Texan norteño band Grupo Intocable, a maverick group known for a progressive approach to the music business and a forward-thinking attitude to music-making, will be the first Latin act to play a drive-in concert in the United States.
On June 6, the six-man band will play a show at a field in the tiny town of Poteet, Texas, close to San Antonio. Tickets range from $75 per car for side parking to $300 per car for VIP spaces, which have been sold out for at least a week.
“It’s going good,” said Intocable frontman Ricky Muñoz. “In the first day we sold out the VIPs. It’s like the regular concerts; the VIPs, front rows and expensive seats are the first to sell out.”
The show, as well as an upcoming yet-to-be-announced date, also in Texas, is being produced by Intocable and their manager, Oscar Carrasco. Together, they rented the site in Poteet, pulled all permits and have been building the stage and renting all equipment for the show, which has a capacity for 400-plus cars.
“We are covering the cost,” says Muñoz bluntly. “I gamble on myself. I like gambling on myself. We don’t have sponsors. Nada, nada, nada. We have ourselves. Intocable is the one who’s gonna sell tickets. That’s it.”
Intocable is one of norteño music’s most popular acts and most active in the touring arena. Last year alone, the group played nearly 50 dates in the U.S. and Mexico alone in support of their new album Percepción, which was released on Universal Music Latin Entertainment. The group is now back on its own indie, Good I Entertainment, and in charge of their own promotion and touring, as they’ve long done.
The notion of playing drive-in shows, says Muñoz, came to him after a few weeks into quarantine, when a friend sent him a picture of a drive-in concert in Europe. “I called my manager and said, ‘How hard can this be?’ And he said, ‘Man, I’m going to get it done.’”
In fact, says Muñoz, it could have been done before, if the equipment they needed to set up the stage and the show hadn’t been rented out already. The closest day they could it by was June 6. Although the show, like all drive-in concerts, has to follow strict rules, actually setting it up “wasn’t that hard,” says Muñoz.
Among the rules on Intocable’s website: All tickets must be purchased online; there are no tickets sold at the venue. Tickets are one per car, with an occupancy of four people per car. Additional passengers pay extra. There are no food or drink concessions, but attendees can bring their own food and alcohol.
Yes, there are a limited number of bathrooms but “we are asking that all fans minimize or eliminate the need to leave their car for any reason.”
Gates for the 7:30 pm show open up at 6:30 p.m. and the show is between 90 minutes to two hours long. For more information visit www.grupointocable.com.
