COVID-19 looked like it was spelling out the end of live music festivals everywhere, at least until 2021. Even with quarantine restrictions being lifted in New Brunswick, gatherings of more than 50 people are currently out of the question. Pocologan Productions, the people behind Pocologan Camp Party, just weren’t prepared to accept a summer without live music. They’ve partnered with the Sussex Drive-In theatre to bring music back to New Brunswick while still maintaining proper social distancing practices.
Much like any drive-in theatre event, 300 vehicles (half the usual number) will be able to pull into the theatre, with audio transmitted directly through their radios via the drive-in’s FM transmitter. The only notable difference to the experience is that the show will feature two live bands and a comedian, with a projecting onto the drive-in’s 4-storey big screen in real-time.
“For people like us who host events for their community, we don’t do it for the money. You have a drive for it. When the rug gets pulled from underneath you, the drive is still there,” says Pocologan Productions Director Jeff Keleher. “It started off as a need to satisfy that drive, but it’s turned into this giant, magical, group effort. We hope this will continue to be a platform for as long it’s needed.”
The event will include performances from New Brunswick’s unofficial spokesperson and comedian laureate James Mullinger, Pocologan Camp Party veterans Jamie Comeau & The Crooked Teeth, and two-time ECMA winners The Divorcees.
“I could not be more excited about this,” says Mullinger, who has been performing quite regularly from his living room via Zoom. “Finally getting out of the house to do the job that I love with actual real people in front of me! And with some of my favourite bands. In my favourite town of Sussex, New Brunswick where I did my first ever New Brunswick gig in the summer of 2010. This is going to be so awesome.”
It will also be a special evening for The Divorcees, as it will see the return of founding member, Jason Haywood, after an absence of more than ten years.
“I’m extremely excited, but relieved as well,” says Shawn Thomas of The Divorcees. “The initial conversations were that there’d be no entertainment until 2021 or further notice, so the band and I are really excited to see people with initiative finding safe ways to work around these current restrictions. I just couldn’t imagine a whole summer without live shows or festivals.”
The event takes place on Friday, June 12, 2020, beginning at dusk, with the gates opening at 8:00pm. Tickets are $45 per car, or $20 per person. Tickets can be purchased online via Pocologan.ca. All profits will be donated to the Rotary Club of Sussex.