Garth Brooks turns to drive-ins to keep the music going

TAMPA, Fla. - Decades after it began, the Garth Brooks star power shines on. 

“And it’s grown over the years,” says WQYK radio host ‘J.R.’ “I mean, he took 17 years off and he’s still selling out stadiums. It’s insane.”

But Brooks and the entire concert industry was shut down by COVID-19.

“When COVID-19 hit, it wreaked havoc on my business,” lamented Walter Kinzie of Encore Live, which promotes concerts and other events. 

Kinzie had an idea that Garth Brooks could perform in a venue that everyone remembers. 

“When I was a kid, when I wanted to see something entertainment-based, we went to the drive-in theater in Coffeyville, Kansas.”

As it turns out, the drive-ins are still there.

“The more we looked at it and did our homework, there are hundreds of these things,” said Kinzie. 

Kinzie pitched the idea to Brooks.

“He immediately got it,” Kinzie continued. “He immediately recognized, ‘I need to do something my fans have never seen before,’ and he got to work.”

Kinzie won’t give away any surprises in the recorded show that will play at the drive-ins. He says it will appear on nearly 300 screens across North America on Saturday, June 27. 

“If anybody can pull off a drive-in concert, it’s Garth Brooks,” offered J.R. “These are all new times in anything you do; going to a restaurant, going to a market, coming to work or not coming to work. “

Or in this case, seeing a superstar perform from the comfort of your car. 

Tickets go on sale this Friday, June 19, through Ticketmaster. The cost is $100 per car. 

LINK: Visit www.ticketmaster.com/GarthBrooks for a list of participating drive-ins.