LVU Wants to Know: What Are You Doing This Weekend?
There’s so much going on this weekend on the music scene, that we could swear we’ve been magically transported back to the summer.
Category Archives: LVU Wants to Know
LVU Wants to Know: Who’s Your Favorite Live Local Act?
Lehigh Valley Underground has been at this thing for almost a year. In that time, we have met so many talented artists, we’re positive that there will never be a shortage of great music to cover.
That includes the live scene, which, as we’ve found, is active year-round around these parts. While we certainly have plenty of artists that we like to catch whenever possible, we’re not going to give away who our favorites are juuuuuust yet. (Spoilers: Perhaps we will toward the end of the year…)
While we’re not showing our hand until it’s time to review this wild and wonderful year, we got to thinking that you, our loyal readers, probably have plenty of good suggestions for us to check out right now.
Whether you’ve seen them covered on LVU before, or they’re new music to our ears, we want to know: Who are your favorite local acts to see live?
P.S.: When you leave your comment, feel free to share a streaming link!
LVU Wants to Know: How Do You Support Your Music Scene?
It’s been a while since we’ve posed a question in this series, and the time just feels right to get to know our readership a bit better.
As we’ve surely noted several times before, it takes a scene to build a scene. Fortunately for us, the music community in our region is a vibrant entity made up of folks from many varied walks of life. These are people who share their talents in a number of ways and for the betterment of our arts community.
There stands an excellent chance that, if you’re reading this and follow LVU, you are one of those people. First, thank you for supporting music in the Lehigh Valley. We always need more of that around here.
Secondly, we want to know who you are, whether you are a musician, blogger, radio host, promoter, fan, or help our scene grow in any combination of ways.
So, tell us: What do you do to support your local music scene here in eastern Pennsylvania, western New Jersey, and beyond? Let us know in the comments!
While We Were Moving, Weird Dinosaur Things Plotted to Overtake Bethlehem (Again)
…and that’s just one of the many exciting things about this year’s recently-announced Musikfest free stage lineup!
OK, I must admit: I’m pumped for the return of SAURUS. Those bird/dinosaur/robot things were pretty epic when I encountered them after a couple Summer Shandies two years ago.
Even moreso, I can’t wait to hear some incredible music over the course of ten August days and nights in the Christmas City. The first weekend alone is stacked with artists we’ve featured before on LVU, from locals Alex Radus Trio, Scott Marshall, and Hector Rosado, to nationally-touring favorites like JD & the Straight Shot. The Amish Outlaws, too, hold a special place in my heart, as theirs was the first Musikfest show I ever worked as an event staffer at Festplatz on a Saturday night. On that fateful night, I got booed by the masses for telling an 85-year-old man to stop dancing on a table, and the Outlaws’ lead singer helped me return a lost child to his family, mid-song. It was a memorable night in my life, for sure.
As you can tell, I still get excited for Musikfest after all these years (I attended my first in 2007, as a rising Moravian College sophomore). I’m also looking forward to covering as many of these great performances as possible for LVU.
For now, take a look at the free lineup and let us know: Which shows are you most excited for, and which would you like to see us cover?
LVU Wants to Know: Where Do You Want a New Venue?
We’re not suggesting anything with that image. We swear…
With our ever-growing music community producing more talent than perhaps ever before, the demand for venues – particularly, those which support original music – has increased in recent years.
Of course, this demand has been met by the emergence of hot spots in certain pockets of the Valley. SteelStacks has dominated the music scene in Bethlehem over the past five years, while the South Side also boasts mainstays Godfrey Daniels and The Funhouse. Meanwhile, Allentown’s resurgence and Easton’s emerging presence have, respectively, provided more local, original acts with places to play. There is always room to grow, however, especially as the list of talented artists in our area continues to do the same.
Of course, there is always speculation about turning Bethlehem’s Boyd Theatre into a live music venue. While we’re still on board with that being a great idea – think of the foot traffic! – we don’t own the place, and we realize that there are other areas of the Valley where bands and the community at large would also benefit from an increased presence of live music venues.
So… tell us where you are, why it would make a great place for a new venue, and what kind of music it should support. Or, in your opinion, is our scene fine as it is? Either way, we want to know what you think!
