Today I take my visiting friends to Philly for their first real cheesesteaks; tonight, however, we party in the Valley (should their stomachs be up to it) and here are some of the places/bands/events/shindigs/hootenannies we're considering:

Leechboy at Stahley's in Allentown: The popular acoustic performer and Merge favorite in one of the longest bars in the Valley- it's also a restaurant with a basic, but good, menu.

Drinky Drinkerson's in Easton: In a totally lame stealing of comic ideas, I've started to call anyone I deem to be especially inebriated Drunky Drunkerson. They've got $3 Long Island Iced Teas every Saturday, though, so I could very well be calling myself Mr. Drunkerson before 9pm.

11 different bands at both the Sterling Hotel and Crocodile Rock in Allentown: It's only a matter of Hamilton Street blocks between these two places, and a quick walk back and forth could get you seeing quite a few local rockers, such as Gotta Get Got, Sinner City, Sedagive (all at the Sterling), Sound the Alarm, the Fold and the Graduate (at Croc Rock). This is if the people at the front are cool with you going back and forth between the venues, which they should be.

V-Day at the Civic Theatre in Allentown: Okay, so this isn't exactly party material and there will not be drinks served, but those looking for a bit headier of an experience will want to check out the Civic's one-night only performance of Eve Ensler's The Vagina Monologues. Tickets are $17, but proceeds go to Turning Point of the Lehigh Valley, one of the local leaders in the fight against domestic abuse. There are obviously numerous performances of the Monologues throughout the region in the coming week, but this is the only one where I know the majority of the actresses (including regular Merge contributors Tesia Nicoli and Melissa Haas) and can say that they will be truly great.

Then again, anyone looking for some real fun should stop my house early tonight to see the looks on my friends' faces as the cheesesteaks they just devoured work their gastronomical magic... I may just have to sell tickets.

-Ryan