Dayton Mall unveils another free drive-in concert — and this time, it’s The Fries

The scene won't look quite like this photo taken before the coronavirus pandemic, but the Dayton Mall will host a free, drive-in, socially distanced concert featuring The Fries Band on Aug. 14. Tickets are required, although there is no charge to attend. FILE PHOTO

The scene won't look quite like this photo taken before the coronavirus pandemic, but the Dayton Mall will host a free, drive-in, socially distanced concert featuring The Fries Band on Aug. 14. Tickets are required, although there is no charge to attend. FILE PHOTO

The Dayton Mall will host a free, drive-in, socially distanced concert featuring the popular Dayton-based band The Fries on Aug. 14.

Although there is no admission charge, attendees are required to reserve one ticket per vehicle, mall officials said. Tickets will be available online at the Eventbrite.com web site starting at 9 a.m. Friday, Aug. 7.

An earlier Dayton Mall event that featured a free outdoor concert and aerial performance on June 19 sold out five days in advance.

Cars with tickets will be admitted starting at 6 p.m. Aug. 14, and the concert will begin at about 7 p.m.

“As part of the fabric of the Dayton community, we have been inspired by the resilience of our neighbors,” Dave Duebber, general manager at Dayton Mall, said in a release. “It is a privilege to welcome guests to this drive-in concert experience and provide a safe way for our community to share a summer evening together.”

When attendees arrive, their cars will be directed to a spot safely spaced from other vehicles, and they can tune their radio to a designated station for audio streaming. For health and safety reasons, teams will help ensure community members stay inside, or within arms-length of, their cars, mall officials said.

Food and beverages will be available from a variety of food trucks, including Southern Sisters, Wink’s Treats, Cate’s Steakhouse and Kona Ice, mall officials said. Restrooms and hand-washing stations will be available at the event site.

The Fries band traces its roots to 1989 and has been entertaining throughout West Central Ohio and beyond for more than three decades, featuring what the band describes as a “unique and engaging treatment of popular and obscure cover songs from the 1960s, ’70s, and ’80s. They blend their complex vocal harmonies driven by acoustic guitars with keyboards, bass, and drums to re-create very distinctive musical arrangements of bands like Crosby Stills Nash & Young, America, The Beatles, The Beach Boys, The Eagles, Jimmy Buffett, and more.”

For more information about the event, go to the mall’s web site at daytonmall.com.

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