A NEW ROUTE TO A NIGHT OUT
Drive-ins fill live entertainment void
In so many ways, Almost Famous was a perfect introduction to the strange world of the pandemic-era drive-in.
In these COVID -19 times, driveins have become a thing again and from Europe to North America, many promoters have been booking live acts at these venues. They’re doing that because most live-music venues are not in operation and in many places, including Quebec, big outdoor cultural events are not allowed.
The fine 2000 film from writer-director Cameron Crowe screened at the new Royalmount Drive-in Event Theatre on a recent swelteringly hot summer evening, as part of an invitation-only soiree organized by the folks who run this venue on the site of the controversial real-estate development close to the intersection of the Décarie Expressway and Highway 40.
In the PRE-COVID-19 universe, drive-in theatres appeared to be on their last legs, but they’ve staged an unlikely comeback as promoters around the globe have begun using them as one of the only ways to safely stage live shows.
They have also bounced back as a place to see movies at a time when movie theatres are closed in many parts of the world — and even in the places where cinemas are open, there are loads of people who are afraid to spend a couple of hours indoors with others.
So far, the Royalmount Drivein has mostly been playing old movies, but there is a wide variety of shows on the way, including two performances on Aug. 1 by Montreal band the Damn Truth, presented by Osheaga promoter Evenko, on what should have been the second night of Osheaga.
The festival was cancelled following the province’s decision to nix all major outdoor cultural events through Aug. 31. Another festival that didn’t happen this summer, Just for Laughs, booked two of its shows at the Royalmount Drive-in: the Relationship Show on July 24 and Comedy Night in Canada on July 25.
Almost Famous is an ode to many things: old-school rock journalism (banged out on electric typewriters!), life on the road back in the day for rock bands, and the importance of friendship and family bonds. But as much as anything else, the acclaimed flick is a bigscreen poem celebrating the magic that happens when musicians take the stage, crank out some tunes and make an immediate emotional connection with their audience.
This would be an audience of thousands in a theatre or arena, happily swaying in time to the music, packed against one another, sweat dripping in every direction — something that isn’t happening in most parts of the world right now, and isn’t likely to come back in a significant way for quite some time.
That’s why it felt so odd sitting in a lawn chair in front of my car the other night watching this movie. It was celebrating the very thing we can’t have. Yes, I’d just seen local R&B singer Shaharah open the evening with an energetic set. But this was a live event that wasn’t quite what we’ve come to think of as a live event. It was a social occasion that was not really a social occasion.
One of the things I love at a concert is wandering around the club, seeing the stage from different angles, chatting with folks you know. The greatest moments I’ve experienced at rock shows are when you rush to the lip of the stage to commune with the artists you love.
But here, you’re expressly told not to wander. Of course you’re encouraged to walk to the back and order some upscale food from Lucille’s and Java U — who have good trucks on site — but for the most part you’re meant to stay in your car, or at least right beside it.
But beggars can’t be choosers. Sure, I’d rather see the Damn Truth at Mtelus, but I can’t. The Royalmount Drive-in’s slogan is “drive-in to get out,” and that’s pretty much it in a nutshell.
We’ve all been cooped up indoors for the past few months, and many of us have an intense hunger to get out of the house and consume culture that’s not delivered via a screen in our living room.
It was actually kind of enchanting to be sitting there under a beautiful blue sky watching a bit of live music and then, as the intense sun gradually dropped from that eye-catching sky, watching a great movie in the great urban outdoors.
We usually think of going to driveins in the ’burbs or the country, so it was cool to watch Almost Famous while hearing the sounds of trucks and cars whizzing by on the nearby highways in the background, and looking up to see jets making their way toward Trudeau airport.
The lobster roll from Lucille’s tasted even better than usual, the cookies and cream from Java U was deadly (in a good way) and the sun was done torturing us by the time my favourite scene in Almost Famous hit the big screen. That’s the moment when everyone on the tour bus with the fictional band Stillwater begins singing along to Elton John’s sublime Tiny Dancer. It was beautiful to live that scene just as the natural light was fading, giving us a hint of the musical magic we’ll one day again be living not with our cars in drive-in theatres, but in good concert halls.