The summer season is still a couple of weeks away, but the summer concert season is in full gear in the Upper Ohio Valley.

Memorial Day saw the first of the seasonal concerts with a performance in Follansbee by Twice as Nice in Follansbee Park.

The Monthly Monday Music Madness series, organized by the Brooke County Area Chamber of Commerce, is actually twice monthly, and will alternate its events between Follansbee Park and a site next to the log cabin near the Brooke County Courthouse in Wellsburg.

The Historic Fort Steuben Concert Series made its return this past Thursday, with Linden and Melvin, as well as Into The Blue, an Electric Light Orchestra tribute group taking the stage. That series will have something at the Berkman Amphitheater each Thursday through July 31.

The Newell Community Improvement Coalition has four events as part of its Laurel Hollow Park concert series, beginning June 14 with Full Circle, while Chester will have the Chillbillyz take the stage for its first of six events June 10.

In Weirton, the summer concert series is changing up quite a bit this year.

Organized by the Top of West Virginia Convention and Visitors Bureau, the 2025 program won’t be featuring a weekly installment every Friday.

Instead, the CVB is launching “Second Saturdays,” a monthly event which will still feature performances by a variety of musicians and bands, but joined by other activities and attractions, including farmer and artisan markets, yoga, food trucks, games and more.

The first one will take place June 14, beginning at 10 a.m. Music will typically begin around 2 p.m. and last until 7 p.m. The June event, dubbed “Country Roads Kickoff,” will feature Bill Crawford, Nathan King, and the Bennett Hall Band.

It’s different. It will set Weirton apart from others. Not everyone is happy about it.

After about a dozen years of having those concerts on Friday nights, people got used to them. While there has been excitement about the change to a monthly Saturday activity, there also have been complaints, including from some members of Weirton Council.

The idea of the City of Weirton possibly trying its hand at organizing a weekly concert series has recently been brought up at a couple of meetings. I haven’t written a news article on it, because, quite frankly, I’m not certain if it’s something that can be pulled together this summer…at least not to the extent they would like.

It’s possible a couple of shows could be thrown together, but organizing a full series as has been done takes time, effort, and, as with anything, money.

Who knows? The city could surprise us all and manage to come up with something good. There’s no such thing as having too many community activities, after all.

In the meantime, give the Second Saturdays a chance, too.

Those organizations who put these events together do it in an effort to enrich the community. It’s not about personal gain. It’s certainly not about making money. It takes months to plan, negotiate with and schedule the musical acts, lining up sponsorships so those groups can be paid (yes, these bands get paid), get volunteers lined up to assist with day-of operations, maybe get door prizes, food vendors or other enhancements.

None of it is easy, and none of it should be taken for granted, either. So, let’s just get out there and enjoy the music whenever it’s available, OK?

(Howell, a resident of Colliers, is managing editor of The Weirton Daily Times, and can be contacted at chowell@weirtondailytimes.com or followed on Twitter/X @CHowellWDT)