Here are the Top 5 Concerts of the Coming Week:
1. PAULA ABDUL
Paula Abdul, who is on her first solo tour in 25 years, was to have played Sands Bethlehem Event Center on Oct. 23, but postponed the concert for “an unforeseen scheduling conflict” (ahem) two days after falling head-first off stage in Biloxi, Miss.
Whatever the reason the Sands show was pushed off, a month later it’s still a show worth seeing.
It will be the first headliner appearance in the Lehigh Valley in 26 years for Abdul, 56, whose first two albums sold a total of 10 million in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
She has had seven No. 1 hits, including “Straight Up” and “Opposites Attract.”
7 p.m. FridayNov.23, Sands Bethlehem Event Center, 77 Sands Blvd. Tickets: $45-$59.50,. www.sandsevententer.com, 800-745-3000.
2. GENERATION AXE
Rock guitar gods can be a solitary sort, and that can be expected, with the egos needed to lead a band and attack your instrument, knowing all eyes are on you.
But the guitarist super group Generation Axe moves beyond that to bring the collective best of roaring riffs and runs.
Oh, with Steve Vai, Zakk Wylde, Yngwie Malmsteen, Nuno Bettencourt and Tosin Abisi on the lineup, there still will be moments aplenty of grandstand guitar-playing.
But there will also be moments of stringed synergy during the show.
Read an interview with Vai in Friday Go Guide.
8 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 27, Sands Bethlehem Event Center, 77 Sands Blvd. Tickets: $45-$69. www.sandsevententer.com, 800-745-3000.
3. THE MENZINGERS
In recent times, punk bands gravitated toward two styles — speedy thrash and Ramones-style poppy punk. But the style that pushed punk to the masses, all but missing today, was that of The Clash: also fast and hard, but with a deeper musical sensibility and lyrical content.
What if The Clash had been around long enough to grow up and mature? Hear Scranton punk natives The Menzingers. The group packs the best of The Clash’s melody-driven punk with an added life perspective.
Its single from May “Toy Soldier,” is full of roaring righteous anger at losing friends in today’s messed-up world. Welcome back, spirit of Clash.
7 p.m. Saturday, Nov.24, with Tiny Moving Parts and Daddy Issues, Union Transfer, Philadelphia. Sold out, re-sale tickets available. www.utphilly.com, 215-232-2100.
4. KRIS ALLEN
Kris Allen was really the first “American Idol” winner to take the bloom off the rose.
When he won the eighth season of the show in 2009, fans and even the music establishment never really forgave him for beating Adam Lambert.
He had a Top 20 single with “Live Like We’re Dying,” but his debut disc failed to hit the Top 10, and after one more disc, his record label dropped him.
But Allen has soldiered on. He’s released three more discs, the most recent of which was “Somethin’ About Christmas” in 2016. He’s now on tour doing a holiday show based on that disc.
8 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 27, with Marielle Kraft, World Café Live, 3025 Walnut St., Philadelphia. Tickets: $28 general admission adv., $30 day of show, $78 VIP with pre-show meet-and-greet. www.worldcafelive.com, 215-222-1400.
5. 3OH!3
When the electronic dance music craze was in its infancy, 3OH!3 mixed it with rap and for a brief moment became huge.
The duo’s 2008 sophomore disc, “Want,” produced the platinum hit “Starstrukk” with Katy Perry and the triple-platinum “Don’t Trust Me,” which broke the overall Top 10.
The fad didn’t last, and 3OH!3’s final flash was the gold, Top 10 “My First Kiss (featuring Kesha)” in 2010, and being featured on Kesha’s platinum “Blah Blah Blah” that same year.
But eight years later, 3OH!3 is still at it.
3OH!3 and Emo Nite, with Lil Aaron, 8 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 24, Underground Arts, 1200 Callowhill St., Philadelphia. Tickets: $22 adv., $25 door,, www.undergroundarts.org.
OTHERS TO CONSIDER:
JASON BONHAM’S LED ZEPPELIN EVENING, 8 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 24, Sands Bethlehem Event Center, 77 Sands Blvd., Bethlehem. Tickets: $29.95, www.sandseventcenter.com, 800-745-3000.
At age 17, Jason Bonham played drums in the band Air Race, which signed with Atlantic Records and opened for Queen, Meat Loaf, Ted Nugent, and AC/DC. Later, he drummed four years with Foreigner. But being the son of legendary Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham, was there ever any other way for Jason Bonham to go than to follow in his footsteps? He was drummer for Led Zeppelin’s last two reunions, and now fronts Jason Bonham’s Led Zeppelin Evening.
