BRACKLEY, P.E.I. — Blake Shelton is the next big artist coming to the Brackley Drive-In.
Owner Bob Boyle said things went so well with the Garth Brooks show on June 27 that he quickly reached an agreement with Texas-based Encore Drive-In Nights to simulcast a show featuring Shelton, Gwen Stefani and Trace Adkins.
The concert was pre-taped specifically for drive-in theatres.
The broadcast will happen on Saturday, July 25, with tickets now on sale exclusively through Ticketmaster.
The Brooks show sold out at the Brackley Drive-In. Boyle was able to fit 112 cars in on his second field, which features the new screen.
“The feedback from customers was that it was an entertaining evening, so we took that as a positive sign and decided to go forward with this because it is new, fresh content," Boyle said.
"It’s definitely been a challenging summer playing older movies. Crowds are lighter than they would be normally."
For the Shelton concert, Boyle will be simulcasting the show on both screens, which will allow him to squeeze in up to 270 cars. And, since it’s on both screens, Boyle said he will be able to turn up the sound.
For the Brooks show, while the concert was shown on the second screen, the drive-in had movies playing on the main screen.
Boyle said there were some complaints from those who were there to watch the movies.
“We had competing sounds. The people watching the concert had no idea the movie was being shown, but for people watching the film there was some distraction from the concert part."
Boyle said people watching the concert often flashed their headlights, honked their horns and applauded. People watching the movies in the adjacent field found that party atmosphere a bit distracting. That problem will be rectified at the Shelton concert.
The Brooks show was taped a week before it was broadcast so it could be shipped out to drive-ins across North America. Boyle said if all goes well this summer, Encore is looking at outfitting all drive-ins with a satellite service that can simulcast live. If that comes to be, it will be next summer before live concerts could be broadcast.
COMEDY FESTIVAL
Boyle is also working with various groups of comedians in the Maritimes on what he is calling the Brackley Drive-in Comedy Festival.
“I’ve been approached by four different groups of comedians. Like many local performers, they’re unable to perform and COVID-19 has given them the opportunity to write some new material.’’
Boyle has been in touch with Yuk Yuks in Halifax, a comedian in New Brunswick who took part in a variety show at the drive-in in Sussex, N.B., and local talent such as Dennis Trainor, a P.E.I. actor who has starred in shows like Pogey Beach and Wharf Rats.
Boyle said he and Trainor have been talking about the actor doing an updated version of Pogey Beach and combining that with a showing of the 2019 comedy film that features a naïve 19-year-old from Toronto who moves to P.E.I. with her overprotective father.
Boyle said there are a lot of details to work out, but he expects to kick off the comedy festival in early August.
MOVIES
Boyle said there is no fresh content on the immediate horizon, explaining that studios continue to push product back due to the situation with the pandemic in the United States.
Boyle said ticket sales at the drive-in for movies are down 60 per cent compared to the past five years.
What frustrates him the most is why a studio would put out a movie like Greyhound, starring Tom Hanks, on Apple TV rather than reach a deal with movie theatres that are open and the drive-in industry in North America.
He explained that studios will often release a movie in New York and Los Angeles to create a buzz before giving product a wider release. He thinks the same thing should be done with content that has been sold to streaming services these past few months.
“Right now, the music industry is more supportive of drive-ins at this point and time than (movie) studios are.’’
At a glance
Following is a summary of what’s coming up at the Brackley Drive-In:
- The Drive-in Festival kicks off on Friday, July 24, at the Brackley Drive-In. It will pop up at locations from tip to tip on P.E.I., and will run weekly until mid-September. The festival is a project of Small Halls Inc.
- Blake Shelton, Gwen Stefani and Trace Adkins are among performers in a show that will be simulcast live to drive-ins across North America on Saturday, July 25. Tickets are on sale through Ticketmaster.
- Tentative plans are in place to launch the Brackley Drive-In Comedy Festival in early August. It could include an updated version of the film Pogey Beach with P.E.I. actor Dennis Trainor, as well as a showing of the 2019 movie.
