| ABN Hot Summer Nights Concert Series | |
|---|---|
 Logo for the 2024 summer concert touring season | |
|
Produced by |
ABN Entertainment |
|
Original run |
May 31, 1965-present |
|
Hosts/Hostesses |
Malcom Ingram - 1965-1982 |
|
Origin |
United States |
|
Production method |
Live over-the-air |
|
Key people |
Ricky Sabana (production consultant) |
|
Producers |
Jerome Bosch (1981-1988) |
|
Directed by |
Kevin Lawrence (online media) |
|
Number of live events |
1568 (since May 2014) (prior to suspended 2020 season) |
|
Number of tape delayed events |
552 (May 2005) |
|
Number of digital video delayed events |
769 (since May 2014) (prior to suspended 2020 season) |
The ABN Hot Summer Nights Concert Series is a summer-long music festival televised on ABN featuring high-profile music artists from across the country and the world abroad. The weekly series begins on the week of Memorial Day in May and ends on the week of Labor Day in September.
It was a concept first conceived by Malcom Ingram, a close co-worker of Jack Laverty back in 1965 to hone in on the success of the popular American Bandstand series of concerts. The ABN Hot Summer Nights concert series was essentially the American Bandstand on the road. Where that show couldn't go, this one could. It seeks out high profile cities where the show would most likely be aired.
The progression of ABN Hot Summer Nights[]
The concert featured some classic rock bands from the early 1960's, 70's and power rock bands from the 80's. Then, in the 90's, it progressed tremendously with power rock, hip hop, R & B, pop, country, and more. Today, ABN Hot Summer Nights features a wide range of musical acts that now includes J-Pop (Japanese pop), Latino, Tejano (southern Texas), and many more.
The Faces of ABN Hot Summer Nights[]
The Rattles was the first featured band from the United Kingdom in the first ABN Hot Summer Nights concert from Los Angeles in 1965.
The decade of the 1970's became a hot bed for acts such as Hollowed Ground, Great White Revival, Loose Cannons, Jimmy Sledge, Krystal Kane, and Heaven's Dominion. The rock format continued to become successful as many of these acts throughout the 1970's went on to win numerous awards.
The 1980's was the hot spot for rock and disco acts. By the mid to late 1980's into the early 1990's, hip hop and R & B just became reality with acts such as Truth Squad, JJ Kash (the S spelled with a dollar sign), Nu World, and DJ the Funkster. Power rock was also beginning to come to the forefront with acts such as Fire Within, White Dragon, The Cyclones, Windjammer, and more.
Hammer Lawrence took the series to new heights in the 90's with his variety of club style music of which he continues to tour the club music franchise.
The 90's featured more power rock, hip hop, R & B and the new wave of grunge rock from acts including G'roj (a name play on "garage"), Ultima, Unity, Kris Kingsley and Heartland. Even the country format began to hit its stride from 1995 onwards.
Southern Tex-Mex in the mid-90's was beginning to hit its stride for which Selena Raisa was at the forefront. She was just beginning the crossover tour in the early 1990's appearing on the Hot Summer Nights tour seven times before her passing in 1996. Her May 27, 1994 segment was the highest rated and most viewed program of the entire series. Raisa was posthumously inaugurated into the 1997 National Star Awards Hall of Fame.
Six Degrees, led by Billy Haymen and Nicole Brunetus, is the most recognized modern era pop rock band to grace the tour since 1997. Many of Six Degrees' segments were consistently among the top five rated programs. The group's highest rated segment came on July 7, 2014. The group would later be inaugurated into the National Star Awards Hall of Fame Class of 2017.
Hatsune Miku is the fastest rising superstar from Japan of which her popularity has expanded rapidly since her first appearance on the show May 5, 2006. Her segment was the second highest rated and most viewed program since the May 24, 1994 appearance of Selena Raisa. She was inaugurated into the National Star Awards Hall of Fame Class of 2018.
