Late Summer & Fall Events

TAPE SWAP RADIO STAGE AT ALLENTOWN ARTSFEST

Friday, Sep. 29 - Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017
Cedar Beach Park - Allentown, PA

Tape Swap Radio returns with our own stage at Allentown ArtsFest 2017. We will have three days of free concerts open to the public (and under a tent). We'll be featuring many of the bands that recorded recent sessions and a few new favorites as well.

 

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LIBRARY AFTER HOURS II WITH CALVIN JOHNSON

Selector Dub Narcotic
Secret Cities
VoirVoir

Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2017 - 8 PM
Bethlehem Area Public Library

Legendary Beat Happening frontman and K Records founder Calvin Johnson brings his new band, Selector Dub Narcotic, to our second "Library After Hours" show at the Bethlehem Area Public Library.

Supporting is NYC/D.C. psych pop band Secret Cities and Bethlehem indie rockers VoirVoir playing their first full-band show in over a year. 

All Ages, 21+ to drink.
$10; $8 with valid student ID.
Proceeds benefit the bands and the library.

Ticket Pre-Sale
All pre-sale orders include a free 11x17 show poster!

This Way to the Egress

Bethlehem, PA's This Way to the Egress can only begin to be described as a concoction of gypsy, vaudeville, punk rock, and circus music. Even that description doesn't do them justice. Maybe a better way to put it is, they are simultaneously the circus' main attraction and P.T. Barnum's outlandish showmanship rolled into one. The Lehigh Valley showmen and women admit they did the usual band trajectory backwards, starting with hitting the road soon after forming in 2008 and only recently focusing on building a solid local prescence to grow roots in their hometown. With Egress' fourth studio album, Onward! Up a Frightening Creek, set to be released in September 2017, the band is making strides to grow those local roots, performing at at a slew of LV venues in the summer and fall of 2017 including the new One Centre Square venue in Easton, The Funhouse in Bethlehem, Allentown ArtsFest, and this session for Tape Swap Radio recorded in June 2017.

This session marks Tape Swap Radio's first Rooftop Session and we're thrilled to be able to bring bands up to the roof of the four-story Cigar Factory building in Allentown. The building is home to the Alternative Gallery, Coffee House without Limits, Inkhound Press, and more. The Cigar Factory has been host to a lot of live music in the LV's DIY community throughout the 90's and early 2000's, so it is fortuitous that our project has ended up on the roof of this same building. Roots run deep.

Bethlehem, PA band This Way to the Egress performing live on the Cigar Factory's roof in Allentown, PA for Tape Swap Radio in June 2017. This session aired on WDIY 88.1 FM (Lehigh Valley's Community NPR Station) on July 14, 2017.

Bethlehem, PA band This Way to the Egress performing live on the Cigar Factory's roof in Allentown, PA for Tape Swap Radio in June 2017. This session aired on WDIY 88.1 FM (Lehigh Valley's Community NPR Station) on July 14, 2017.

Bethlehem, PA band This Way to the Egress performing live on the Cigar Factory's roof in Allentown, PA for Tape Swap Radio in June 2017. This session aired on WDIY 88.1 FM (Lehigh Valley's Community NPR Station) on July 14, 2017.

Bethlehem, PA band This Way to the Egress performing live on the Cigar Factory's roof in Allentown, PA for Tape Swap Radio in June 2017. This session aired on WDIY 88.1 FM (Lehigh Valley's Community NPR Station) on July 14, 2017.

An interview with Bethlehem, PA band This Way to the Egress on the Cigar Factory's roof in Allentown, PA for Tape Swap Radio in June 2017. This session aired on WDIY 88.1 FM (Lehigh Valley's Community NPR Station) on July 14, 2017.

1. What Do You Want? (0:03)
2. Mark of the Beast (4:21)
3. See No Evil (8:14)
4. Southbound (11:52)
5. Interview (16:33)
6. Band Pick: The Ford Theatre Reunion - New American Standard (25:33)

The Ford Theatre Reunion (Band Pick):
http://www.thefordtheatrereunion.com/

This Way to the Egress:
http://thiswaytotheegress.com/

Announcing: Tape Swap Radio's Rooftop Sessions

We'd like to introduce you to a new live series that Tape Swap Radio will be launching on Friday, July 14, 2017 called "Rooftop Sessions". We've partnered with The Alternative Gallery to record original live sessions on the roof of the four-story Cigar Factory building in Allentown. The Rooftop Sessions will feature HD video including aerial drone footage courtesy of our friend George Wacker.

