The company that brought “Garth Brooks: A Drive-In Concert Experience” to 300 drive-in movie theaters nationwide in late June is launching a whole series of drive-in concerts starting with country superstar Blake Shelton.
Shelton will be joined by girlfriend Gwen Stefani and fellow country big man Trace Adkins on July 25 for the inaugural Encore Drive-In Nights concert. The performance, which will be filmed live but not streamed live, will be shown in hundreds of theaters nationwide including four in the Tucson area: the El Toro Flicks location at 1690 E. Tangerine Road in Oro Valley and 198 S. Granada Ave. in downtown Tucson; the Pima County Fairgrounds, 11300 S. Houghton Road; and Tucson Dragway Drive-In, 12000 S. Houghton Road.
Admission is $114.99 per carload of up to six people through ticketmaster.com; tickets were to go on sale at noon Tuesday, July 14.
The Shelton concert is the first in what Encore officials said will be a series of live concerts broadcast to drive-in theaters. For music fans, it’s an answer to the live entertainment blackout caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Concert venues nationwide have been shuttered since mid-March and most remain closed as many artists postpone tour plans through 2020.
“After the overwhelming response to Garth Brooks’ drive-in concert feature, we knew we had to launch Encore Drive-In Nights to provide music fans across the USA and Canada the chance to see their favorite artists in a cool new way,” said Encore Live Founder and CEO Walter Kinzie. “We can’t wait to bring music’s biggest stars to outdoor movie screens all across North America so that people can get back out there again and safely enjoy engaging in in-person experiences.”
Brooks’ concert on June 27 brought in 350,000 fans to 300 drive-in theaters nationwide, Encore officials said.
