Orlando Sentinel

Live music hopes to orchestrat­e comeback

Organizers test out models for socially distant concerts

- By Kristin M. Hall

The last time bassist Jon Jones played a concert with his country group Eli Young Band was March 8. He hopes to hit the stage again in June to launch a new drive-in concert series in his first return to live music with fans since the coronaviru­s pandemic began.

“This is going to be a surreal kind of setting,” Jones said of plans to play acoustical­ly to 400 cars full of people at the new Texas Rangers stadium in Arlington.

As states start to let businesses reopen under limitation­s, music industry organizers are testing out new models of smaller, socially distant concerts. Jones is cautiously optimistic that drive-in concerts might help crack open a door for musicians that slammed shut so quickly in March.

“We’re going to be one of those last industries, those last segments that opens up, unfortunat­ely,” Jones said. “I do hope that everybody is cautious and opens up appropriat­ely and slowly.”

George Couri, of artist management company Triple 8 Management, teamed up with the Rangers to put on the four-night concert series called Concert in Your Car starting June 4. The interest was so high that tickets sold out quickly and additional shows were added. In all, 3,200 tickets have been sold.

“It’s about creating an experience for live music again,” said Couri. “The big driver for me is to prove it can work. It would give people hope that this can be repeated again and again in many different places.”

But the path ahead for live concerts hasn’t been easy. A venue in Arkansas initially had to postpone an indoor concert that would have defied the state’s ban on large gatherings after health officials ordered the show shut down. The concert featuring singer Travis McCready went on May 18.

Drive-in concerts aren’t new, but in the wake of the pandemic, the idea hit in Europe and now the United States. Country star Keith Urban played a drive-in theater in Tennessee on May 14 with scaled back production and crew, but he said that he thinks the concert industry in the near future will pivot to a drivein style, but with larger capacity.

“The stage is going to be coming out to the parking lot, and people will be staying in their cars,” said Urban. “It will be an endless tailgate party.”

In Florida, DJ D-Nice, who has been entertaini­ng people online with his popular DJ sets on Instagram called #ClubQuaran­tine, played music for firstrespo­nders in their cars on May 16. Concert promoter and venue operator Live Nation is planning to test fanless concerts, drive-in concerts and “reduced capacity shows” both indoors and outdoors, according to President and CEO Michael Rapino, who spoke about the ideas on an investor call.

“I think people need something safe that they can go do, and if we can be that, that’s awesome,” said Jones.

 ?? PATRIC SCHNEIDER/AP 2014 ?? The Eli Young Band will take the stage as part of Concert in Your Car at the new Texas Rangers stadium in June.
PATRIC SCHNEIDER/AP 2014 The Eli Young Band will take the stage as part of Concert in Your Car at the new Texas Rangers stadium in June.

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