Culture
26 May 20

WATCH: This is what Danish singer Mads Langer's drive-in gig looked like this month

Plus, the first socially-distanced indoor show to be staged in America

The announcement of four Gavin James Drive-In gigs this summer illustrates how the Irish and global music industry are frantically looking at how best to get up and running again.
While you suspect in a country like ours the drive-in option will be limited to the summer months, it could provide a decent short to medium-term revenue generator for artists and promoters in countries where the climate is more conducive to outdoor pursuits.
We're aware of several other promoters in different parts of Ireland who've also been evaluating sites to see if they're suitable for similar sorts of shows.
Appearing yesterday on RTÉ One's Today Show, Danny O'Reilly said it was one of the options being considered by The Coronas to help promote their new album, True Love Waits, due in August.
The concept worked well earlier this month in the coastal Danish town of Aarhus (in the middle of our street...) where Mads Langer (behave...) played to 500 people listening on FM radios in their cars, which is pretty much the same model that's been used for decades to show drive-in movies.
"This was special!" the singer-songwriter, whose music has featured in the likes of Castle and The Vampire Diaries, enthused afterwards. Fans were able to interact with him on the day via-Zoom.
Drive-in gigs have also been staged in Germany, Hungary, Denmark and Lithuania where the Palūknio airfield near the capital Vilnius has been pressed into rock 'n' roll action.
In America, Christian music artists TobyMac and Newsboys United both have upcoming 16-date tours of existing drive-in theatres in the southern States.
The Dallas electronic musician-cum-comedian, Marc Rebillet, has seven drive-in dates in North Carolina, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas booked with more to be added.
Having tipped their toe in the water with a Keith Urban gig for frontline medical workers in Watertown, Tennessee, Live Nation are looking at using the parking lots of 40 amphitheatres they own across America for concerts this summer and autumn.
Notably, Live Nation are shareholders in Irish promotion giants MCD.
Following weeks of controversy and threatened police intervention, Fort Smith, Arkansas venue TempleLive staged an indoor socially distanced gig on May 15 where 229 fans wearing face-masks go to see Travis McCready, the lead singer of blues rockers Bishop Gunn.
Running at well under its 1,100 capacity, tickets were sold in blocks to keep groups six feet apart. People had their temperatures taken before being admitted, with the toilets limited to ten at a time.
Returning to Germany, thirty makeshift outdoor cinemas have opened up in cities including Cologne.