The Christian music artists have embraced the novelty of tours that play only under the big screen in the great outdoors. By Chris Willman. The move toward holding drive-in concerts this summer — as explored in a Variety feature earlier this week — is picking up steam, with two Christian music artists of note, TobyMac and Newsboys United , announcing that they have each booked tours that will take place exclusively in 16 existing drive-in theaters in the South in late June and early July. Tickets for the social-distancing shows are being sold by the carload, with up to six patrons allowed per car. The twin tours were the brainchild of the national Christian music tour producer Awakening Events, which managed to secure what may come to be a coveted URL, driveintheatertour. These two artists are not the first to book exclusively drive-in theaters for a tour this year. That honor belongs to EDM artist Marc Rebillet , who has put 12 shows on sale at nine ozoners in June, with a further geographic reach. Some of them may rethink that, though, if shows like these sell out, which seems a possibility, since they count as an underplay for a performer like TobyMac, who was filling arenas earlier in the year. As noted in Variety , Live Nation plans to get into the outdoor concert business this summer, although the mega-promoter will be setting up shows in amphitheater parking lots rather than using existing drive-ins, which have less capacity and are mostly located in smaller cities.
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Christian artists are finding new ways to get back on the road after they were forced to cancel tour dates amid global lockdowns in response to the new coronavirus. Two of the biggest names in contemporary Christian music, Newsboys United and TobyMac, recently announced that they're planning summer tours with a twist — the musicians will be performing at drive-in theaters. When we started discussing live shows in this quarantine season the idea of playing drive-ins came up. Now we have the opportunity to come together safely and express our love for our Creator who has been with us through these trying times.
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For the foreseeable future, drive-in theater concerts will continue popping up across the country, as artists including Keith Urban, Alan Jackson, Eli Young Band and more have either held or announced headlining shows as a way keeping live music going during the COVID pandemic. It feels like summer, safe for everybody, and we all get to enjoy live music again. We bout to make some memories. Dave had worked with the band back in or so, when the Newsboys did the Dome Tour. They carried around an inflatable dome, which could fit up to like 3, people, on the tour. They were creating this really cool planetarium vibe for fans. Fife and his team started looking at the more than drive-in theaters across the United States, ultimately landing on the nearly two dozen selected for the tour. How do we get the signal from our modern-day digital fiber optic cable connections to the screen?
In another sign drive-in theaters are becoming an alternative for music tours during the coronavirus pandemic, Christian music artists TobyMac and Newsboys have booked shows at 16 drive-ins this summer, including at the 66 Drive-In in Carthage, Missouri. The all-ages show at the 66 Drive-In will be July 11, gates opening at p. Tickets are available here. Lawn chairs or blankets are welcome but must sit inside your allocated parking space. Please observe local social distancing guidelines for the health and well being of all fans.
