Garth Brooks virtual drive-in concert tickets to go on sale today – dayton.com
Though the future of concerts is uncertain, drive-in theaters are offering a creative alternative next week.
More than 300 drive-in theaters across the country, and several in the Dayton-area, will show a one-night-only virtual Garth Brooks concert on June 27.
Tickets for Garth Brooks: A Drive-in Concert Experience will go on sale today, June 19 at noon. on Ticketmaster.com/garthbrooks.
The concert will be played at the following local drive-in theaters: Dixie Twin in Dayton, Melody 49 in Brookville, Sidney Auto Vue in Sidney, Holiday Auto Theatre in Hamilton, Starlite in Amelia and at Caeser Creek Market, which will be specially set up as a drive-in for this event.
The cost is $100 per vehicle (standard vehicles only with up to six passengers; no RVs or buses). Parking will be first-come, first-served.
>> PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Garth Brooks concert to be played at 300 drive-in theaters, including here
The country star’s concert — which was prerecorded in Nashville, Tenn., to ensure the concert could be shown at night across different time zones — was produced specifically for this event and allows for more advanced production than a national or world tour, said Walter Kinzie, co-founder and CEO of the concert’s producer Encore Live.
“While all of these stadiums around the world are very advanced, they still all have their own unique limitations and all of that has to be taken into consideration whenever someone designs a tour,” he said. “Well here, those limitations go out the door and so what the consumer can expect, what can fans expect, is Garth like you’ve never seen him before.”
With spaces for 300-500 cars at most drive-ins, Kinzie estimates that as many as 500,000 people could be at the show.
>> GUIDE: Drive-in movie theaters across the region
“Garth has never played something on this scale. Something on the scale and scope of a project like this has never ever happened before,” Kinzie said.
This March 14, 2019 file photo shows Garth Brooks performing at the iHeartRadio Music Awards in Los Angeles. Brooks is holding a concert in Nashville,Tenn., that will be played at 300 drive-in theaters across the country. Tickets will cost $100 per passenger car or truck. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, File)
Photo: Staff Writer
Jackie Bickel, general manager at one of the participating venues Caesar Creek Market and marketing manager at the market’s parent company, Levin Service Company, said the drive-in concert is part of a larger trend she’s seeing.
“People are really thinking out of the box to try to get their lives back to as normal as possible. They’re just looking for a unique out-of-the-box alternative to large-scale events,” she said. “The drive-in seems to fit that model. It makes the health department happy, and it makes the guests happy.”
Caesar Creek Market and the Dixie Twin Drive-In, both of which Bickel manages, are among the locations where the concert will be shown.
Although the Dixie Twin theater, which has room for 800 cars, will be able to follow similar procedures as it does for a typical movie, the Caesar Creek Market, which has room for 400 cars, is “a whole other ball game,” Bickel said.
Because the market is not actually a drive-in theater, equipment will be brought in to transform the venue for the event with the help of an AV and sound team, Bickel said. Local food trucks will also be on the scene to provide concessions, and regular concessions will be served at the Dixie Twin.
>> When are local movie theaters reopening?
Guests are also permitted to bring their own snacks and both locations will have safety protocols in place such as requiring employees to wear masks.
Tickets for the show go on sale Friday at noon for $100 per vehicle, and Kinzie said there’s no way to predict how fast they’ll go.
“There’s a lot of tickets up for grabs, but when you look at it per venue, there are only 300 to 500 tickets available at each venue, and so these are going to go really fast,” he said. “I would encourage you to prepare and to make sure you can get your hands on those tickets.”
Kinzie recommended knowing which theaters are closest to you before the ticketing window opens in case your first choice sells out quickly as well as getting on the Ticketmaster waiting room.
Whether additional drive-in concerts will be planned this summer will be decided after the Garth Brooks show is complete, Kinzie said.
“We are heads down on making sure that this Garth show is the absolute best experience for the fan possible, and any decisions about what we’re going to do next will be made after the Garth Brooks concert runs,” he said.
PARTICIPATING VENUES
Drive-ins in the area who have confirmed they are participating are listed below. Guests and staff at all locations will be required to follow CDC, state and local guidelines to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, according to the event’s Ticketmaster page.
Phone: (937) 382-1660
Address: 7763 OH-73, Wilmington, OH
Phone: (937) 890-5513
Address: 6201 N Dixie Drive, Dayton, OH
Phone: (937) 833-5015
Address: 7606 Pleasant Plain Road, Brookville, OH
Phone: (937) 492-5909
Address: 1409 4th Ave., Sidney, OH
Phone: (513) 929-2999
Address: 1816 Old Oxford Road, Hamilton, OH
Phone: (513) 734-2282
Address: 2255 OH-125, Amelia, OH
