BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Concerts by four former contestants on popular television singing competition shows will highlight the Levitt Pavilion SteelStacks 2025 free summer season.
Carly Moffa, a New Jersey pop singer who made it to the Hollywood round on "American Idol" in 2018 but didn't make the Top 24, will perform May 30.
Paul McDonald, who placed eighth on the 10th season of "American Idol" in 2011, will take the Levitt stage on July 3 with his roots band The Mourning Doves.
Hawaiian singer Camile Velasco, who came in ninth place on the third season of "American Idol" in 2004 and now performs as Eli-Mac, will perform at the fourth year of One Earth ReggaeFest on July 5.
And on Aug. 29, Alexis Cunningham, who in 2022 was featured on the NBC-TV show "American Song Contest," will perform.
The 2025 Levitt Pavilion SteelStacks season will open May 16 and continue through Saturday, Sept. 13 with 48 shows — three more than last year.Levitt Pavilion SteelStacks
The Levitt season won't be only TV contestants. But they're among 48 concerts (two more than last year) in the venue's 15th year announced at a season reveal event at the ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks.
Other highlights of the season will include salsa, blues, funk, pop, indie rock, Americana, alternative, R&B/soul, folk, reggae, roots and world music offerings, Levitt officials said.
“It’s hard to believe we’re celebrating our 15th season on the Levitt lawn," Levitt Pavilion SteelStacks Executive Director Shayna Super said.
"This milestone is a true testament to this amazing community—one that values, supports and invests in the arts.
“I’m deeply humbled when I think about how far we’ve come, and beyond thrilled to unveil our 15th season lineup. Here’s to another unforgettable summer of free, live music that brings our community together.”
The season will open May 16 with Couch, an eight-piece soul-pop group from Boston that adds horns — as well as funk and R&B — to the mix. The band released its eponymously named debut EP in 2021.
The season will continue through Saturday, Sept. 13, when the season again, as it did last year, will close with a “Local Party” by longtime Lehigh Valley favorite party band The Aardvarks, a mainstay of Bethlehem's Musikfest festival.
Early highlight: Christian singer
A highlight of the season will be top contemporary Christian worship music artist Riley Clemmons on June 7.
Clemmons is best known for her 2019 gold Top 5 Christian chart hit "Fighting for Me," and that year was nominated for a Dove Award for New Artist of the Year.
She's had six Top 40 Christian hits since breaking through with her 2017 song "Broken Prayers."
Her 2018 self-titled debut album crossed over to No. 13 on Billboard's Heatseekers chart. She's released two albums since, with the latest being 2023's "Church Pew."
In 2018, she made an appearance in the Top 40 on Billboard's Dance chart on Tritonal's single "Out My Mind.") And in 2020, she was featured on Crowder's Top 15 Christian hit "I'm Leaning on You."
Other early offerings in this season's lineup include Barney Cortez, a Philadelphia singer-songwriter who describes his style as "liquid rock 'n' roll" and "avant soul," which sounds like a mix of 1980s new wave and post punk, on May 22.
May 23 will bring Sinkane, a Sudanese-American musician who blends soul, prog-rock, free jazz and funk rock with Sudanese pop. He's released seven albums since 2007.
Acclaimed Washington, D.C., indie-soul band Oh He Dead will perform May 31. The group last August released its third album, "Ugly."
On June 5, Yacht Lobsters will continue the takeover of the Lehigh Valley by yacht rock — the soft rock cover band phenomenon.
Yacht Lobsters, which plays retro-rock from 1970s and '80 acts such as Steely Dan, the Doobie Brothers, Hall & Oates and Toto, performed at Musikfest Cafe at SteelStacks in Bethlehem in January.
And at least three other yacht rock shows are scheduled for the Lehigh Valley in coming months.
On June 19, Alysha Brill, who was one of the first self-produced female artists in Canadian history to receive a Juno Award nomination for her 2013 debut album "In My Head," will perform at the Levitt.
She has played prestigious folk and jazz festivals and released six albums.
Tribute shows, festivals
Throughout the Levitt season there also will be five tribute shows — the same as last year.
They are tributes to Zac Brown Band (Uncaged, May 25), Tom Petty (Damn The Torpedoes, June 12), Bruce Springsteen (The BRUCE Show, July 4), ABBA (Dancing Dream, Aug. 16) and The Cars (The Side Cars, Sept. 25).
In what seems like a wink of a programming decision, July 4 again will have The Allentown Band return for a concert of patriotic music from 5:30-7 p.m., but then the night will offer a second show with The BRUCE Show Springsteen tribute 8:30-10 p.m. ("Born in the U.S.A.," get it?)
The series also again will include music festivals.
Next Gen Live, a modern music festival that provides a stage for the next generation of performing artists, such as School of Rock Easton's Bank Street Band, will be noon-7p.m. May 18.
On June 27-28, ¡Sabor! Latin Festival — shrunk from three days in recent years — will bring Latin heritage and Hispanic culture to the Levitt lawn.
The first night will feature A Tribute to the Women of Salsa by Celeste La Fiera, and closing night an evening of Plena — music and dance native to Ponce, Puerto Rico, with
folk group Plena Libre.
On Saturday, July 5, Levitt Pavilion will be the main stage for the fourth year of One Earth ReggaeFest, a 14-hour (noon-2 a.m.) celebration of the musical genre founded in Jamaica.
It will feature a dozen musical acts, among them Eli-Mac.
The headliner will be Los Angeles roots-reggae band Arise Roots, which has been together 15 years and released six albums and EPs, at 9 p.m.
(ReggaeFest also will include a free screening of "One Love," the Bob Marley documentary, at noon at Frank Banko Alehouse Cinema in the ArtsQuest Center.)
