The Archer Music Hall, coming to Allentown, may have first concert booked

BETHLEHEM, Pa. — The Archer Music Hall, the new concert venue being built in downtown Allentown, may finally have its first concert booked.

On Monday, Cavalera, a gold-record-selling metal band from Brazil that has also placed three albums on Billboard's Top 200 Albums chart, announced its latest tour.

Its flier lists a March 8 show at The Archer, which developers have called a state-of-the-art entertainment venue at 935-939 Hamilton St.

Also on the bill will be thrash metal act Dead Heat and death metal band Necrot.

The tour will feature Cavalera performing songs from its early releases as Sepultura, which also featured Cavalera members brothers Max and Igor Cavalera.

From 1993-2017, Sepultura produced nine albums that charted in the Top 50 on the U.S. Album and Independent Albums charts.

The Archer's website says the venue plans to open in "early 2025." Officials previously said it would open in February.

But The Archer website does not list the Cavalera show — nor any shows, for that matter. Nor do ticket sites Ticketmaster nor Live Nation, whichwill book and operate The Archer.

Even the Cavalera official website doesn't list the show, but lists shows nearby — at Mr. Smalls Theatre in Millvale, Allegheny County on March 7 and March 9 in Boston.

Live Nation would not confirm the booking.

In a statement, The Archer said, "We are ready to bring live music to Archer Music Hall and look forward to welcoming fans downtown to enjoy an incredible club in early 2025.

"We are also excited to bring a diverse line up of artists to Archer and will share more details in the coming weeks."

Smaller show for a big venue?

While Cavalera is a successful band, it doesn't seem to be the level of show that would have the impact to kick off a highly touted new venue such as The Archer.

The 31,000-square-foot music hall “will attract a diverse slate of touring artists to the Lehigh Valley,” Live Nation has said.

The Archer will have a main performance space that officials have said will have a 1,600-capacity main room and a 500-capacity venue called Arrow inside Archer Music Hall.

The Archer developers City Center Group has said it plans to present three or four shows by national touring acts each week at The Archer.

Officials have said it’s designed to attract events too small for the nearby PPL Center, which can hold about 10,000 people.

“Archer Music Hall will be a world-class concert venue, unlike anything in the region, so it’s fitting that the worldwide leader in live entertainment, Live Nation, will operate the venue," said J.B. Reilly, president of City Center Group, which is building the venue.

Reilly told LehighValleyNews.com in 2023 that The Archer could sell more than 240,000 tickets a year. That would make it one of the busiest clubs of its size in the United States.

Success as Sepultura

From 1986-2020, Sepultura released 15 albums, with its fourth disc, 1991's "Arise," the first to chart in the United States, hitting No. 119.

Its next two discs — 1993's "Chaos A.D." and 1996's "Roots," both charted in the U.S. Top 40 and reached gold record sales.

Its 2001 disc "Nation" peaked at No. 4 on the U.S. Independent chart and 2017's "Machine Messiah" at No. 11.

The band was one of the featured musical guests at the Latin Grammy Awards in 2008.

Its most recent disc was 2020's "Quadra," which failed to chart in the United States.

In 2022, the group adopted the name Cavalera to release rerecorded editions of Sepultura albums.

The Cavalera tour kicks off Feb. 19 in Arizona and hits cities including Los Angeles, Chicago, Brooklyn and Dallas before wrapping up March 20 in Phoenix.