Our first Rooftop Session is with Lehigh Valley gypsy/vaudeville/punk-inspired band This Way to the Egress and is set to premiere this Friday on WDIY 88.1 FM with video available online on Sunday, July 16th. The next ‘Rooftop Session’ will feature up-and coming Wilkes-Barre indie rock band Doghouse Charlie & The Buck Knife, set to premiere in August.

The Alternative Gallery director and Cigar Factory building superintendent, Brandon Wunder, has worked with Tape Swap Radio in the past and will be allowing Tape Swap exclusive access for recording on the Cigar Factory's roof.

“This project is the culmination of several years of collaborative foundation building efforts by Tape Swap Radio, the Alternative Gallery, and an assortment of unique creators in the area. Setting the performances against Allentown’s changing skyline serves as the perfect metaphor for the strengthening of the arts in our area. These sessions are a special way to exhibit the vibrant art and music community in the Lehigh Valley and literally raise them to a new platform.”

— Brandon Wunder, The Alternative Gallery

“[The Cigar Factory] is a building with deep roots in the Lehigh Valley’s music scene. From touring bands to local bands, the walls of this building have seen a lot of live music throughout the 90’s and early 2000’s. I think it’s interesting that a project like this would find a home on the roof of this particular building.”

— Matt Molchany, Tape Swap Radio

“We’re always looking for new and exciting ways to showcase the music of the Lehigh Valley’s thriving D.I.Y. and independent music scene. We’re hoping that our Rooftop Sessions will expose these bands to a wider audience.”

— Shamus McGroggan, Tape Swap Radio

Other fourth anniversary initiatives launched by Tape Swap Radio include a redesigned website which will now serve as an archive for all 40+ sessions that Tape Swap Radio has recorded over the past four years, a quarterly zine documenting the Lehigh Valley music scene which will debut at LV Zine Fest on August 19th at 2nd Base Vintage in Easton, and a new season of bands recorded at the Shards recording studio in Bethlehem. Guests for Tape Swap Radio’s upcoming ‘Shards Sessions’ include Lehigh Valley bands Bad American, Poor Luther’s Bones, Daytime Cleaners, Small Mess, Goodnight Stars Goodnight Air, and more.

Tape Swap Presents July Shows

Tape Swap Radio's 4th anniversary kicked off last month with a handful off new projects. One of our efforts has been the expansion our Tape Swap Presents concert series. We want to be able to bring you more live events at more venues in the Lehigh Valley. To help make that happen, we are excited to begin working more closely with two great musicians and all-around good people, Eddie Mackavage and Andrew Rutledge. Eddie has already been helping out with Tape Swap operations, so we are glad to have him aboard in a much bigger capacity. Eddie plays in Lehigh Valley bands Georgia Foreman and Swimmer's Lungs. Andrew is new to the Tape Swap team. He plays in LV bands Doctor Ransom and Blood Moon.

We have three July shows lined up in Bethlehem:

Saturday, July 15, 2017
The Funhouse

• Doctor Ransom
• Small Mess
• Georgia Foreman
• Blood Moon

10:00 PM - 1:30 AM
Cover Charge TBA
21+

Event page

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Thursday July 27, 2017
Lit Roastery & Bakeshop

• Small Mess
• Beach Bod

Doors: 6:00 PM; Music: 6:30 PM
$3 to $5 donation for bands
All ages

Event page

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Friday, July 28, 2017
The Ice House

• Matt Kelly
• Poor Luther's Bones
• The Wildings

Doors: 7 PM; Music: 8 PM
$10; $8 with current student ID
Proceeds benefit Allentown ArtsFest 2017
All ages; 21+ to drink

Complimentary cup of beer or wine with admission plus free pizza and snacks while they last

Event page