Lehigh Valley InSite

Civil Twilight Courtesy of Erika Liodice - www.erikaliodice.com

The bands that venture to Lehigh Valley to perform at Steel Stacks’ Musikfest Café are different as night and day, but having seen four shows there, I’ve discovered one similarity between them: they all turn to the giant illuminated blast furnaces behind them and say, “Wow, this place is beautiful.”

They’re right; it is beautiful, which is one of the many reasons my husband and I love going there for concerts. We returned again on Saturday night to see one of our favorite bands, Civil Twilight.

Prime Steak House

This past week, the staff here at Discover Lehigh Valley went out for our annual holiday party. The location chosen was Prime Steak House in Bethlehem, a steakhouse with a very inviting atmosphere and some delicious cuts of meat. Since we were dining at Prime, I had to go with the prime rib … medium rare, of course. It broke my heart to see a few of my coworkers ordering their steaks well and medium well, but apparently they prefer to have the flavor cooked out of their steaks!

We were able to enjoy a delicious meal with plenty of laughs and stories to be told. It’s truly special to work somewhere where my coworkers and I can have a great time and enjoy each other’s company, especially out of the office and after hours.

Musikfest Cafe

Last Saturday, my girlfriend and I took in Chuck Negron at the Musikfest Cafe. Who? I said Chuck Negron, one of the three lead singers for Three Dog Night, the other two being Danny Hutton and Cory Wells.

Negron, whose kid plays bass in the band, started the concert with “Black and White,” followed by other classic Three Dog Night songs. Our seats where in the back row of the VIP balcony and we stood for a great portion of the show. Negron himself stated that we are lucky to have a historic venue such as this in Lehigh Valley. He also took a shot at the occupy Wall Street movement, saying that back in the day they’d be working.

Here Come the Mummies

Here Come the Mummies played at the new ArtsQuest center, SteelStacks, in the beginning of October, during Oktoberfest to be exact. Several of us met for dinner at a friend’s house first then piled into two vehicles to travel over the river and through the Valley to SteelStacks. Ok fine, it was just down the street, but it sounded so much more adventurous the other way.

The concert, located in Muskifest Café, was standing room only, which was perfect because people could move freely throughout the show. The lights dimmed and music started to echo throughout the room, but from where? Out of the corner of my eye I noticed the mummies coming out of a room behind me.

Lehigh Valley IronPigs

A few weeks back I had the opportunity to spend a day showing off Lehigh Valley to a member of the media from Scranton, Christopher J. Hughes, who is also a close friend.

He was here to complement his story on the SWB Yankees. He’d been hearing about our beautiful Coca-Cola Park from me since it opened including the great atmosphere and the success of the IronPigs. The SWB Yankees are hoping to remedy some of their issues with their new stadium, scheduled to open for the 2013 season.

PBS39 Media and Education Center

This past weekend was very busy for the folks at PBS39, as they celebrated the grand opening of the new PBS39 Public Media and Education Center. Now at it’s new location 839 Sesame Street, Bethlehem at the Steel Stacks complex, they had a Family Fun Ride and other festivities on September 10th, then dedicated a Peace Pole during it’s World Peace Flag Ceremony on September 11th.

On Friday, a few of us 4O1!ers had the pleasure of attending the Grand Opening Reception, where we got to rub elbows with The Cat in the Hat, Curious George, Mr. McFeely of Mr. Rogers Fame, and of course, Telebear!

Umphrey's McGee

This weekend I spent the majority of my time at a few of the fairs and festivals that make Lehigh Valley a great place to be. Friday night I went to the Allentown Fair,and Sunday was the event I had been looking forward to for months, even before SteelStacks was complete – SteelJam Festival. I

’m a huge fan of jam bands for several reasons; the relaxing groove of the music, the fact that you’ll hardly hear bands play the same set list twice, and the constant improvisation to the songs create a style unlike any other.

Train

Sunday’s rains may have forced me to go alone for my last Musikfest visit (my friend’s basement flooded) but my spirits were not dampened. I was going to see Train!

I arrived in plenty of time but honestly missed the two opening acts, for a good reason. I was mesmerized by March Fourth Marching Band at Americaplatz (Levitt Pavilion). They are described as “a punk rock marching band of epic proportions!” and indeed they were. I couldn’t tear myself away until they were done and had to buy their DVD and a t-shirt in support. Hopefully they will be available next year … they were quite the crowd pleasers.

Straight No Chaser

I had the privilege of seeing the Straight No Chaser concert at Musikfest on Thursday. I believe they said there were 5,500 people there, that’s amazing. Megan and I took our seats and before we knew it those 10 talented men were on stage in front of us. Megan had no idea what she was in for. I like to think that she was pleasantly surprised; I witnessed her bust a move a few times.

Straight No Chaser played any and everything you could think of. They started with a Motown medley that got the many heads in the crowd bopping. Another blast from the past was when two of them sang their version of a Rat Pack favorite, “Me and My Shadow.” “This is How We Do It,” “Let’s Get It On,” and the Bee Gees mixed with Stevie Wonder could also be heard flowing through the speakers. When they started to sing Zac Brown’s Band “Chicken Fried,” Megan said “Country. Here goes Kate!” I’m not sure if she was embarrassed or not when I started singing to her a few times.

7 Walkers

Psychedelic backdrop, harmonic guitar rifts, taking me to a far place with fluffy clouds, blue skies, running through fields of wildflowers with pulsing red and green lights….

Ok I am back!