A lot has changed since I last made a blog post. The COVID-19 pandemic, worldwide shutdowns, I moved the Dallas, Texas for 6 months, and I had the opportunity to work with Disco Donnie Presents while living there.
Instead of making separate posts for every drive-in concert I shot, I decided to make a master gallery of my favorite photos below. The concerts featured are:
August 28 - No Parking on the Dance Floor featuring Hippie Sabotage
September 21 - No Parking on the Dance Floor featuring Adventure Club and Kaivon
October 2 - No Parking on the Dance Floor featuring Sullivan King and Kai Wachi
October 27 - Major Lazer's Music is the Weapon Drive-In Tour (The only non No Parking on the Dance Floor event, but still hosted by Disco Donnie Presents)
November 20 - No Parking on the Dance Floor featuring NGHTMRE, Kompany, & black a.m.
The majority of the concerts took place at the Coyote Drive-In in Fort Worth, except for the NGHTMRE show which was held at Fair Park in South Dallas. The goal of these shows was to create a safe place to enjoy music during a time where we must remain socially distant. Due to the global pandemic, the Disco Donnie Presents team took precautionary measures on-site and there were rules and guidelines put in place for the fans, artists, and event staff.
Below are the rules and guidelines:
- Masks are required at all times when outside your vehicle. There will be a mandatory mask check upon entry. If you do not have a mask, you will be restricted to the inside of your vehicle, or you may go get one and come back. No exceptions.
- All cars must be turned off once you are parked. You are allowed to turn on your car for short periods of time to prevent your car from dying.
- Guests must remain at their ticketed screen except to use the facilities, buy merch, or concessions.
- Each vehicle must have a parking permit and a minimum of 2 people in the vehicle. Max of 6.
- Everyone must have either a driver ticket or a passenger ticket. All tickets will be scanned before entry.
- The event is 18+
- You are allowed to bring your own water, snacks, and beverages. You must always follow Texas traffic laws, this includes open containers of alcohol.
- Music will be played through the radio, look for signs posted around the venue to know what FM channel to turn to.
- Speed limit is 5 mph
- No honking. Please respect those around you.
- Do not park in the walkway, designated by the lights.
- Please do not sit on the top of your vehicle.
- Leave the space as you found it. No trash should be left behind for any reason.
- Max of 6 people is allowed. No RV's, campers, buses, or box trucks.
- No Uber/Lyft drop-offs will be allowed. Everyone must arrive in a vehicle with a parking permit and ticket.
Fans were also asked to practice a new meaning to PLUR.
P ractice social distancing.
L ook out for each other.
U se air hugs, not real hugs.
R espect the rules and guidelines put in place.
After photographing 5 of these shows, I can say that the rules and guidelines were enforced and followed, and I'm proud of the team at Disco Donnie Presents for putting so much hard work into giving people a safe place to experience live music again.
From a photographer's perspective, these shows were weird but still fun. When I'm shooting an event I feed off the energy of the fans and the human connection that music brings. I love shooting big crowd shots, intimate moments of friends and strangers sharing the same collective experience, and artists interacting with their fans or hanging backstage. With these drive-in shows the vibes were still there, but slightly off, and the way I had to go about capturing it was a challenge at first. Crowd shots turned into parking lots of cars, interactions were kept within your car pod, there was a 50-100 yard pit between the stage and the first row of cars, and backstage was locked down to artists and select staff only. Overall I was just happy to be back doing what I love and surrounded by live music again, and I'm thankful for Disco Donnie Presents for bringing me onto their team for these shows.
