APART, TOGETHER
Despite being unable to
perform for crowds due
to coronavirus-related
restrictions on public
gatherings, Los Angeles-
based musicians Ben
Babbitt, Booker Stardrum
(right), Celia Hollander,
Jeremiah Chiu and Marta
Sofia Honer teamed with
nonprofit radio station
dublab to organize a
“drive-in concert” in a
grocery-store parking
lot in the city’s Echo Park
neighborhood. Over the
course of the evening,
the performers used
a hyperlocal FM radio
transmitter to broadcast
their sets to listeners in
about 50 cars parked in
the lot and around 900
people who tuned in
from home using dublab’s
website livestream.DRIVE-IN CONCERT
LOS ANGELES, MARCH 16
PHOTOGRAPHED BY BRIAN GUIDOHollander described the event on Instagram as a place “for us to
gather safely — isolated, yet together.”While the majority of listeners
at the Vons/Taco Zone lot
remained inside their cars, a
few, including cinematographer
Jake Magee (left) and musician
Amber Coffman (formerly of Dirty
Projectors), sat on their roofs at a
safe distance from others.Chiu and the other performers
pivoted to the drive-in idea
after their show at local venue
Zebulon, scheduled for the
same night, was canceled.The Late Late Show bandleader Reggie Watts was among
the attendees. Host James Corden announced March 13 that
production for the program has been suspended.During the show, dublab
collected donations for
the performers through
PayPal and Venmo.On Instagram, dublab encouraged followers “to come hang out
(in the safety of your own car) and be in the present energy of
other people.”26 BILLBOARD • MARCH 28, 20207scene_party_lo [P]_27839838.indd 26 3/24/20 7:55 PM