LVU Wants to Know: What Upcoming Shows Have You Excited?
With the unofficial start of summer just days away, the music scene here in the Lehigh Valley (and anywhere else with a music scene) is making like the temperature and heating up. We’re lucky enough to live in a place where, virtually any night of the week, you can find great live music from local talent.
There is always much to look forward to in the prime time of the year, but we want to know: Which shows in particular have caught your eye?
Perhaps you’re looking forward to your favorite Musikfest headliner. Or, if you’re like us, you want to show the love to our local artists, who keep this scene going year-round. Whatever your tastes, there’s bound to be something for everybody — and we want to know what dates are on your radar!
A couple that are upcoming for us? Well, in addition to our Can’t-Miss Shows of the Week (hello, Mayfair), we’re really looking forward to Slingshot Dakota’s Hometown Record Release Show at SteelStacks on Friday, June 10. Also, we can’t wait to mix it up with Scott Marshall, Pinnacle, Valdez and a host of other local music folks at The Originals Music Series’ Musicians Social on Thursday, June 16. LVU plans to be in attendance for both of those — and many more!
It’s your turn to tell us. What’s most exciting to you as a local music lover?
Get On Our Calendar!
We want to be where the people are, and we want to bring the people to you.
Lehigh Valley Underground is building a live music calendar – the beginnings of which you can see below – but we need your help! We want to know about upcoming shows to give people a chance to make plans around all of the music there is to enjoy in our region!
We’d also love to take part, whenever possible, and come to your shows! Surely, you’ve seen our photos of The Originals Music Series. Well, we want more photos, more video, and more artists featured here on LVU to make this into a bigger, better, more supportive indie music resource for artists here and everywhere. To do that, though, we need to be in the know – so make sure you get on our radar!
Tell us about an upcoming show! Comment on this post or email us at lehighvalleyunderground@gmail.com.
Puddle of Mudd Brings Traveling Circus to Lehigh Valley
A few weeks ago, we asked you to name the most disappointing show you’ve ever attended. This came off the heels of news that Puddle of Mudd’s Wes Scantlin had another bizarre onstage meltdown to prematurely end the band’s set.
Well, the traveling roadshow came to The Gin Mill and Grille the other night, as Scantlin went on a profanity-laced tirade against the venue’s sound engineer.
Certainly, this was an unfortunate turn of events for the venue, which is working hard to bring more national touring acts to the Lehigh Valley. It’s also more disappointment for the band’s fans, who spend their hard-earned money to see a band that can’t seem to finish a set these days.
Here at Lehigh Valley Underground, we hope for a couple of things. First, it becomes more apparent with each meltdown that Wes Scantlin needs help, and we sincerely hope that he gets it.
Secondly, we hope that local music fans will still head to The Gin Mill and Grille for other shows (Trapt is playing on Feb. 28, for the record). Sometimes, things happen that are out of a venue’s control. This Puddle of Mudd fiasco was clearly one of those instances.
LVU Wants to Know: What’s the Best Place for Live Music?
Pictured: RED performing at The Originals Music Series at Chicago Restaurant and Club Gravity on Feb. 4, 2016.
We all know that there is a growing number of live music venues popping up all over the Valley. Which one is the best to see a show?
Do you prefer the historical ambiance of SteelStacks? Or, how about the intimacy of a venue like Club Gravity at Chicago Restaurant? Are you a Funhouse patron, or is Godfrey Daniels more your speed?
Or… are there venues you feel don’t get the recognition they deserve? Let us know about those, too!
LVU Wants to Know: What’s the Most Disappointing Show You’ve Attended?
Photo credit: Blabbermouth.net
Yesterday, Lehigh Valley Underground and several other music news outlets reported that Puddle of Mudd’s Jan. 30 show at Adelphia Music Hall in Marietta, OH was cut short by a bizarre tirade from the band’s frontman, Wes Scantlin.
Unfortunately for Scantlin, Puddle of Mudd and the band’s fans, this is not an isolated incident. Scantlin is known for his tirades and legal troubles, with the most recent ones noted in this article from Blabbermouth. We do hope that the frontman can get things together, but with so many disappointing shows to his band’s credit, it got us thinking…
What is the most disappointing show you’ve ever been to? Let us know in the comments.