When The Great Allentown Fair announced its first \u201cLocal Legends Live\u201d show this year, it noted how \u201clocal music and its passionate fan base have long been a cornerstone of the Lehigh Valley community \u2026 bringing people together through shared experiences.\u201d<\/p>\n
The eight-hour, mini-music festival on the Fair\u2019s Service Electric Grandstand Stage Sept. 6 did that, collecting an audience that seemed to represent fans of all six of the acts: The Aardvarks, Scott Marshall & The Highway Souls, Strange Culture, Common Bond, Stereotype and Social Call.<\/p>\n
More than that, \u201cLocal Legends Live\u201d seemed to be a celebration of local music acts. The day was filled not only with strong performances, but with compliments and good will from all of the performers who took the stage, and recognition of the accomplishment of playing the Fair\u2019s main stage.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a dream come – – – – – – – true,\u201d Larry Werner, guitarist, vocalist with the band Social Call, said from the stage. \u201cMy buddy asked me how long it took me to get here. I was going to say 15 minutes, but, no, it took me 40 – – – – – – – years.\u201d<\/p>\n
That kind of appreciation imbued the performers, whom all seemed to be pushing themselves to give strong efforts.<\/p>\n
On what turned out to be a virtually perfect weather day, alt-rock, nu metal, metalcore band Strange Culture kicked off the show to a light crowd, perhaps 125.<\/p>\n
The track part of the Grandstand was set up with 32 tables of 10 seats each, with a large \u201cpit\u201d space between, mirroring the setup in a performance hall or club that the bands likely often play.<\/p>\n
For the early acts in the lineup, about half the audience chose to be seated in the spacious grandstand, which offered shade from a brilliant sun.<\/p>\n
Perhaps as much as the audience, Strange Culture clearly enjoyed being on the Grandstand stage.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been thinking and dreaming about being on this stage since I was about five-years- old,\u201d singer Nick Schubert told the audience before the song \u201cLooking Glass,\u201d which chugged along like a Led Zeppelin number.<\/p>\n
The crowd, while small and distant, also was enthusiastic.<\/p>\n
Strange Culture was followed by Common Bond with a pleasant and accessible 50-minute set of songs by Lynyrd Skynyrd and others.<\/p>\n
Scott Marshall, who performed with his eight-member band Highway Souls, during its set called out all the bands to note the diversity of the music at \u201cLocal Legends Live.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRight here at Allentown Fair; who would have thought,\u201d Marshall said. \u201cA little bit of country, a whole lot of rock \u2018n\u2019 roll.\u201d<\/p>\n
Marshall, too, raved about playing the Grandstand stage.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember growing up all those years [thinking] \u2018One day, maybe, one day maybe,\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cWell, today\u2019s the day!\u201d<\/p>\n
The audience had grown to about 200 people in the Grandstand and on the track as Marshall and Hillbilly Souls played songs such as Dire Straits\u2019 \u201cWalk of Life,\u201d into which he inserted references to Allentown.<\/p>\n
By then, the communal atmosphere of the festival had developed: people at the tables talking, sharing stories about the bands. People also had started gathering in the pits, again, as if in a club, to be closer to the bands.<\/p>\n
A few songs into Social Call\u2019s set, some had begun to dance to Jet\u2019s \u201cAre You Gonna Be My Girl.\u201d<\/p>\n
By the time Social Call\u2019s set had finished near 7 p.m., the crowd had begun shifting from the Grandstand to the track, with more than 50 in the pit and 100 seated at the tables. Throughout the day, the audience likely didn\u2019t exceed 250.<\/p>\n
When popular Lehigh Valley cover band Stereotype, which specializes in classic hard rock and hair metal, took the stage with The Scorpions\u2019 \u201cRock You Like a Hurricane,\u201d the sun had begun sinking low, and the atmosphere turned even more into a party.<\/p>\n
By nighttime, people were dancing and crowding the stage, as they do in the best club shows in the Lehigh Valley.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat a great honor it is to be out here rocking with you people,\u201d Stereotype singer Mike Stanley told the audience.<\/p>\n
\u201cLocal Legends Live\u201d concluded with a set by longtime Lehigh Valley favorite party band The Aardvarks, who just a month ago had a well-attended show at Musikfest and who play the closing weekend Sept. 11 at Levitt Pavilion SteelStacks, Bethlehem.<\/p>\n
In a set that included Billy Idol\u2019s \u201cRebel Yell\u201d; Earth, Wind & Fire\u2019s \u201cSeptember,\u201d and Simple Minds\u2019 \u201cDon\u2019t You Forget About Me,\u201d Aardvarks singer Mike Rauscher captured the camaraderie of the day.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe got here for Stereotype and we shouldn\u2019t have to follow them,\u201d Rauscher said. \u201cAll of them. This is a treat.\u201d<\/p>\n
PRESS PHOTO BY SHERI BAYNESocial Call, \u201cLocal Legends Live,\u201d Sept. 6, Service Electric Grandstand Stage, The Great Allentown Fair.<\/p>\n
PRESS PHOTO BY SHERI BAYNEVocalist Nick Schubert of Strange Culture, \u201cLocal Legends Live,\u201d Sept. 6, Grandstand Stage, Allentown Fair.<\/p>\n
PRESS PHOTO BY SHERI BAYNEVocalist, guitarist Warren Parks of Common Bond, \u201cLocal Legends Live,\u201d Sept. 6, Grandstand Stage, Allentown Fair.<\/p>\n
PRESS PHOTO BY SHERI BAYNEVocalist, guitarist Scott Marshall of Scott Marshall and the Highway Souls, \u201cLocal Legends Live,\u201d Sept. 6, Grandstand Stage, Allentown Fair.<\/p>\n
PRESS PHOTO BY SHERI BAYNEVocalist Mike Stanley of Stereotype, \u201cLocal Legends Live,\u201d Sept. 6, Grandstand Stage, Allentown Fair.<\/p>\n
PRESS PHOTO BY SHERI BAYNEVocalist, guitarist Mike Rauscher of The Aardvarks, \u201cLocal Legends Live,\u201d Sept. 6, Grandstand Stage, Allentown Fair.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When The Great Allentown Fair announced its first \u201cLocal Legends Live\u201d show this year, it noted how \u201clocal…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":281759,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[119,121,120],"class_list":["post-281758","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-allentown","tag-allentown","tag-allentown-headlines","tag-allentown-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281758","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=281758"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281758\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/281759"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=281758"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=281758"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=281758"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}