The “New” Venue Brings Live Concerts Back to the Fans
A year ago, if we told you that the biggest excitement in the live event industry would be people attending drive-in shows in their cars, you would have written us off as crazy. However, we’re living in some crazy times these days and with festivals, sheds and indoor venues shuttered due to Covid-19 concerns, that vintage 1950’s vibe of the drive-in is back — in a big way. If you’re watching a movie at one of the 160 Walmart packing lots offering evening cinema experiences (from August through October) or checking out the plethora of simulcast/tape delayed live concerts coming to makeshift drive-in setups, you can enjoy a great evening of entertainment. However, when listening to a low-power FM broadcast through your car speakers, the fury and punch of a concert P.A. is missing.
We decided to check in on some alternative shows — still in the drive-in format, yet featuring actual performers on stage and enough P.A. to rock the house. Certainly this is hardly like a packed festival experience, but for fans — and crews — anxious to get out of the house, this is a welcome step towards normalcy.
Live Nation’s “Live from the Drive-In” — St. Louis, MO
Over the weekend of July 10, Live Nation brought live music back to three sheds in St. Louis, Nashville, and Indianapolis, with Friday, Saturday and Sunday performances in the three cities. But by “sheds” we mean the parking lots. But these lots could hold a thousand cars, so full-blown productions including delay video screens and speakers were involved. Live Nation turned to local vendors to supply all the gear except backline. FRONT of HOUSE’s own Kevin M. Mitchell was on hand to check out the weekend of shows in St. Louis.
Chip Self of St. Louis-based Logic Systems Sound & Lighting got the call to supply lighting, audio, and most of the video. It was Brad Paisley Friday night; Pink Floyd Tribute band El Monstero on Saturday; and rapper Nelly on Sunday. Shows had no openers, started at 7:30 pm. El Monstero brought in pyro by Gateway Pyrotechnics.
Arriving just in time for the biggest gig Self had since mid-march, a truck rolled up to Logic Systems to deliver a PK Sound Trinity line array rig. (So far, Logic and Clair Global are the only sound companies in the USA to have Trinity.) Self planned to roll it out for a July 10 weekend of concerts at St. Louis’ Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre with Brad Paisley on Friday; Pink Floyd Tribute band El Monstero, Saturday; and rapper Nelly on Sunday. As a real-world test for its “Live from the Drive-In” concept, Live Nation also hosted similar concerts in Nashville and Indianapolis those same three nights.
James “Pugsley” McDermott, Dierks Bentley’s FOH engineer, was onsite on behalf of PK to provide training and support for the system. Years ago, he was invited to PK Sound and was “completely blown away” by a new system from a company he hadn’t even heard of, although PK products were already a hit in the EDM market. “They developed these subs for EDM, and that music is very processed,” but it doesn’t mean it can’t work for genres with richer dynamics, as was certainly proven that weekend in St. Louis. “If you have a system of extreme frequency content, the system can easily be adapted to get those pure acoustic guitar tones, etc. They fixed a lot of issues that other systems were saddled with.”
McDermott has been using the Trinity for Bentley with great results. “This system is so efficient I rarely need to push them. The pressure sensors inside the powered boxes make corrections in real-time.” He cites the construction of the box as a reason they don’t need to add too much DSP. “PK discovered they can fix a lot of the issues in terms horizontal and vertical coverage mechanically as opposed to fixing them via DSP. Too much DSP colors the sound in a way that I just don’t care for. These boxes are just so well-designed that they can’t do bad things, only good things.”
According to Self, “The number one goal was to provide as much of a ‘real’ concert experience as we could, given the circumstances. Although we only had an audience of around 4,000, the space was more in line with what would usually be 70-80,000 people. As a result, the sound system was much larger and more sophisticated than one would normally have for an audience that size.” The system included main left/right hangs, out-fill arrays and four delay towers. Given the scale of the space, delay towers were well over 400’ from the stage. A wired connection would have required truckloads of cable and cable ramp, so Shure wireless (PSM1000 transmitters and UHF-R receivers) with PSW Helical antennas transmitted audio wirelessly from FOH to each tower. Logic’s PK system includes 32 Trinity 12s, 24 Trinity 10s and 30 Gravity 218 subwoofers. Self was thrilled with how the system performed for all three diverse musical groups.
Crew and attendees were required to complete a COVID screening questionnaire and have a temperature check before entering the site. The staff and crew were required to wear masks when in proximity to other workers. Meal catering was split into shifts. Each car got two spaces — one for the car and one to set up lawn chairs. Metal barricades were set up to simplify social distancing. Before the show, video screens ran reminders to wear masks while outside the cars, and the audience, grateful to be out, obliged.
“On the planning end, we all knew that the eyes of the world were on us (and the audience) to prove the concept, so others can follow,” Self notes. “Live Nation did an exceptional job creating a plan that worked for everyone. I hope people appreciate the effort, passion and anxiety the entire crew put into making this successful.”
