, with Wilson singing lead, was OK – certainly no embarrassment.

And then the concert became what the crowd had remembered.

“Good Vibrations,” had Wilson singing and prompting the crowd to stand and clap along. They stayed standing for “California Girls,” and even bopped along to “All Summer Long” and sang along to “Help Me Rhonda.”

“Don’t sit – there’s more!” Jardine told the crowd. And they followed with  Chuck Berry’s “Rock and Roll Music” and an inspired cover of Bobby Freeman’s “Do You Wanna Dance” that had Wilson singing and Marks playing more lead. And they closed the main part of the show with “Surfin’ USA,” with Love snarling the lyrics.

Those songs were loose and fun – in short everything the first set wasn’t.

They opened the three-song encore with “Kokomo,” the band’s 1980s comeback hit, but a backup singer again sang the lead.

But the band again found its groove on “Barbara Ann,” for which Brian Wilson even stood and strapped on a guitar,” and the closing “Fun Fun Fun,” with Marks playing a fun lead.

“Keep listening to The Beach Boys – it keeps you young forever,” Jardine told the crowd at one point.

That’s not true. The Endless Summer clearing is coming to an end.  But that fantasy lives on. And for the last half of the show,  The Beach Boys were able to again catch a wave.     

It’s a mind-boggling lapse for someone who had a string of hits such as “The Heat is On,” “You Belong to the City” and “Smuggler’s Blues.”

Frey debuted his new solo songs live this week. He’s on a tour of just five dates that stops May 18 at the new Sands Bethlehem Event Center.

In a recent telephone interview from Atlanta, Frey talked about why he decided to record a new solo disc now, his future with The Eagles and his ties to the Lehigh Valley.

Here is a transcript of the call:

The singer and guitarist for ’70s rock band The Eagles says there are two main reasons for neglecting his solo career.

First, he and wife Cindy married in 1990 and started a family, shortly after that string of solo hits. They have a daughter and two sons.

Second is that after The Eagles reunited in 1994, “we’ve done quite a bit since we got back together,” he says.

Frey notes the band “toured the world a few times” on annual jaunts and released five compilation discs and one live disc. And The Eagles in 2007 released “Long Road Out of Eden,” its first disc of new material in more than 28 years.

It’s not only recordings that have been scarce in Frey’s solo career. Outside of benefit concerts, Frey has not done a solo tour since 2006. And he’s played only a half-dozen solo shows (half as duets with fellow Eagle Joe Walsh) since then.

GLENN FREY: “Hey, John”

LEHIGH VALLEY MUSIC: Hi, Glenn. How are you doing?

“Hey, I’m hanging in there, baby. Doing pretty good. I’m peachy – I’m down in Atlanta.”

Are you really?

“Yeah. So I should say, ‘I’m peachy.’”

You’re going to playing our new Sands Bethlehem Event Center. The third act ever to play the venue.

“Yeah, how ‘bout that. Well, sometimes that’s exciting. Some people come out not just to hear the music but they want to see the venue.”

Tell me about “After Hours.” What made you decide to do this type of album and why now?

“Well, I’ve always wanted to record these songs. I love this kind of music. But one of the real – what’s the word I’m looking for? – motivating factors is that my parents are still alive, and my dad is 91. And he’s from Nazareth, Pennsylvania.”

Oh really?

“Yes. And my mom’s 87 and some of the music is actually music that was around when my folks were growing up. And then another part of this music was sort of around when I was growing up and my parents were raising me.  So this is the music that, for the most part, very familiar to my folks. And I really wanted to get this record done and be able to give it to them to play, you know, while they’re still around.

“Yeah, my dad’s from Nazareth and I have, oh gosh, a lot of relatives all over the Lehigh Valley and around Allentown and Bethlehem, Bath.”

What’s your dad’s first name?

“His name is Edward Frey. Eddie Frey.”

Cool. I know a ton of Freys, so who knows? They could be distant relatives.

“Oh yeah. Like I said, they’re mainly from Nazareth. I’m really excited – I’m going to have a lot of relatives at the show in Bethlehem. And in particular, my aunt Betty Jane, who is my dad’s sister, who is – I’m not going to tell you how old she is, but she’s my dad’s sister [Laughs]. And I’m excited that she’s going to be at the show and get to hear not just – of course she likes The Eagles stuff and the Glenn Frey stuff – but also to be able to do these songs, a few of these songs. I’m going to do about six, I think six or seven, during the course of the show. That’ll be really gratifying for me.”

It’s been like 20 years since you put out a solo album of new material. Why is that? Why the big gap there?

“Well, I started a family and The Eagles got back together. And so those two things have really sort of been my emphasis – family first. And then with The Eagles being back together, we’ve done quite a bit since we got back together. We did [the live album] ‘Hell Freezes Over,’ we toured the world a few times, we did a [the album] ‘Alive in Melbourne.’ And then we did a double CD that we released in 2007, ‘Long Road Out of Eden.”   So I was pretty busy with The Eagles and particularly, happily busy with my family.”

