Boxoffice Insider: Live And Outside – Summer Concerts In Homestretch

Singer Jack Met
Frank Hoensch / Redferns – Singer Jack Met
leads AJR during a Dec. 4, 2019, show at the Kesselhaus in Berlin, Germany.

Jumping on the list of artists with recent drive-in concerts is indie pop trio AJR, now topping that tally with the highest reported gross of the summer. The New York-based band comprising brothers Adam, Jack and Ryan Metzger logged a boxoffice haul of $323,496 from two outdoor drive-in shows in Philadelphia during the final weeks of the summer season.

The concerts were held Aug. 19-20 at Citizens Bank Park, the city’s Major League Baseball stadium, which worked in tandem with promoter Live Nation this summer to host the “Live-In Drive-In” concert series. The ballpark configured a space for up to 850 vehicles in the parking lot for live events that kicked off Aug. 16 with a performance by comedian Bert Kreischer.

AJR, the third artist to appear in the series, was originally booked for one show on the Aug. 19, but a quick sellout led to a second performance the following evening. Dubbed “A Night In Your Car With AJR” by the band, the concerts both sold out, with a total of 1,708 automobiles admitted over both nights. Tickets were priced from $99.50 to $250 for each car with up to four people inside.
Other shows during summer’s homestretch at Citizens Bank Park have included The Struts, The Front Bottoms and Pigeons Playing Ping Pong. The Philly ballpark will continue to host live shows through Labor Day.

Another brother act, Australian Christian music duo For King & Country, also staged a string of live shows in outdoor environments this summer, reporting four events.

Top box office results came from fans in the St. Louis market, where the brothers played two nights in the parking lot at Powerplex STL, a sports complex in a former shopping mall in the suburb of Hazelwood, Mo. The concerts on July 10 and 11 generated a gross of $158,150 from 2,470 sold tickets. Admission prices to the concerts, organized by local Christian radio stations 99.1 Joy FM and Boost 101.9 FM, were $150 and $200 per vehicle, with up to six people allowed. There was also a single VIP ticket price of $75 for socially distanced seats near the stage.

For King & Country’s St. Louis shows followed another live appearance earlier in July. On July 4, the band played sold-out shows at 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. at the 13-24 Drive-In in Wabash, Ind., the group’s first live shows since the March live entertainment shutdown precipitated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Total box office earnings from both shows reached $82,581.

Later in the month, on July 24, the duo performed for people in stadium seating rather than in cars in a parking lot. The socially distanced show was held at the Ozarks Amphitheater in Camdenton, Mo., with 2,416 fans present. With a gross registering $75,440 from tickets priced at $20 and $75, the show was the only performance able to proceed at the Missouri venue this summer while most other events were cancelled due to the coronavirus.

Finally, For King & Country ended July with a sold-out show on July 31 at the Holiday Twin Drive-In in Fort Collins, Colo. The venue welcomed fans in 520 automobiles with prices ranging from $225 to $350 with a limit of four attendees per car, and the show grossed $66,275. Like the band’s Hazelwood and Camdenton gigs, Echosmith provided support. (On July 1, the Fort Collins venue hosted Kreischer for two performances that grossed $114,069.)

For King & Country’s drive-in dates are booked stateside through the end of October. The band’s 2021 plans currently include a full tour launch in February.