It was billed as a pops concert, but it would be fair to call the Husson College 100th birthday celebration with the Bangor Symphony Orchestra a “hot pops” concert. While temperatures rose into the 90s, musicians from both the BSO and the spunky country-western band The Boyz and Me turned the swelteringly hot afternoon into a family event under the sun.

Everybody loves an outdoor summer event in Bangor. After all, we don’t get that many days of green grass, hot rays and short sleeves. But the heat kept participation low. Some symphony officials estimated a total of 200 to 300 concert-goers. That number dwindled regularly as the heat took a stronger stand than the music.

Nevertheless, those who came to stay brought umbrellas, coolers of cold drinks, wide-rimmed hats and bottles of icy water (which they periodically trickled onto their heads). Their goal was to have a family day around popular music.

Conductor Christopher Zimmerman, whose orchestra is but a few years older than Husson, welcomed the crowd and hailed the college. “From one old dame to another, the Bangor Symphony Orchestra would like to salute Husson on its 100th anniversary,” he said before leading the symphony in a crisp performance of “Olympic Fanfare,” by American composer John Williams.

The program also included Reinhold Gliere’s “Russian Sailors’ Dance,” John Williams’ suite from “Star Wars,” and a medley from the opera “Porgy and Bess” by George Gershwin, who is also having a 100th birthday this year. Did the tune “Summertime” ever feel as true?

Benjamin Britten’s “Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra” was the centerpiece of the concert. Sen. Susan Collins, a former administrator at Husson, narrated the piece, which gives descriptions of the instruments in the orchestra. The musicians were in fine shape and Collins was a smart addition to the stage, even if Zimmerman did introduce her with the faint praise of: “You could do worse than go to Husson College.”

Britten’s work, while beloved, is perhaps not the best choice for an outdoor concert. Unlike the rousing closing piece, John Philip Sousa’s “The Stars and Stripes Forever,” “Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra” demands a type of attention that’s hard to muster at a festival event.

Just as the concert concluded with the Sousa march, three Army helicopters flew overhead punctuating the event with a patriotic fanfare. It was an exciting moment in a concert that was pleasant enough but without much character. In fact, you might even say you could have done worse than to go to the BSO pops concert on Saturday.