On July 18-19, Levitt Pavilion SteelStacks will be the site of Blast Furnace Blues Festival, headlined by one of the most honored blues singers of the 21st century, Shemekia Copeland.
Copeland, who will headline the second night, this year was nominated for three Grammy Awards and four Blues Music Awards.
Headlining July 18 will be blues rock band Indigenous, which has had three discs reach the Top 5 on the Blues Albums chart.
And for 11 days in early August, Levitt Pavilion SteelStacks will become AmericaPlatz at Bethlehem's Musikfest festival.
Later highlights: Local favorites
New York indie band MELT, whose video for its 2017 song "Sour Candy" went viral on Reddit, pushing the song to No. 5 on the Billboard Viral 50 chart, will perform July 24.
Later in August, the Levitt will feature Valley blues guitarist Craig Thatcher, who in 2014 headlined Musikfest when ZZ Top canceled at the last moment. He will take the stage Aug. 28.
“There’s always a buzz of excitement at our Season Reveal when we announce the incredible performers coming out to the Levitt SteelStacks lawn, and this year is no exception.”Levitt SteelStacks Board Chairwoman Erin Zebertavage
On Aug. 29, Alex Cunningham will perform.
Since her appearance on "American Song Contest," Cunningham wrote and recorded a folk album with Eric Bazilian of the Philadelphia band The Hooters.
She's also performed in Philadelphia pop-punk band The Sugar Pops.
Lehigh Valley local favorites Atlassian, whose website says had more than 100,000 plays over Spotify and Apple in their first year alone and received millions of video plays from their viral video on TikTok, will play Sept. 12.
And The Aardvarks will close the Levitt Pavilion SteelStacks season for the third year in a row.
“I’m incredibly proud of the treasure we have in Bethlehem with Levitt SteelStacks," Levitt SteelStacks Board Chairwoman Erin Zebertavage said.
"Now entering our 15th season, this concert series continues to bring our community together through the power and joy of free, live music — nearly 50 performances spanning genres from salsa to zydeco, indie rock to reggae and everything in between.
“There’s always a buzz of excitement at our Season Reveal when we announce the incredible performers coming out to the Levitt SteelStacks lawn, and this year is no exception.”
Concerts at Levitt Pavilion
Here’s a list of the full season:
- Friday, May 16, Couch, Indie
- Saturday, May 17, Nathan Graham, Blues
- Sunday, May 18, Next Gen Live, Youth Outreach
- Thursday, May 22, Barney Cortez, Indie
- Friday, May 23, Sinkane, Pop Funk
- Saturday, May 24, Chloe Kimes, Americana
- Sunday, May 25, Uncaged: Zac Brown Band Tribute
- Thursday, May 29, Glitterfox, Alternative
- Friday, May 30, Carly Moffa, Pop
- Saturday, May 31, Oh He Dead, R&B/Soul
- Thursday, June 5, Yacht Lobsters, Party
- Friday, June 6, Little Misty, Folk
- Saturday, June 7, Riley Clemmons, Christian Rock
- Thursday, June 12, Damn the Torpedoes: Tom Petty Tribute
- Friday, June 13, Sierra Green and The Giants, Blues
- Saturday, June 14, Smooth Edge Band, R&B/Cover
- Thursday, June 19, Alysha Brilla, Folk, World
- Friday, June 20, Coyote Island, Reggae
- Saturday, June 21, TAE & The Neighborly, R&B, Pop
- Thursday, June 26, The Greeting Committee, Alternative
- Friday, June 27, A Tribute to the Women of Salsa by Celeste La Fiera, Salsa (Sabor! Festival)
- Saturday, June 28, Plena Libre Latin, Plena (Sabor! Festival)
- Thursday, July 3, Paul McDonald and the Mourning Doves, Roots
- Friday, July 4, The Allentown Band (5:30-7 p.m.), Patriotic (4th of July Celebration)
- Friday, July 4, The BRUCE Show (8:30-10 p.m.) Bruce Springsteen Tribute (4th of July Celebration)
- Saturday, July 5, Arise Roots (9-10:30 p.m.), Reggae (One Earth ReggaeFest)
- Thursday, July 10, Winyah Rock, pop
- Friday, July 11, Coral Moons, Indie
- Saturday, July 12, Copilot, Rock/pop
- Thursday, July 17, Ocean Avenue Stompers, Funk/Brass
- Friday, July 18, Indigenous, Blues (Blast Furnace Blues Festival)
- Saturday, July 19, Shemekia Copeland, Blues (Blast Furnace Blues Festival)
- Thursday, July 24, MELT, Indie
- Friday, July 25, Durieux, Alternative/Soul
- Saturday, July 26, Nathan and the Zydeco Cha-Cha's, Zydeco
- Friday, Aug.15, Joanne Shaw Taylor, Blues
- Saturday, Aug. 16, Dancing Dream, ABBA Tribute
- Thursday, Aug. 21, House of Hamil, Celtic folk
- Friday, Aug. 22, Cristina Vane Country, Blues
- Saturday, Aug. 23, DuPont Brass, Hip Hop, Brass
- Thursday, Aug. 28, Craig Thatcher Band, Blues, Rock
- Friday, Aug. 29, Alexis Cunningham, Alternative, Folk
- Saturday, Aug. 30, Young Dubliners, Celtic
- Sunday, Aug. 31, Gentlemen Brawlers, Funk
- Friday, Sept. 5, The Side Cars Band, A Tribute to The Cars
- Saturday, Sept. 6, Joy and the Wildfire, Indie Rock
- Friday, Sept. 12, Atlassian, Indie Rock
- Saturday, Sept. 13, The Aardvarks, Party/Cover
