Could the drive-in be the future of concerts and festivals in Australia?
With large concerts and music festivals banned due to lockdown and social distancing measures, Denmark and Lithuania have turned to drive-ins for a solution.Live music and creative arts are in crisis mode, social distancing and lockdown orders have hit fans hard and the creative industries harder. With all types of performances, tours and festivals postponed or called off entirely, experts say that its unlikely to resume to normality to at least 2022 or until a vaccine is found.
What if though, you could see and hear a live concert of your favourite bands and artists from the safety of your own car just like a drive-in movie? In Denmark and Lithuania they’ve done just that with what they call the drive-in concert.
Danish singer-songwriter Mads Langer recently sold 500 tickets for a concert in a park in Aarhus, Denmark. Langer’s performance was beamed into car radios with the audience also tuning in via Zoom to watch and participate. Langer chatted directly with audience members via the video chat app even inviting them to join him on stage (at a safe distance).
During the performance fans showed their love by tooting their car horns and using their windscreen wipers, instead of the old fashion cheer and applause. Staff in hazmat suits served up snacks and drinks to the crowd as well. You can watch the video Mads Langer uploaded to YouTube below and see how it unfolded.
Meanwhile in Lithuania, a series of drive-in concerts are being held at the Paluknio Airfield near the country’s capital Vilnius. Unlike Mads Langer’s solo show in Denmark, the Lithuanian drive-in boasts a music festival style line-up of performers.
“It's something unreal. You can’t imagine how it all looks from the stage,” Singer Giedre Kilciauskiene shouted out during the inaugural performance.
“Instead of shouting ‘show me your hands,’ I feel like saying ‘move windscreen wipers left to right’”.
The shows are being supported and broadcast nationally by the Lithuanian Public Broadcaster LRT and are proving to be very popular with music fans keen to get back to the old days.
In April, drive-in cinemas were allowed to resume operation in Lithuania, with the concerts following soon after. They both need to follow the same health and safety protocols of only two people per car, unless they’re from the same family. With leaving the vehicle prohibited, we hope that drive-in goers are prepared to hold on as visits to the bathroom don’t look like an option.
As restrictions slowly lift in Australia, it begs the question on whether the old school drive-in cinema and subsequent drive-in concerts could work here. While a novelty left over from the 1950s, the drive-in concept seems to be more relevant and practical now than ever before. Although nothing beats being right in the mosh at your favourite festival or reclining and sipping a glass of sparkling in gold class, the drive-in may prove the lifeline our creative arts industry needs and the culture and experiences we’ve all been missing.
Main image: lrt.lt/S. Lankutis
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