CONCERT REVIEW: The Driver Era Charms And Leaves Us Hungry For More

June 2nd 2020. November 24th 2020. May 13th 2021. January 25 2022. It took a while, but The Driver Era finally had their forever-postponed show in The Netherlands on Friday evening in Utrecht. The band just released their third studio album Summer Mixtape this September, but this show is originally billed as part of the Girlfriend tour, due to it being postponed for years. Christine Mooijer was there to experience and capture the evening.

It was a long wait for the fans, super excited to see the brothers Lynch. And that doesn’t mean just the duo that’s the headliner: we start the show with the support DJ-set by Ryland. Ryland is one of the brothers of Ross and Rocky, the duo that forms The Driver Era. He warms up the crowd with remixes of some of his favorite songs, amongst them songs by Taylor Swift and ABBA.

The fans are so loud, the screams are seeping through our ear protection. I have to admit that I hadn’t heard of them until last month, but the songs instantly got stuck in my head. I was somewhat worried the songs wouldn’t hold up live, the way that they sound on record was almost too good to be true. I was familiar with Ross’s acting on Disney’s Austin & Ally and Netflix’s Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, and thought most of the hype for his band, was due to his work on TV.

I am happy to admit my worries were unfounded. Sometimes you’re lucky enough to find a band that sounds even better live than they do on record, and The Driver Era are one of those bands. Sure, Ross easily charms the girls from front to back (I’m not immune to that smile either, sue me), but his brother Rocky is in no way in the shadow of his younger brother- and neither are the other bandmates.
The family connection between the band makes the show in general feel very personal as well. The venue has a capacity of 2.000 and it is filled to the brim, but none of that takes away from the intimate feeling tonight. Around 4 songs in, Ross announces he’s lost a nail from shredding his guitar too hard, playing the show with a bit of tape around his pointer finger for the rest of the night, apologizing for looking frustrated with his predicament. The audience also threw some cowboy hats to the stage, and around the end, the band happily wore those- one of the many examples of interaction with the crowd.

The concert had a bit of everything, much like their music. It doesn’t really fit into just one genre, having some more pop-punk songs, mixed with indie vibes, but R&B influences can be found in there as well. Midway through the show, there’s an acoustic segment where the audience lights up the room with their cellphones, highlighting the intimate feeling once again. And then before we knew it, the show was over already. Somehow the three hours flew by, leaving the audience hungry for more.

If you missed out on Friday’s show, or are as obsessed with them as we are at the moment, or if you’re just curious to see what the fuss is about: The Driver Era are returning to Tilburg’s 013 on November 6th. Tickets for that show are still available! In the meantime, check out what their show in Utrecht looked like in the gallery below. 

Ryland:

The Driver Era:

Christine Mooijer

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