LoliRock's first appearance on the tour came a year after their 2014 season television debut in France and globally via Netflix. The July 20, 2015 appearance was the most viewed segment of the Hot Summer Nights series since the Hatsune Miku segment from May 5, 2006. The band reemerged in 2019 of which their June 10, 2019 segment drew the fourth overall highest rated segment eclipsing the May 27, 1994 segment of Selena Raisa.
The economic impact[]
The ABN Hot Summer Nights concert tour has produced an average of $145.5 million in total year-to-date revenue over a five year period. Per night, it averages $10.55 million with sponsorship. The biggest expenditure came from 2014 when ABN made the announcement of going to Ultra HD.
The economy of the Hot Summer Nights series was deeply impacted by COVID-19 in 2020 when ABN announced widespread cancellations of certain dates and venues due to the severity of the virus in effect. In 2021, ABN announced that a virtual series would take the place of an actual live tour where artists and music groups would be called to the ABN studios in Charlotte and the 2021 series was broadcast on ABN.com, the mobile app, and heard on ABN Radio stations. The series resumed normal touring in 2022 beginning in Billings, MT.
Getting to the concert[]
Viewers get exclusive live content on ABN.com during the duration of the series. At the event itself, there are ABN Hot Summer Nights Experience suites are set up by various vendors. A contest is held between March and April choosing five individuals. The contest consists of calling ABN's hotline number and matching a series of codes found on marked merchandise. Viewers now have two ways of playing the code matching game. They can text the code to 4400 on their mobile devices or go to ABN.com and match the code there. Every night in March and April, these codes are read in between station ID breaks. Whoever the five contestants have the matching codes are then chosen as winners of the contest and are sent tickets, special VIP passes, and more.
ABN has partnered with SuperTix, an A+ rated ticket vendor to provide tickets and promotional packages for the series. Viewers who are SuperTix subscribers receive a bonus discount using the promo code "SUMMER" on the SuperTix website.
2024 Schedule[]
| Month | Day | City | Venue | TV | Radio | Streaming | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May | 25 | Billings, MT | Rimrock Mall | X | Kickoff Party/Meet-and-Greet | ||
| 26 | Montana Rail Link Arena at Metra Park | X | X | X | Sunday night special opening | ||
| 27 | Kickoff Night | ||||||
| June | 3 | Boise, ID | WinCo Foods Pavilion | X | X | X | Famous Potatoes Night |
| 10 | Las Vegas, NV | Allegiant Airlines Center | X | X | X | Vegas Dreams Night | |
| 17 | Los Angeles, CA | Hollywood Theater | X | X | X | Hollywood Night | |
| 24 | Laramie, WY | FirstWestern Bank of Wyoming Arena | X | X | Western Heritage Night | ||
| July | 4 | Nashville, TN | Nissan Stadium | X | X | X | Independence Day Special |
| 15 | Speedway, IN | Indianapolis Motor Speedway | X | X | X | Temporary infield pavilion | |
| 22 | Boston, MA | Hatch Memorial Shell | X | X | X | Special segment featuring Landmark Orchestra | |
| 29 | San Francisco, CA | Loma Prieta Pavilion (a.k.a. "The Stick") | X | X | X | Heroes Night | |
| August | 5 | Seattle, WA | The RangerDome | X | X | X | 12th Man Special |
| 12 | Irving, TX | Toyota Music Factory | X | X | X | Toyota Owners Night | |
| 19 | St. Louis, MO | The Dome at America's Center | X | X | X | Battlehawk Night | |
| 30 | Chicago, IL | Comiskey Arena | X | X | X | Essential Workers Night | |
| 31 | Cincinnati, OH | Heritage Bank Center | X | X | X | Labor Day Weekend Special | |
| September | 1 | Miami, FL | Biscayne Bay Music House | X | X | X | Sunday night special |
| 2 | Season Finale |