Pop Break Live: The Driver Era ‘Live on Tour ’22’ at The Met in Philadelphia, PA — August 6, 2022
Words + Photos: Cathy Poulton
The dynamic duo, brothers Ross and Rocky Lynch of The Driver Era, brought their 2022 World Tour to The Met in Philadelphia on Saturday August 6. The band is touring in support of their critically acclaimed album, Girlfriend, released in October of last year. The band was able to make this album when their tour was postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. There is no doubt that these fans from the Tri-State area were fired up for this show and couldn’t wait to sing along to the catchy tracks on their latest album.
The place was packed as there were not only fans in the audience for The Driver Era but for their previous band R5, which also included other Lynch family members. There were also fans there to see their childhood idol Ross Lynch, who was a Disney star on the show Austin & Ally. Some of the crowd paid homage to both of those with signs and by donning t-shirts and other garb.
The band opened up with “Keep Moving Forward,” a new song from their highly anticipated third studio album, Summer Mixtape (due in September). Not too shabby to have had Rolling Stone give it a huge nod already. The set list was a nice mix of new and old. The song “Heart of Mine” was a standout. It’s one of the catchiest songs I’ve heard in a long time and has a guitar riff that just gets stuck in your head. Another standout was ‘Heaven Angel” and the new song “Malibu,” which is also on the soon-to-be-released album. It’s a chill fun breezy summer song with this really infectious beat. The song that really got the crowd fired up was Preacher Man. The backing band really shone on this one and included Rider Lynch (brother to Ross and Rocky and also an R5 member). They played a funky cover of Michael Jackson’s “Rock With You” which highlighted the ever so charismatic Ross Lynch’s dance skills. The audience ate it up!
The night ended with the song “A Kiss.” After saying their goodbyes to their dedicated longtime fans, they were met with thunderous applause and screams. From the reaction from the crowd on the two new songs they played during their set and the positive feedback they are already getting from music outlets on their not yet released new album, Summer Mixtape may be the feel good album of the year. It drops on September 16 and is well worth checking out.
