Can drive-in gigs save the music industry?
As Gavin James announces he will play for fans in their cars this summer, Ed Power takes a look at the innovative ways promoters are trying to rescue concerts
‘Let’s see those windscreen wipers in the air,” is a sentence music fans could never have imagined hearing before the long strange summer of 2020. Yet such is the unlikely catch cry already echoing around the world and now coming to Ireland, as live music wrestles with the devastation of Covid-19.
Everyone is suffering from coronavirus. But the music business has taken an especially traumatic hit. Its response has been to think of new ways of bringing people together while observing social distancing . One solution is the “drive-in” gig.
Gavin James, the Dublin singer-songwriter, has made history as the first Irish artist to announce a drive-in tour. He’s heading out on the road to play to fans in their cars from July 20, when the most severe Covid-19 restrictions are due to be eased.
James will perform outdoor in Limerick, Cork, Tramore, and Kilkenny, with further dates set to be announced. He will be up on stage, alongside a 45-metre square video screen. Fans, in their cars, can tune into the performance via a FM radio broadcast.
There will also be alive sound system, so that they can hear his brassy vocals booming in from all around. Alcohol will be prohibited, food will have to be brought by attendees and toilets will be provided. The sweat and the excitement, punters will have to supply themselves.
This will obviously be a very different experience from seeing James at 3Arena, which he has headlined on several occasions. The thinking is that, if they can be done safely, then drive-in gigs are better than all of us sitting at home watching the walls close in.
James’s motivations for the tour are altruistic. He is aware that, with music on hold, the many behind-the scenes workers who make their living from touring have been plunged into financial deep-freeze.
“The best thing about this is that the crew, security, booking agents, session musicians, event organisers and everyone else that plays a part in the live music industry that haven’t been able to work in the last few months are finally back at it,” he tells the Irish Independent.
“Let’s hope we can do a hell of a lot of these things to support the industry and the people in it. As the gigs do not happen without them.
“So love me or hate me, it’s not about me. It’s about getting our industry back up and running and I hope others follow suit.”
Live music in Ireland has been obliterated by the pandemic. Electric Picnic and all the other major festivals are off. Tours have been cancelled or postponed, optimistically, until next year. Promoters, large and small, are feeling the pain. And the artists even more so. In the UK, musicians are estimated to have already suffered £14m in lost earnings due to the coronavirus. The entire apparatus of the music business has been derailed.
Yet until now, there has been an apparent reluctance in Ireland to think outside the box.
“We won’t be doing drive-in gigs,” huffed one gig organiser when asked if drive-in shows were something they might potentially explore.
“Not really into talking about stuff going on in the US as it doesn’t have any bearing on what we do.” Well, that’s us told.
And yet, drive-in gigs are already proving successful in other countries. In Denmark, singer Mads Langer played to 500 fans, in their cars, on the outskirts of Aarhus at the start of May. “I’ve played many concerts in my life,” he said from the stage. “This is really a first.”
“It’s something unreal,” said Giedrė Kilčiauskienė, who performed a drive-in show at Lithuania’s Palūknio. “You can’t imagine how it all looks from the stage... Instead of shouting, ‘Show me your hands,’ I feel like saying, ‘Move windscreen wipers left to right.’”
In America, electronic artist Mark Rebillet has announced a six-date drive-in tour. Here, attendees will be able to buy food and merchandise whilst observing social-distancing guidelines (details of how they can do this have yet to be announced).
“I know that we’re hungry for live entertainment,” said Rebillet. “God knows I’m hungry to get out there and play for you… That’s right, I am coming to drive-in movie theatres and playing mother f **** shows... My team and I have been working hard to make sure this happens quickly and safely. It’s f*** going down. I’m pumped.”
Germany, for its part, has gone all-in. A drive-in “rave” was held in Dusseldorf on May 1. In their cars, punters were encouraged to “clap” along to the music by flashing their indicators and blaring their horns.
“This makes it harder, because we’re limited to 1,000 people, and we would never expect our fans to pay €200-€400 a ticket,” one of the organisers of the World Club Dome Drive-In told Fortune Magazine.
“So we made a decision to charge €40 per ticket, and we brought in some sponsors to
help with the extra costs. This brought down the totals. However if you host an event like this correctly, you can offer fans huge amounts of fun, raise awareness and provide a great feeling during such a strange time. We weren’t looking to make money, or develop a business model.”
“Our whole business model is people, a lot of them, in a room together,” says Carl Owens of MPI Artists, the Dublin agency which works with James as well as artists such as Snoop Dogg, Nelly and, in Ireland, Aslan and which is organising the drive-in shows.
“Essentially this thing [Covid-19] counteracts our entire business model. We have seen 90pc of our entire income wiped off the face of the earth. It is a difficult time for our business.
“We’re hurting like everyone else. We looked at it and said, ‘let’s do something — let’s try and bring this around the country, get some artists back to work. Let’s get some fans enjoying the shows’.”
“We’re not trying to substitute the live gig,” he continues. “Nothing can replace that.
But in the meantime, until we get back to normal, people are going stir crazy. We know people want experiences. In Ireland, we sell a massive amount of concert tickets per head of population.”
Owens noted the success of drive-in gigs on the continent and looked into the possibly to stage such shows safely and within social-distancing regulations in Ireland.
With the venues secured, capacity will be set at between 250 and 300 vehicles, and ticket prices at €60 plus booking fee per car of four.
James’ tour will run from July 24 to August 10. Negotiations are ongoing, Owens adds, with other Irish acts similar in stature to James. The hope is to announce further shows in the notdistance future.
“Artists are social people. They need to get out, they need to feel they can play live shows. We want people to have fun in a safe manner until we get back to normality.
“People are going to B&Q and Woodies and making it a big thing. If they can get back to seeing live music, they are going to love it.”