Live music is coming back to Toronto
Hold your honks until the end of the show at new drive-in venue
Charles Khabouth, the Toronto entertainment, club and restaurant magnate, has taken over the parking lot opposite his Rebel nightclub at the foot of Polson Street to erect our newest outdoor venue: the CityView Drive-In, featuring a backdrop of the city skyline.
And lest one think this is a pipe dream, Khabouth’s Ink Entertainment has already announced the new venue’s first three shows: Hamilton hard rockers Monster Truck kick off the festivities on July 14, followed by Toronto singer-songwriter Allan Rayman two days later.
Polaris Music Prize finalists A Tribe Called Red are scheduled to perform on Aug. 6.
“We have a lot of bookings that we’re going to be announcing,” Charles Khabouth said Thursday in an interview with the Star.
“Just yesterday we confirmed two more shows. I think we’ll be open — whether it’s a music event or a DJ event or a corporate event or a movie — I believe we’ll be operating five days a week.”
The new venue will feature a 70-metre stage, LED walls and an initial 50 per cent capacity of “220 to 240 vehicles,” Khabouth said.
“We’re building a state-of-theart stage,” Khabouth explained. “‘Stage’ meaning not just the actual physical stage, but the lighting, the production, the sound, the visuals, the massive LED wall so we can show movies as well. The quality is topnotch on all of it.”
He’s hoping to roll out the venue for corporate events and movies, although, “our No.1 target is to do as many concerts as possible.”
“It’s a venue that we really want to be proud of and be a statement in the city that something good can be outdoors,” said Khabouth.
“So it’s very crucial that we bring in some of the top people in the production world to put this thing together.”
Khabouth, who estimates his company has sunk “a half a million dollars” into the project, said the CityView Drive-In plans have been in the works for two months.
“Financially, it’s a big risk: it’s a huge risk because you could build it and not be able to do the bookings, or not be able to sell tickets,” said Khabouth, whose organization has 37 years of experience in operating and booking concert-driven clubs such as Rebel and, previously, the Guvernment and Kool Haus.
Tickets for the first two shows, starting at $45 a person — with a minimum of two admissions per vehicle — are now available via Ticketmaster, with A Tribe Called Red tickets on sale Monday.
Khabouth says people can bring their own food and nonalcoholic beverages, but there will be the option of ordering food for straight-to-vehicle delivery, as well as a merchandise table for those who want to purchase masks if they need them.
One item that won’t be served, however, is alcohol.
“I did not want to do alcohol,” he said. “I did not want the liability. If there are four people in the vehicle and they order four drinks, what if the driver drinks all of them? I don’t want that responsibility.”
People will also be expected to stay in their vehicles, unless they need to use the restroom.
“So far, the city is saying that they have to be in their cars,” Khabouth said. “That could change by the end of July; there might be a big change, so people might be able to sit on the hoods of their cars.
“But we are taking every precaution and going by the book. For that reason, we’re at 50 per cent capacity.”
Restroom availability won’t be a problem: patrons will be able to walk across the street and use the Rebel facilities.
“We have more than a sufficient number of bathrooms, enough for 5,000 people,” Khabouth said.
Concertgoers will have the option of rolling down their windows to listen to the performance or tuning into FM88.1 for a limited-range Wi-Fi broadcast signal on their automobile radios.
And Khabouth says the artists will be performing full sets, with the only limitation being a curfew of 11 p.m. due to noise bylaws.
Khabouth says his organization is committed to running City-View Drive-in a minimum of three months and his aim is to operate the venue “five days a week” for concerts, DJs, movies and corporate bookings.
“We run the parking lot. So all the stage and lighting is paid for monthly,” Khabouth said. “It’s up to us: if it’s a great experience and we’re doing well, then we’re going to continue. I can’t see us not doing a few more months anyway.”
While Khabouth says this won’t solve a lot of the financial issues from lack of live entertainment — shut down since March 17 due to the COVID-19 pandemic — this is at least one solution he was happy to take a gamble on.
“Having 1,000 people come to a show is not going to save the day,” Khabouth said. “I think it’s more of us pivoting and keeping ourselves busy and continuing to have people employed and just move forward with what we’re doing.
“We don’t want to be sitting on our hands, waiting for this thing to end, so we’re doing everything we can do at the moment.
“You have to have a great team, and this is the time to show your colours and come through for your company, your staff and your clients. And that’s what we’re really trying to do here: be at the top of our game and do something new and exciting.”
And he’s encouraged by the attention it’s getting so far.
“I truly believe it’s going to be amazing and the amount of interest in it is insane,” Khabouth said.
“I think it’s going to do even better than I expected. People are excited and bands are excited to perform again. People are excited to come out and see things live again, because that doesn’t exist now.”