For more info about Logic Systems Sound & Lighting, visit www.logicsound.com.
“Drive-In Live” Featuring Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes — Monmouth Park, NJ
Shuttered since the middle of March, the Count Basie Center for the Arts —a performing arts center in Red Bank, NJ — was looking for a new way to generate income. Working with regional sound company ACIR Professional (Mays Landing, NJ), the Basie Center came up with a plan to do a series of live drive-in concerts at the nearby Monmouth Park Raceway. The first show (also broadcast live on “The Boss” radio FM 107.1) featured Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes on July 11, 2020, followed by more evenings of sold-out performances by bands and comedians.
“For the Southside Johnny show, we brought in a 16-box d&b audiotechnik J-series rig (eight J12s/side), with M4’s for monitors,” says ACIR Pro’s manager John Grasso. Low-end was handled by six ground-stacked d&b triple-18 cardioid subwoofers; and Yamaha CL5 digital consoles were selected for FOH and monitor duties.
“The site has a natural slope upward and we kept the FOH footprint as small as possible to make more room for cars, to maximize revenue for The Basie,” Grasso notes, adding that concern for concern for safety for both crews and performers was paramount. “Our wireless count went up a little bit, with 12 channels of Shure UR’s, because anyone who was performing — comedians, singers, emcees — each got their own stick for all day that had been disinfected.”
The overall sound was a combination of P.A. and radio transmission. “We also broadcast the show over FM to the cars. That worked out well and was kinda neat, because I mixed the car audio from inside my air-conditioned car using an iPad. I monitored using my car stereo, because I felt that what everyone else was listening on. As they say, ‘necessity is the mother of invention.’ We mounted a ground plane antenna onto a speaker stand, tied it into the FOH tent and got 15-feet of height, which provided plenty of line-of-sight to the other cars.”
As always, sync can be an issue. “We had 16 J12 boxes hung next to the stage, which would cover the first 400 feet with the P.A.,” Grasso explains. “The people in the front VIP section and the super hardcore South Side Johnnie fans were all down front, and I delayed the FM broadcast to about 400 feet, where the second set of video screens were. The music would be out of sync to the video, but as you got farther from the P.A., around the 400-450 foot mark, you could roll down your car window and the P.A. would be in sync to the radio sound. Farther back in the parking lot, the P.A. rolled off and wouldn’t interfere with what you were hearing. We could have brought in delay stacks, but that would have complicated the system.”
Besides benefitting the non-profit Basie Center, the “Drive-In Live” shows also raised proceeds for the New Jersey Pandemic Relief Fund (NJPRF) and the New Jersey Arts and Culture Recovery Fund.
For more info about ACIR Professional, visit www.acirpro.com.
Live at the Lot, Grafton, WI
Kapco Metal Stamping sponsored the first live socially distanced concert/movie series in the Milwaukee area. Partnering with production company KNE Staging, along with local vendors Go Audio and Proline Entertainment, Kapco successfully created the “Live at the Lot” series of 60+ car “drive-in” style live performance and movie events, set up in the company’s spacious parking lot.
Nashville recording artists Thompson Square kicked off the initial two-week run on June 5, 2020, with the duo performing acoustic in front of 50 cars comprised of frontline health care workers and first responders. This was a free show sponsored by Kapco giving back to them for their tireless work since the pandemic began. With no other concerts from national acts happening in the Milwaukee area, the public response to Live at the Lot was overwhelming and the all the shows — featuring live performances, typically followed by screenings of classic films — quickly sold out.
“We utilized our Stageline SL100 for the run,” said Sean Becker of KNE, who also provided trussing and a 24-foot screen. “All the groups were well spaced out and were really happy with the feeling of safety that the Stageline name carries.”
In addition to a Christie Boxer 4K30 video projector, sound company Go Audio (Franklin, WI) supplied a Martin Audio P.A. system comprised of W8LM mains, WSX subs and W8VDQ delays as well as an FM transmitter allowing people to seamlessly enjoy the show inside or outside their cars.
“Although the W8LM is older technology, it worked out great for this event,” said Go Audio president Brian Ingwell, adding “its small size and weight allowed us to meet the load limits of the SL100, and the W8LM is still the fullest sounding small-format line array element I’ve ever heard. Artists and audiences were both pleased with the results.”
A Yamaha QL5 digital console at stage left handled monitors. FOH was mixed on the same desk via a tablet to conserve space in the parking lot for more cars. A combination of national acts and local favorites graced the stage with all acts providing their own vocal microphones and IEM’s, if desired. All other mics, DI’s, stands and cables were carefully cleaned and disinfected after each act.
With the success of the June shows — the only glitch being the cancellation of one concert on June 20 due to heavy storms — a second (also sold-out) run kicked off in mid-July. All net proceeds benefitted Camp Hometown Heroes, Camp Reunite and Turning Rivers, all supporting youth facing trauma.
For more info about Go Audio, visit www.goaudiolive.com.
To download a PDF of this story, go to www.plsn.me/FOH-Drive.
