Weekly survey: Are you into the drive-in concert phenomenon?
With the pandemic screwing concerts and festivals, music fans are left with two sources of live music: livestreams and heading to the drive-in.
The push to stage shows at drive-ins, parking lot and other vehicle-friendly open spaces has picked up steam since June. Garth Brooks had tremendous success with his drive-in gig early this summer. Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani did one. July Talk have two scheduled for this week in Newmarket. And Metallica has announced an event for August 29 that will include dozens and dozens of venues.
Hey, it’s not ideal, but in the absence of anything else, it’s better than nothing. Or is it?
Here’s the question: Are you into the idea of piling your friends into a vehicle to attend one of these gigs?
Are you interested in going to a drive-in concert?
— Alan Cross (@alancross) August 10, 2020
I see drive-in concerts as a band-aid for fans who aren’t as ‘into’ the whole live experience. Obviously visuals are a big part of a concert, but for me, the sound is as important, and there’s no way I’m getting the same sound quality out of even the best car stereo. I bought a ticket for the July Talk live stream of their drive-in show this week, and that’s preferable to me since it’ll have better visuals than looking through my windshield.
As someone who won’t use Zoom because of their problems with privacy and security, I’m severly limited in my live streaming options. In one of Alan’s posts early on, he showed a picture of what was described as a ‘rave’, it was in Germany in April 2020. Check out the images from Europe. That epitomized something I wanted to experience in the states. I’ve seen nothing over here or even anything else over in Europe that held the same thrill that one breathtaking picture held for me. It’s going on a t-shirt as soon as my self-imposed merch, music and donations hiatus is done. I know a guy 😉 It won’t be the same thing as being there but it’ll make a moderately good t-shirt.
Compare North America up against Europe and you might change your mind. I know if I’d never seen the German one, my tune would be different as well.