OK. I’m going to ask a couple of follow-up questions to things you mentioned. OK, so ‘Long Road Out of Eden’ comes out and wins a Grammy. How amazing is that? Your first album of new material in 28 years, and The Eagles still got it.

“Well, that was nice, you know? We won a Grammy for Best Instrumental, and it’s ironic that I actually wrote the song and played the guitar on it and it’s just kind of ironic, ‘cause I’m the third-best guitar player in a band of three guitar players. But yes, that was very nice. And you know, our album was very well-received and it sold well and, again, it was fun to play new music with The Eagles when that record came out. Of course, it’ll be fun to play new music on this little East Coast swing of mine.”

Before I get off The Eagles, is the expectation that you guys are going to continue? And how long?

“Well, we go one year at a time, John, and The Eagles is the mother ship, and we understand that, and we want to keep The Eagles together. Some years we’re more active than other years, but our plan is to go one year at a time, as long as we can perform at a high level, as long as we still enjoy doing it. And one of the ways to enjoy doing it is to not do it all the time. And then it retains a little bit of freshness, which helps, too. But that’s what we’re doing. We’ve been, actually, this year – which is our 40^th anniversary – we’re not doing a lot of shows; it’s just the way that things sort of fell into place. But what we have been doing this year,  we’ve been working very hard on a history of The Eagles – a two DVD set that, hopefully will be ready by Christmas, or if not Christmas, by just after Christmas. And the first DVD covers the history of The Eagles from 1970 to 1980, and the second covers the history of the band from ’94 until the present.

“And you know, we’re a band that does not really – oh, how do I say it? – opened up. You know, we play it pretty close to the vest. We don’t do a lot of interviews, we don’t search out the limelight. But this history of The Eagles thing, I think, will finally sort of open the door and kind of give people an idea of what we were like back then and what we’re like now and why we did some of the things that we did, I think. I guess the disadvantage of not saying a lot about The Eagles in the last 40 years is that people have, maybe, gotten the wrong idea. Just think that we just argue all the time and that sort of thing – we’re kind of a volatile group. But I think it’ll be nice to let people sort of see a little bit more about what we were about, like I said, what we were thinking when we made the records we made in the ‘70s. And we got a lot of footage. So it should be good.”

It sounds very cool. I wanted to ask, when you mentioned the fact that there’s now space between what you do. Is that one of the reasons you guys are now successful in your second run, when you broke up the first time around?

“Well, I guess in retrospect, maybe we should have, back in the late ‘70s, when things were getting a little fractious, we should have probably done like The Stones would do and just take a year off.  Take a couple years off. But, you know, it’s funny – it all happened for a reason. And the one thing I know about The Eagles is we sort of have to read the tea leaves. We couldn’t get back together until the time was right. We couldn’t make a studio album until the time was right. But like you say, now we know a little bit more about that. And I think what we do is make sure that we don’t overwork it. So that it stays fresh for us, as well, and it’s more like, ‘Hey, good to see you,’ as opposed to ‘Oh, you again?’ [laughs]

Will the DVD have any new music on it, or is there any new music on the horizon?

“I can’t comment for sure. But I would like that very much. And I have a plan. But I can’t really talk about it. But I’m hoping that there will be some new music.”

Understood. Now back to your new album. You do have one new song on there.

“Yes.”

Tell me about it.

“Well, the title track of the album is ‘After Hours.’ And back in, geez, back in the early ‘80s, I did a record called ‘The All Nighter.’”

Yeah!

“And the idea of this record is that it was a record that happened from sundown to sunrise. And [Eagles songwriter] Jack Tempchin, my friend Jack Tempchin, we wrote ‘After Hours’ to be the last song on that record. But as the record went on, we decided not to put it on – that it wasn’t, sort of, in character. So about halfway through this recording of ‘After Hours,’ I finally said, ‘Oh my god, maybe ‘After Hours’ is a song.’ So I went into the studio, and I sat down at the piano, and I played it for my two co-producers and they say, ‘Yeah, let’s do that. That fits right in.’ So I was able to get an original song that’s compatible with the other songs on the CD.”

How did you choose the songs that you put on the CD?

“Well, carefully [Laughs].  But the criteria was every song had to be sort of a piano-and-voice based song. And that’s the way we auditioned the material, just sitting around and Michael Thompson would play piano and I would sing. And we’d sort of take it from there. And the other thing was it had to be material that was compatible with my voice. We wanted to make sure that every song was right on. And that’s really the way we decided.”

In preparing for this interview, I actually read a quote that said that in doing this, you feel like you’re a better singer now, after having done it. Did they get that quote right?

