Keith Urban was one of the very first artists to host a drive-in concert, after live shows were suspended because of COVID-19. For Keith, the idea came about simply because he wanted to play, although he never imagined how challenging putting the show together would become.
“[I was] just trying to stay active,” Keith told Variety. “The idea of the drive-in thing came around the beginning of April. [Doing it at a drive-in] was a bit of a no-brainer because you didn’t have to try and figure it out in a parking lot. The drive-in’s already designed to have the cars assembled all pointing at the same direction. And then you’ve got this big-a– screen behind you, prebuilt, just like any concert you go to with this mammoth video wall behind you. So it was just a simple case of, let’s build a stage in front of it and let’s start playing.
“The complicated part of it was insurance and all kinds of headaches that we started to run into in trying to put it together, in April/May when things were starting to get difficult for everyone and everything everywhere,” he continued. “We kept hitting these brick walls of how to put this show on. Eventually, we decided the best way would be to make it a charitable show where we don’t charge anybody, and we just gave away all the tickets to healthcare workers.”
Keith’s drive-in show, which took place just outside of Nashville, became a way for him to honor those working the hardest during the pandemic.
“I guess I approached it two ways,” Keith shared. “One was just like, well, let’s see if this idea works – a proof of concept kind of thing — but also let’s just give back to these guys and girls who are working so hard right now and see what happens from all of this. So I had a really good night and was really glad that we were able to pull it off. That was me emerging out of my little paralyzed cocoon, too.”
The Aussie has hinted at doing a World Tour in 2021. But even while he can’t go out and perform live shows to packed audiences right now, he vows he will still find ways to get in front of his fans.
“We’re going to figure it out,” Keith vowed to Billboard. “I’m not going to stay home … We’re in the midst of talking about how and where and when and all the rest of it. I think there’s even potential other modes that haven’t been explored yet. I’m interested in all of it right now. I tell you one thing, this has brought out an extraordinary creativity in a lot of people of how to do things, how to rethink the way we approach so much of what we do. A lot of us have gotten crazy creative in the last few months. Necessity is the mother of invention.”
Keith’s The Speed of Now Part 1 will be released on September 18.