Top 5 Concerts of the Coming Week - Lehigh Valley Music Blog

Here are the Top 5 Concerts of the coming week:

1 . PINK

Pink has come a long way since her days as Alecia Moore at Doylestown’s Central Bucks West High School.

In a career that has seen her sell 12 million copies of her previous albums, her last two — 2008’s “Funhouse” and September’s “The Truth About Love,” have been her highest-charting, with the latter being her first No. 1 disc. Together, they’ve yielded six Top 10 songs, with the current “Just Give Me a reason” headed there, too.

But more than that, her recent songs — “Sober,” “Perfect” and “Try” — have simply been the best of her career, lyrically and musically deeper and more thoughtful than anything else she’s done.

7:30 p.m. Sunday, with City and Colour, Wells Fargo Center, 3501 Broad St., Philadelphia. Sold out; tickets available on secondary markets.

800-745-3000, www.ticketmaster.com.

2 .  SCOTT WEILAND

On Feb. 27, Stone Temple Pilots sent an email saying, simply, the group had “officially terminated Scott Weiland.”

The singer, who also was frontman for the super group Velvet Revolver (that apparently doesn’t want anything to do with him, either), says STP’s announcement was a ruse, and that he’ll be back with that group soon.

Who’s right? What does it really matter anyway? In his current tour, Weiland’s playing STP’s first two albums, “Core” and “Purple,” in their entirety, and reviews have him playing inspired covers: David Bowie’s “The Jean Genie,” Jane’s Addiction’s “Mountain Song” and The Doors’ “Roadhouse Blues.”

8 p.m. Thursday, Sands Bethlehem Event Center, Sands Casino Resort. $39.50 general admission standing. www.sandseventcenter.com, 800-745-3000.

3. GLEN MATLOCK AND SYLVAIN SYLVAIN

Who were the fathers of punk rock? Was it The Ramones, who first started playing songs of fast, fun, rock ’n’ roll that named the genre with its song “Judy is a Punk” and indoctrinated the U.K. with shows on July 4, 1976? Or was it The Sex Pistols, who started a year later but became far more famous and had equal influence?

                                                 Glen Matlock

Fans could have argued it at a show featuring Sex Pistols bassist Glen Matlock and Ramones drummer Tommy Ramone. But Ramone, who’s ill, has dropped out. Replacing him is Sylvain Sylvain, guitarist for The New York Dolls, a group that started in 1971 and adds a new level to the argument about punk’s genesis.

5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Crocodile Rock Cafe, Allentown. Tickets $15 adv., $20 door. www.crocodilerockcafe.com, 610-434-4600.

After-party, 9:30 p.m. Molton Lounge, Sands Casino Resort, Bethlehem.

4. RIHANNA

As if Rihanna needed more intrigue to draw interest to her latest concert tour.

It’s not enough that her apparent recent reunion with domestic abuser Chris Brown has caused enough of an uproar, Rihanna has postponed the last two shows on her latest tour, saying she had laryngitis. Word, though, is that she’ll  be recovered for tonight’s [Thursday’s] concert.

What else? Oh, yeah – her last three singles went Top 5: “Diamonds” (No. 1), “Stay” and “Where Have You Been?” Seems despite all those distractions, or maybe because of them, he music is as popular as ever.

Guess that’s why her latest gold, No. 1 disc is called “Unapologetic.”

6:30 p.m. March 15, Wells Fargo Center, 3501 Broad St., Philadelphia. Sold out; tickets available on secondary markets.

800-745-3000, www.ticketmaster.com.

 

 

5. EMBLEM3

Emblem3 finished fourth on FOX-TV's "The X Factor" last December. But it should have been obvious that, with Simon Cowell's mentorship -- and his high interest-- that wouldn't be the end of the group.

Cowell signed the trio -- Wesley Stromberg, 19, his younger brother Keaton, 16, and their best friend Drew Chadwick, 20, to his Syco Music and Columbia Records three weeks after the show ended.

Now they're selling out shows across the United States, starting with fans sleeping overnight to get tickets for the Feb. 27 Los Angeles show. Their East Coast tour kicks off in Philadelphia on March 20, with all six dates so far sold out.

No wonder. Their debut single, "Thank You" is great boy-band pop, but with social conscious lyrics a step above most of the genre.

7 p.m. March 20, Theatre of Living Arts, 334 South St., Philadelphia. Sold out, but tickets available from secondary markets. www.livenation.com, 215-922-1011.