Beginning on the 17th of July and running through until mid September, each event will be welcoming up to 300 vehicles, with concert-goers welcome to stand in allocated spaces or sit in their own fold-out chairs as well as their cars. Pets, umbrellas, and externally brought food will however not be permitted. Events are set to be staged across twelve UK cities that include Liverpool, Edinburgh, Birmingham, and Bristol, and though London is also billed to be hosting several gigs, a venue has yet to be confirmed.

ON SALE: #UtilitaLiveFromTheDriveIn heads across the UK this summer feat. The Streets, Kaiser Chiefs, Gary Numan, Cream Classical Ibiza, Dizzee Rascal, Beverley Knight & more!

See the full line-up & get your tickets now https://t.co/BJnoovcZcd @UtilitaEnergy pic.twitter.com/vrOXsHWr64

— Live Nation UK (@LiveNationUK) June 22, 2020

In contrast to the numerous virtual music events that have taken place during lockdown, Live Nation promoted their tour dates by stating that “there is nothing that compares to you seeing your favourite musician or band on that stage”, though there are plenty in the industry who disagree. When The Guardian’s Kitty Empire recently spoke with a variety of artists, agents, labels, and venues, she noted that “no one … had anything positive to say about physically distanced gigs. At all”. Stuart Braithwaite of Scottish post-rock band Mogwai said: “with record sales dropping and streaming being so weighted in favour of the streaming companies, it’s going to be hard for a lot of musicians to live off their work”.  

Braithwaite also warned that artists fees could change drastically over the next few years, something that Live Nation has already received criticism for when it reduced artists’ fees to 20% last week. With live music tours grinding completely to a halt as a result of the pandemic-enforced lockdown, the company underwent a share price drop from £60 to £23 in March, meaning that these drive-in shows will surely be vital to prevent them from going under.

Unlike the other listed artists, tickets to see The Streets perform will be made available for general sale on Friday. But if you were hoping to see Kaiser Chiefs from behind the wheel this summer then I’m afraid you’re out of luck; their two shows in Lincoln and Milton Keynes have already sold out. The cities and venues taking part in the drive-in gigs are listed below, whilst you can buy your tickets here.

Utilita Live From The Drive-In Participating Venues

Birmingham, Resorts World Arena

Bolton, University of Bolton Stadium

Bristol, Filton Airfield

Cheltenham, Cheltenham Racecourse

Edinburgh, The Royal Highland Centre

Leeds, Leeds East Airport

Lincoln , Lincolnshire Showground

Liverpool, Central Docks Liverpool Waters

London, *TBA*

Milton Keynes, The National Bowl

Newmarket, Newmarket Racecourse

Teesside, Teesside International Airport

Singer-songwriter Gavin James has been named as the headline act for the event, with his latest single ‘Boxes’ shared on 15th May. The song has reached over a million streams, as has the lyric video on YouTube, featuring a cartoon Gavin James sending a positive message to fans. Further acts are soon to be announced.

Set to be held throughout July and August, the drive-in will utilise large spaces to allow adherence to Government and World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines. For each date, there will be a matinee and an evening show, which will run at 4pm and 8pm and situate up to 300 cars. Find the full show dates at the end of this post.

To provide support to all the workers who have come together to make this event happen, attendees will purchase tickets priced at €60 per car. These will go on sale tomorrow, Friday 29th May, at 9am on the official ‘Live at the Drive-In’ website.

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We are delighted to announce a drive in concert tour of Ireland with @gavinjameslive #gavinjames #liveatthedrivein #driveinconcerts #livemusic #irishtour #mpiartists #irishmusicparty #irishmusic #boxes #boxestour

A post shared by Live At The Drive In Ireland (@liveatthedriveintour) on May 26, 2020 at 1:23am PDT

Mick Dolan, promoter of the event, made a statement in which he said “The past few months have been a very difficult time for the music industry. We are facing into a summer period where the traditional festival offering and big gig line-ups just won’t be happening.” He continued, bringing fans the good news, “Limerick deserves something special and something unique to look forward to, so we have teamed up with the local authority to bring the concept of the Drive-In concerts to Limerick.”

As the headline act, Gavin James was asked to choose a charity to donate a portion of the proceeds to; the artist chose the Down Syndrome Centre, which provides support to families and carers of people with Down syndrome.

Full Tour Dates:

24/07/2020 – The Greenpark Site – Limerick, Ireland
31/07 – Showgrounds – Cork, Ireland
07/08 – Tramore Promenade – Waterford, Ireland
10/08 – Gowran Racecourse – Kilkenny, Ireland