Boxoffice Insider: Drive-In Shows Abound

Steve Thrasher – Andrew McMahon at the Drive-In
Andrew McMahon performs with special guest KT Tunstall on July 10, 11, and 12 at City Grove of Anaheim’s Drive-In in Orange County, Calif.

The summer at the drive-in continues in North America with more and more concerts staged in outdoor settings for fans hungry for live entertainment. In both U.S. and Canadian cities, artists and talent buyers are jumping on the drive-in bandwagon to ensure the safest environment possible for concert attendees.

Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness makes his mark as a drive-in performer in this summer of 2020, scoring a gross of $170,900 in Pollstar’s Live Boxoffice tallies from three recent drive-in concerts at the City National Grove of Anaheim, Calif. He performed as part of the “Drive-In OC” series staged in the venue’s parking lot featuring live concerts this year along with other events such as movie screenings.

McMahon, who hails from Orange County, played the first live shows in the series on July 10, 11 and 12 in celebration of the 15th anniversary of Everything in Transit, the critically acclaimed 2005 album by his former band, Jack’s Mannequin. He performed the album in its entirety along with music from the band Something Corporate, earlier in his career, as well as his other solo work.

Tickets were priced from $200 to $350 per vehicle with the number of passengers not to exceed the number of safety belted seats, as stated on the “Drive-In OC” website. All three of McMahon’s shows were sellouts with a total attendance count logged at 2,325. Los Angeles-based Nederlander Concerts promoted the shows and will also be presenting another “Drive-In OC” event on Sept. 5 and 6 starring headliner Fitz and the Tantrums.

In Canada country artist and Alberta native Brett Kissel also joins the ranks of drive-in headliners this summer. The two-time Juno Award winner played a string of drive-in concerts set in venue parking lots with multiple shows offered to fans. First up was a two-day affair at River Cree Resort and Casino located in the Edmonton market where he played eight concerts on June 13 and 14. Box office revenue totaled $39,486 from all shows.

Steve Thrasher – KT Tunstall
KT Tunstall was special guest on Andrew McMahon’s three sold-out drive-in concerts put on by Nederlander Concerts July 10-12 in Orange County, which grossed more than $170,000.

Like most drive-in events, tickets for the Kissel concerts were sold per vehicle rather than per person. His ticket prices included a $60 general admission as well as a premium ticket of $100. At the Edmonton engagement, all eight shows were sellouts, while overall attendance during the two-day run reached 5,760.

Kissel also included two stops in Saskatchewan on his summer drive-in tour beginning with three shows on Saturday, June 20 in a parking lot outside the Brandt Centre in Regina. Although box office data is not available yet for his concerts there, sold ticket results have been reported for three performances the following weekend in Saskatoon. He played for a total of 2,820 fans in the city’s SaskTel Centre parking lot on June 27 for a gross of $37,062.

For the concert series in Alberta, Kissel joined forces with Safeway Canada to raise funds for Food Banks Alberta and Enoch Cree Nation with all money raised supporting food banks across the province. In Regina, the Regina Exhibition Association Limited (REAL) that hosted the event also raised funds for local food banks. At the third engagement, the arena collected donations for the Saskatoon Food Bank and Learning Centre.