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Classic American spoke to Brendan McCarth CEO of  the American Auto Club International (AACI) about plans for the upcoming Summer Nationals show over the weekend of June 19^th & 20th: ‘We’re trying to make it more enjoyable than the old format of stand around do nothing and wait for prize giving. Basically, I just thought it needed a kick in the pants and something to make people say: "it does matter who puts those shows on".

'For the Summer Nats we have Friday nights as Rock and Roll nights, so a live band on the Friday night now, as well as the Saturday. Sunday will also see live entertainment with the possibility of a second stage area in midfield - we're still working on that, but it’s beyond the dreaming stage.

            ‘Last year we introduced the so-called “Radio AACI”, which of course isn’t a radio at all, but does mean that we control the music throughout the show. We then varied the soundtrack to try and cater for all tastes and not just die hard R&R fans. We got some flack for that, but for every complainer there were ten who said it made a nice change to the usual endless diet of Rockabilly music. Don’t get me wrong, I like it, but I also like other stuff too, as do many people. It also means that we can carry adverts for our traders and include vintage ads for American car makers like GM and Chrysler. You have to listen out for them, but people did notice. 

‘We are also working on a drop down projection system within the marquee and will hopefully be showing appropriately themed movies, trailers and even some car adverts from the Fifties on a big screen in the marquee throughout the show days for those who want to see them. We’ve put more effort into the stage area to make it more secure and attractive to the audience too. It will have a blacked out ceiling with stars shining and each stage will be themed - June is Hawaiian again, the stage being dressed with beach scenes and palm tress, so bring your loudest shirt and your leis! For more info see: www.aac-int.com

Current Issue: Feb 2012