Here are the Top 5 Concerts of the Coming Week:
1.MASTERS OF THE TELECASTER
It’s astonishing to think the commercially successful solid-body guitar has been around since just 1950, when Fender first made the Telecaster.
The Masters of the Telecaster concert will feature three players who have been around for most of that time and played with the era’s top artists.
Stroudsburg native G.E. Smith was leader of the “Saturday Night Live” band and the musical director for the 1986 Live Aid. He’s played on many Hall & Oates hits and albums by Mick Jagger and David Bowie and toured with Bob Dylan and Roger Waters’ “The Wall” tour.
Jim Weider was guitarist for The Band and played with Keith Richards, Dr. John, Paul Butterfield and others.
And Jon Herrington has had success with Steely Dan, Boz Scaggs, Better Midler and Michael McDonald.
8 p.m. Friday Feb.2, Sellersville Theater, 24 W. Temple Ave. Tickets: $29.50 (other areas sold out). www.st94.com, 215-257-5808.
2.LONESOME TRAVELER
Lonesome Traveler: The Concert is the musical performance version of the stage show that told the story of American folk music “from the backwoods of Appalachia to the nightclubs of New York and San Francisco.”
The show celebrates the music of great folk artists, ’20s to the ’60s, such as Woody Guthrie, Lead Belly, Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan, Gordon Lightfoot and more, with a tribute to Leonard Cohen.
One subject is also its star: Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul and Mary. With Yarrow will be eight performers, including vocalists Audrey Martells, who worked with Whitney Houston, Jewel, Britney Spears, Joan Osborne and Steven Van Zandt; Broadway veteran Evan Michael Smith; and Charlotte Morris, whose debut album “To New York, With Love,” is due soon.
8 p.m. Saturday Feb.3, State Theatre, 453 Northampton St., Easton. Tickets: $35, $42, www.statetheatre.org, 800-999-STATE.
3.JUICE
Juice is a seven-member band that performs an amalgamation of rock, R&B, funk and hip-hop — incorporating elements such as electric violin, tight grooves and vocal harmonies that has it sounding like Dave Matthews Band at one moment and jazzy Snarky Puppy the next.
After forming at Boston College in 2014 and conquering Beantown venues, the group since graduating in 2017 has toured the East Coast since graduating in 2017 and opened for acts including DNCE and Ludacris.
In 2016 it won the $20,000 Grand Prize in the Land The Big Gig competition at Summerfest in Milwaukee, and also released its self-titled debut album that year.
8 p.m. Friday Feb.2, Seegers Union, Muhlenberg College, 2400 W. Chew St., Allentown. Free, www.facebook.com/MuhlenbergCollege.
4.JOHN OATES & THE GOOD ROAD BAND
John Oates is, like it or not, the lessor half of the biggest musical duo in history, Hall and Oates. Darryl Hall, as the dominant vocalist of the two, got more attention.
But Oates is far from the proverbial Andrew Ridgeley of Wham! He co-wrote many of the Top 10 songs the duo recorded, including “Sara Smile,” “She’s Gone,” “Out of Touch,” “You Make My Dreams,” “I Can’t Go for That (No Can Do),” “Maneater” and “Adult Education.” He also sang lead vocals on several more singles in the Hot 100, including the duo’s remake of The Righteous Brothers’ “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’.”
With Hall, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He’s also released five solo albums.
8 p.m. Feb. 6, with Nathan Angelo and Sam Burchfield., 8 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 6, World Café Live, 3025 Walnut St., Philadelphia. Tickets: $35-$55, www.worldcafelive.com, 215-222-1400.
5.ABBA MANIA
Tribute acts are never equal to the original artists, of course And love them or hate them ABBA was among the biggest artist of all time.
But that band is long gone, and apparently never to perform again. And its songs still have interest: There’s another movie based on “Mamma Mia” as we speak.
ABBA Mania calls itself the world’s No. 1 touring ABBA production. And it plays all the songs: “Dancing Queen,” “Winner Takes It All” and many more.
7:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 2, State Theatre, 453 Northampton St., Easton. Tickets: $29, 800-999-STATE, www.statetheatre.org.