“Yes. I think that’s true, you know, because this material on ‘After Hours’ is different from stuff I’ve done previously. What I do with The Eagles and what I’ve done playing by myself, I call it ‘guitar singing.’ You know, because you’re sort of – that’s the instrument that’s usually at the center of the songs that we do.  This is more, on ‘After Hours,’ it’s more piano singing. And I found myself, as I was working on these songs, going ‘Oh, I’m singing more like a trumpet.’ Or, ‘This is more like a clarinet.’  A flute. Different instruments that sort of fit that ensemble that plays on these songs. So that was really an exciting and interesting thing that happened for be – to be able to learn these songs and practice them and live with them.”

Are there any songs that were presented to you that you were not familiar with, or did not know.

“Uh, yes. Richard Davis, who is my co-producer, he and Michael Thompson, they are two of the three keyboard players in The Eagles road band and we’ve worked a lot together and worked a lot together in the studio on ‘Long Road Out of Eden.’  Richard Davis and I were talking about what’s the most laid-back song  you’ve ever heard. And I thought, well, maybe Ray Charles’ ‘Drown in My Own Tears’ live, Atlanta jazz festival. That is such a back-down, low-down thing. And Richard said, ‘Have you ever heard a song called ‘Here’s to Life’ by Shirley Horn? And I said, ‘No.’ He said, ‘You’ve got to hear this record.’

“So he brought this Shirley Horn record in and we listened to it, and of course it’s an amazing song, an amazing piece of music – a journey. And then about six weeks after I heard it, I was feeling pretty good about the way things were going in the studio and I said, ‘You think we could do ‘Here’s to Life?’ ‘ And they kind of go, ‘Welll, we could try.’ [Laughs] And so we set out to do that song. And I’ve learned a lot – I’ve heard and listened to a lot of songs I wasn’t familiar with. But that one in particular was a song I’ very proud of. It was a real challenge, a real step out to do that song. And I thought we did a pretty good job.”

Tell me about the tour. What kind of experience is it going out solo as opposed to going out with The Eagles?

“Well, I have to sing everything [Laughs]. You know, that’s good and bad. It’s just a different little mindset where you sort of carry the load. Which I’m happy to do. I enjoy doing both. It’s apples and apples. It’s not dissimilar.”

I read that you guys, The Eagles in toto, are going to get doctorates from Berklee College of Music next Saturday.

“How ‘bout that? Yes, it’s true. And I’m getting my degree just about 42 years later than I probably should have got it. But that’s very exciting, and I appreciate the recognition. It’s very gratifying. We’ve had a long and successful career. And careers aren’t that long anymore. So I feel very fortunate, and I’m sure this degree speaks to the body of work and it’s because … we are who we are because people love our music. It’s out of our hands, and I think the reason we’re still together – and Don [Henley] was pointing this out last night again – we’re playing here in Atlanta and it’s been a long ride for us. But we’re really here because people still want to see us.”

Well, I for one am very much looking forward to the show in Bethlehem.

“Oh, thank you. So am I. Of course, I got family there; I’ll be nervous. But with that, there also will be a whole lot of love in the room, too. So I’m excited to get to Bethlehem. That’ll be a great night.”

Anything else?

“I will say this: I’m a realist. And being so, I don’t put a record out these days and have ridiculous expectations. But I also know that there’s millions of Eagles fans in the United States and all around the world. And you know what? If even a small part of that core following were to pick up ‘After Hours,’ just out of curiosity, see what the heck I did, I think they’d be in for a big surprise. And that would make me very happy. You know, it’s more – for me, this record is more about the music than it is about Glen Frey. And it’s my chance – not unlike one of my mentors, Linda Ronstadt , who did beautiful work with Nelson Riddle on [the albums] ‘Lush Life’ and ‘What’s New.’ And so it’s an opportunity for me to share these songs with people and I’m very excited.

“The general consensus – I’ve been living with this record for a long time, and it’s only been in the last five weeks that I’ve sort of let it out of the bag and played it for my secret board of directors and my friends and acquaintances – people I know; people whose opinions I trust, and two things have happened. Number one,  everyone’s a little surprised to hear me sing these songs – although not totally surprised. And the other thing is, everybody has said, to a person, this is a very well-put-together, beautiful record. And that means a lot to me. And I know it sounds cliché, but for me the journey was the reward, and I got to live with these great songs. It was fun to go to work every day. And you sort of feel like you’re the caretaker of this material. You want to make sure it’s presented in an appropriate manner with feeling and honesty and execution. And I think we put this record together like a thousand-piece jigsaw puzzle. And when we were done, all of the pieces fit together into a beautiful picture. 

GLENN FREY, 8 p.m. May 18, Sands Bethlehem Event Center, 77 Sands Blvd., Bethlehem. Tickets $79.50 to $150. Info: www.livenation.com, www.sandseventcenter.com, 800-745-3000.

The Eagles, from left: Glenn Frey, Joe Walsh, Timothy Schmit and Don Henley