With Covid putting a halt on concerts for now, it’s been hard for many music lovers to adjust to the lack of live music. Artists have done an amazing job getting creative with ways to interact with fans and do what they love. There have been live-stream concerts, listening parties, little short shows here and there on Instagram, Facebook, Twitch and Youtube. However, it still difficult to live in this new normal – a normal that doesn’t include attending a live music performance in your favorite concert venue along with hundreds of fellow fans.
One creative approach to delivering live music has been by way of drive in concerts. A few have been popping up here and there – The Struts, Grace Potter, Andrew McMahon, and Third Eye Blind are among the few artists to recently take to the stage in front of an audience in cars. When The Front Bottoms announced that they would be performing two shows in this fashion, one in Philadelphia and one in New Jersey, I figured that I should at least check it out. First of all, I love The Front Bottoms and have always enjoyed their shows, and second, live music is what I do – figured I should at least try to get on board with a new way of doing things, at least for now.
So, with all these things in mind, I purchased tickets for my first drive in concert.
The Logistics
Philadelphia is just under a 2 hour drive for me. I have traveled to Philly a few times for concerts, but I prefer D.C.; however, D.C. has yet to host a drive in concert, so Philly it was. When we arrived at Citizen’s Bank Park, there was already a line forming on one side street and another on the main street. We jumped in the shorter of the two lines, but there was no method for getting into the actual park. When they opened the gates, those separate roads – the side road and main road – had to funnel into about 3 lanes when entering the park entrance.
While waiting in line, a few workers brought dogs around and had people pop their trunks. That was the extent of the car search. Tickets HAD to be printed for this – no mobile tickets would be accepted – and once they scanned our ticket, they wrote our section on the windshield of our car. From there, we followed the arrows (and other cars) to the parking spots. Attendants directed the line of cars and spots where given in order as the cars showed up – no picking spots – you got what you got.
Gates opened at 6 PM and the show started at 7:30 PM. The sun sets behind the stage, so the start time was perfect for the audience not having to deal with the sun in their eyes. You could order food through a QR Code but the website was annoying and wonky. Food was mediocre – burgers, hot dogs, chicken tenders, fries – things like that. No alcohol that I saw and according to the list of “prohibited items” outside alcohol could not be brought in (but no one searched the cooler). You could bring your own food and non-alcoholic drinks.
There could be no more than 4 people to a vehicle and it appeared that most people followed this rule – although I did spot a few vehicles with 5 people, so maybe a few were able to sneak an extra person in. There were plenty of port-a-pots, hand washing stations, and attendants wiping down door handles. Masks had to be worn when leaving your car – which would only be to go to the bathroom. They really enforced the “stay at your car” rule. You could not set up chairs in the empty spaces and you had to be IN or ON your personal vehicle.
The Concert
The Front Bottoms took the stage right at 7:30 PM and they were the only performance. There was no opening band. The crowd was clearly happy to be there and the band seemed to be having fun as well. The Front Bottoms just released their new album, In Sickness and in Flames (appropriate title for the times) but they didn’t flood their playlist with all new songs. They played several fan favorites such as “Twin Size Mattress”, “Maps”, “Ocean”, “Cough it Out”, and “Vacation Town”.
The band played great, but the sound wasn’t terrific. I’m not entirely sure if it is just because it’s a new set-up or because it was the band’s first show since 2019, but the sound was not at the level of a legitimate concert. You could play the stream through the radio which was probably much needed for the cars in the back, but we were 4 rows from the stage and it was not nearly loud enough.
The encore was definitely a cool part of the evening. After the band left the stage after their main set, the audience showed their desire for more by flashing their lights and honking their horns. That part was pretty neat and not something you’d get at a typical concert. The band returned for a few more songs, appropriately ending the night with “Au Revoir (Adios)” just as it started to rain from a storm that was moving in.
Leaving the parking lot went probably as you would imagine it would go – several rows of cars attempting to funnel out into a two lane road. We left immediately after their last song and it only took us about 20 minutes to get out of the lot; however, I’m sure some cars were waiting a good length of time. The show ended just after 9 PM.
My Honest Opinion
Before I give my thoughts on this style of concert, keep in mind, I have attended A LOT of shows in my lifetime, especially within the last 11 years. I’ve seen bands in small clubs, large clubs, amphitheaters, arenas, festivals… you name it. I went into this experience hopeful but also really homesick for that live music experience. On a scale of 1 to 10, I would give my experience a 6 and here’s why:
Tickets for these drive in shows start at just over $100. There is a limit of one ticket per vehicle and a max of 4 guests per vehicle. For this particular show, tickets started at $129 for the “Blue Zone”, then $149 for the “Red Zone” and finally, what was considered their prime section, the “Gold Zone”, you paid $199. This was all before taxes and service charges. So, you say – “Well, that’s not too bad. That’s an average of $25-$50 per person if you have four guests per vehicle.” Right – it’s not that bad of a price. Until you get there and see the “Zones”. I took a screen shot of the map to show how the space is laid out. The purple box up front is the stage position. The arrows are how you enter and the purple lines half way back are where the screens are set up. The letters represent the zones which are described below.
The Blue Zone
The stage was positioned at the very front of the lot. From the stage to where the “Blue Zone started was about 500 feet and extended to the back of the lot which was about 800 feet from the stage. The attendees in this zone mostly watched the live performance from giant screens positioned at the start of this zone and most likely had to stream the sound on their car radio. If I were going to attend another one of these shows, having seen how far back you were from the stage, I would pay the extra money to have a closer spot.
The Red Zone
The “Red Zone” was on the far left and right of the stage just outside of the “Gold Zone” which was center, but reached to the far edges of the giant screens attached to the left and right of the stage. I can’t imagine this section was very big because we were probably about 8 car spots from the end of the lot, and we were in “Gold”. Some cars were parked horizontal to the stage along the fence where the port-a-pots were and I am thinking maybe that was the “Red Zone”.
The Gold Zone
The best view and the best sound was the “Gold Zone” which was intended to be the “front and center” spot. However, this zone wasn’t actually limited to the front of the stage. It extended to the edge of the giant screens to the left or right of the stage. Since they fill you in as you arrive from right to left, you don’t get to choose your spot. So you could get there early and still end up on the far left or right of the stage instead of center – which you would think you would be placed. We were there about 40 minutes before doors and ended up car rows back and to the far right of the stage in front of one of the giant screens. Like I said in the post, the sound wasn’t terrific and we were maybe 100 feet from the stage.
All said and done, it was a pretty expensive night and a 4 hour car drive for an hour and a half of live music. The lights were amazing. The band was having fun. The crowd was energetic, courteous, and obvious fans of The Front Bottoms. The Live Nation employees were organized, and the lot was very spacious. It was nice to be able to chill in the car at times and have our own food and drinks, and had the sound been better, I may have said, “Yes – this was worth it”. However, it was nothing like it would have been seeing a show at The Fillmore or Merriweather or 930 Club. Not even close.
I love The Front Bottoms and was happy to support them by attending this show and gaining this new experience. They put on a great show and I’m sure it felt good for them to perform again in front of their fans. But it would have to take an absolute top favorite band to come around for me to attend another drive in concert. Maybe I’m just not ready for this change quite yet.
In the meantime, I’ll support the music industry by purchasing band merch, albums, and other in other ways until we get through this pandemic and can get on with real concerts again.
Enjoy these photos from The Front Bottoms’ first drive in concert at Citizen’s Bank Park in Philadelphia on August 23, 2020. All photos copyright and courtesy of Shantel Mitchell Breen.
