Garth Brooks' $7M Drive-In Concert
The virus may have temporarily knocked the wind out of large outdoor events, but creativity and entrepreneurial spirit will bring festivals and large concerts back, but perhaps just not as we have
By David Farrell
The virus may have temporarily knocked the wind out of large outdoor events, but creativity and entrepreneurial spirit will bring festivals and large concerts back, but perhaps just not as we have known them before.
Take Garth Brooks’ upcoming 300-city, one-night-only event this coming Saturday.
Fort Worth, TX event production and concert company Encore Live is behind the massive, game-changing Garth Brooks’ concert that is being screened in as many as 300 drive-in theatres across the US and Canada next Saturday, June 27.
Brooks isn’t performing live that night. According to a publicist for Nancy Seltzer and Associates, the country star’s two-hour performance was recently filmed in Nashville with no audience present.
Tickets were mostly sold out a week in front at $100 per car, with a maximum of six persons per car but restrictions limited by covid regs per jurisdiction.
According to vendor Ticketmaster, 13 outdoor cinemas in Saskatchewan, Ontario, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick will be part of this concert event. There will be a limit of 250-300 tickets available per drive-in.
Do the math and the concert film stands to gross in excess of $7-million in one night.
"They're going to run it just like a regular concert, but this is going to be all over North America, one night only," Brooks said in announcing the event on Good Morning America. "We are excited because this is a reason to get out of the house, but at the same time you get to follow all the Covid rules from every individual state and you get to have fun and stay within the guidelines of social distancing ... we're calling it 'social distancing partying.'"
Second screenings on the same night have been added in some markets.
The following is taken from the “G” website operated by Garth Brooks:
“Any drive-in theater owners who are not currently slated to air the concert and want to, please contact driveinowners@encorelive.com
“Encore Live has developed a reputation as one of the most innovative event production companies in the country. In the absence of traditional live events, the company reached exclusive agreements with drive-in theater owners across North America to safely bring fans this first-of-its-kind concert on a massive scale.
“The show will adhere to guidelines recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as well as all state and local health mandates. Encore Live has partnered with leading health experts to establish procedures for staff and fans. These will include maintaining at least six feet of space between vehicles, the use of personal protective equipment by staff, leveraging contactless payment and ticketing systems, and limiting capacity in restrooms. Guidelines around concessions will also be enforced to abide by individual state regulations.”
