Hot Summer Nights concert series returns to South Berwick

SOUTH BERWICK - The show will go on in South Berwick this summer with a series of concerts featuring a lineup of well-known Seacoast area musicians scheduled to take place at Central School five Wednesday nights in July and August.

The Hot Summer Nights concerts series will begin Wednesday, July 13 and feature five top local bands along with opening sets by youth musicians from the area.

The first four concerts will be at Central School and the last one, on Aug. 10, will take place at the annual LanternFest. The Central School concerts begin at 6:30 p.m. with the opening act , followed by main act at 7 p.m. The Lantern Fest show begins at 6 p.m. at Spring Hill.

Audience members are invited to bring picnics, and can pick up special concert meals from local restaurants. No concessions will be sold on site this year.

“Concert-goers can bring their own picnics to the lawn, or take advantage of the many great places to eat in town,” said Kara Plank, committee member.

The Hot Summer Nights committee is looking for local businesses interested in helping to sponsor the series and get recognition at the shows and on Facebook.

“We get great musicians playing for us in South Berwick, thanks to generous community sponsors, “ said Len Bogh, who is chairing the committee. “My company, Great Northern Builders, is proud to be sponsoring one of the five nights of music on the lawn."

Hot Summer Nights is a program of SoBo Central, South Berwick’s nonprofit community group. An umbrella group for several organizations, SoBo Central includes the Food Pantry, Home for the Holidays, the Common Ground Tuskegee South Berwick Sister City group and the Keep South Berwick Warm Fuel Fund. Its signature event is the annual Lantern Fest.

The 2022 lineup begins on July 13 with Sugar Blood Jinx, which blends elements of blues, jazz, roots and rock. John Malloy, who performed at the first Hot Summer Nights concert more than 20 years ago, will open. Malloy re-emerged recently with a batch of new original songs.

On July 20, Sifter, an indie rock project, will feature Monica Crigler on keyboards, John Mettam on bass and Laura Cromwell on drums. Ella Bogh of South Berwick, a Marshwood High School sophomore next year, will open. Bogh, a ukelele player and singer, draws from an eclectic range of musical styles.

On July 27, La Madeleine, with its blend of French folk songs and ballads and Celtic fiddle tunes, will feature the group’s original lineup and celebrate the release of a new album, “La Tendresse.” Opener Page Waldo, a graduate of Berwick Academy and Connecticut College, is a guitarist and vocalist.

On Aug. 3, O'Donnell, Klaxton & Clark features Chris Klaxton on drums, Jimmy Clark on bass and Taylor O’Donnell on keyboards and vocals. They have a repertoire ranging from jazz standards to unique interpretations of popular rock, folk, R&B  and pop favorites as well as O’Donnell’s original songs. Opener Grace Libby, who will be a junior at Berwick Academy, plays guitar and sings.

On Aug 10 at Lanternfest, Jamsterdam, a high energy rock band, which specializes in upbeat covers, rap mash-ups and catchy originals, is the headliner. Opener Lainey Doran, a sophomore at Marshwood next year, is a finger-style guitarist with a powerful voice.

Those who want to follow the series can on Facebook can do so at facebook.com/HotSummerNightsConcerts.

This article originally appeared on Fosters Daily Democrat: Hot Summer Nights concert series returns to South Berwick ME