ALLENTOWN, Pa. — For months now, developers and operators of The Archer Music Hall in downtown Allentown have said it will open in February.
If that's still the case, operators Live Nation very soon should be announcing the venue's first shows. It's hard to have successful concerts, especially big ones, with less than a month of ticket sales.
Of course, LehighValleyNews.com revealed that gold-selling Brazilian metal band Cavalera had announced a March 8 show at The Archer as part of its new tour.
But that's not until March, and it takes far more than one concert to get a venue up and running.
For example, when Musikfest Cafe at ArtsQuest Center at SteelStacks in Bethlehem opened in 2011, it had more than 65 shows scheduled.
The Archer, with its 1,600-capacity main performance space and 500-capacity venue called Arrow inside, has said it will present three or four shows by national touring acts each week.
Top acts for first shows
When other Lehigh Valley venues celebrated their openings, all had top acts to make a big first impact.
Going back more than 25 years, the former Crocodile Rock Cafe began its life in downtown Allentown with a July 30, 1999, concert by Julian Lennon — son of Beatle John Lennon, who then had a platinum debut album and five Top 10 hits.
In its first two months, Croc Rock — which had a standing-only capacity of 1,100 — offered platinum-selling hard rockers Firehouse and Fuel, radio rocker Eddie Money and Blues Traveler.
Musikfest Cafe opened in April 2011 with an invitation-only show by rocker Steve Miller.
The 1,100-capacity standing (550-seated) venue then had prog rockers Yes singer Jon Anderson, acoustic guitar maestro Leo Kottke and blues rock icon John Mayall in its first three weeks.
Wind Creek Event Center, with a standing capacity (3,500) more than twice the size of The Archer, opened as Sands Bethlehem Event Center in May 2012 with alt-rockers Incubus as its first show.
In its first week, the event center added pop-punk band blink-182, The Beach Boys 50th anniversary reunion tour and country superstar Alan Jackson.
And Allentown's PPL Center — which with a 10,000-person capacity for concerts is more than six times the size of The Archer — opened with Rock and Roll Hall of Fame band The Eagles.
It quickly added Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Cher (who canceled) and Judas Priest.
So it's very likely The Archer will open with some big names to attract immediate attention.
Who won't play The Archer — and who could
So who would be a good act for the first show at The Archer?
Think of acts that are a bit too big to normally play the venue, but not too big to come here to make a one-time big statement.
There are artists with obvious connections to the Lehigh Valley who fans here would love to see.
There's Taylor Swift, a native of Berks County who, back in February 2007, played at Crocodile Rock Cafe and later opened for Brad Paisley at Allentown Fair. But she's playing stadiums now and is way too big.
There's also Sabrina Carpenter, who grew up in Lower Milford Township and played at Bethlehem's Musikfest. But with two of the Top 10 songs this year ("Espresso" and "Please Please Please") and a tour that sold out Philadelphia's Wells Fargo Center, she's also way too big.
But Carpenter's chief rival for this year's “Big Four” Grammy Awards (Best New Artist, Album of the Year, Record of the Year and Song of the Year) would seem a perfect fit.
That's fellow pop songstress Chappell Roan, whose 2023's debut album "The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess" sold platinum and peaked at No. 2, with double- and triple-platinum hits with "Hot to Go!" and "Good Luck Babe!"
Roan is still playing venues such as the 2,500-capacity The Fillmore Philly.
Another possible fit would be Finneas, the producer/brother of Billie Eilish (who's also too big to play here).
Finneas has had a couple of gold hits — "Till Forever Falls Apart (With Ashe)" and "Nobody Like U" (with 4*Town) — and a year ago also played The Fillmore Philly.
But perhaps we've already gotten a hint at the first act.
When developers announced plans for The Archer, architectural renderings show the venue with a street marquee listing an upcoming show by The Hold Steady, a Brooklyn, N.Y.-based indie rock band.
The Hold Steady has been a critical fav for years, and with good reason. It has had three Top 30 albums, and its 2006 disc “Boys and Girls in America” is a masterpiece.
The group played a near-sellout show at Musikfest Cafe in 2012.
5 great shows The Archer could get
There also are some acts great acts that have proven they could be great fits for The Archer — because they've played the Lehigh Valley. And some are Pennsylvania natives.
1. Halestorm — The Grammy Award-winning rock band that produced the platinum hit "I Miss the Misery" and which is tied (with the Pretty Reckless) for the most No. 1 singles by a female rock artist or female-fronted rock band, started in York County, and played Crocodile Rock many times on its way up. It last played the Lehigh Valley opening for Alice Cooper at PPL Center in 2019. It had a No. 1 Mainstream Rock hit in 2024 with "Can U See Me In the Dark?" (with I Prevail) and is working on a new album.
2. The Hooters — Philadelphia roots-rock band The Hooters opened the huge Live Aid concert in 1985 and had the hits “All You Zombies,” “And We Danced” and “Day By Day.” They played the Lehigh Valley frequently on their way up, and are still around — theyplay Quakertown's Univest Performance Center each year and in 2016 sold out Bethlehem's Levitt Pavilion SteelStacks. (And they were the first act when Ardmore Music Hall in Delaware County opened in 2013, and returned for a three-night stand for the 10th anniversary in 2023.)
3. The Menzingers — Another Pennsylvania band (they're from Scranton and now are based in Philadelphia), they drew a near-sellout crowd to Musikfest Cafe in 2018. Their 2019 album "Hello Exile" hit Billboard’s Top 100 Artists chart. They're touring this spring with Dropkick Murphys.
4. The Struts — The Struts have no Pennsylvania connection, except that every time the British glam rockers have played the area, they've been great. Their sold-out 2018 show at Musikfest Cafe is probably that venue's best show in its 14-year history. They had two Top 15 albums and the 2013 platinum hit "Could Have Been Me."
5. Andrew McMahon — Andrew McMahon has had success with his bands Something Corporate (Top 30 song "If U C Jordan") and Jack's Mannequin (the gold hit "Dark Blue" and Top 10 albums "The Glass Passenger" and "People and Things") and as a solo act has had two Top 10 Alternative hits — "Cecilia and the Satellite" and "Fire Escape." He sold out Crocodile Rock several times, and Musikfest Cafe in 2013.
Now it's your turn: Tell us who you would like to see play at The Archer.
