'The Driver Era' Takes a Pit-Stop in Poughkeepsie
The brothers of “The Driver Era,” Ross and Rocky Lynch, performed at Marist this past Thursday. Source: Madison Lisowski ‘23
The Marist Special Programming Council (SPC) brought their A-game for the return of the heavily anticipated Spring Concert for the first time since the pandemic. On April 27, opener “Flipp Dinero” and headliner “The Driver Era” lit up McCann Recreational Center and left fans highly satisfied.
“The Driver Era,” consisting of brothers Ross and Rocky Lynch, is a music duo that formed in 2018. Most known for his leading roles in the Disney TV show “Austin & Ally” and the channel’s original “Teen Beach Movie” film sequence, Ross quickly became a household name for Disney Channel fans in the early 2010s. Before and throughout his Disney days, Ross served as the frontman for family band R5 that produced nostalgic pop-rock hits like “Smile” and “Heart Made Up On You.”
The Driver Era came to be as the result of an R5 rebranding. Ross told 303 Magazine in August 2022 that he and Rocky made the transition in order to “...write and produce all the music…[and] have a fresh start, a clean slate for [the] new chapter in [their] lives.” Since its conception, the duo has released three alternative-rock albums, headlined three tours and have gone viral on various occasions due to their upbeat, engaging live performances.
“Flipp Dinero,” also known as Christopher Victor from Brooklyn, is an American rapper mainly known for his song “Leave Me Alone,” which went 4x Platinum and has over 525 million streams on Spotify. “Flipp Dinero” closed his act with his top song, but also included an unreleased song in his setlist before he left the stage.
His hip-hop performances, including the one at Marist, stem from his early rapping days that started over ten years ago. According to All Music, “by his early twenties, [he] was contributing features on other artists' tracks.” He later gained national attention after fellow Brooklyn rapper Joey Bada$$ helped Flipp Dinero land a deal with his music label, Cinematic Music Group. After that, the rest was history.
Fifteen minutes after Flipp Dinero left the stage, “The Driver Era” took over and dominated the arena with their pop-rock sound. The band opened with their recent single “Keep Moving Forward,” an electronic, guitar-rich anthem that got the audience moving right out of the gate. The set was infused with songs from the group’s first two albums, “X” and “Girlfriend.” Popular with the crowd was the magnetic dance hit “Nobody Knows,” the synthetic and sensual single “Heaven Angel” and the catchy closer “A Kiss.” They also showed love to their song “Like a King” from their most recent album, “Summer Mixtape”; this was the song’s live performance debut. In addition to their hour-long setlist, The Driver Era played a fan-favorite cover: “Pony” by “Ginuwine.” Ross even performed his “Teen Beach 2” solo ballad, “On My Own,” a sentimental moment for all Disney fans in the crowd.
The popular event was run mainly by SPC President Anna Kallajian ‘23 and Performance Chair Sophie Pirrera ‘25, with the help of the current and incoming SPC board. The planning of the concert itself was an extensive process, from figuring out who students actually wanted to see to physically building the stage in McCann. SPC Treasurer Aiden Copchonak ‘24 said that “The seniors haven’t even experienced the spring concert, so we are all very excited.” And for a group without prior knowledge of how it was run, the SPC crew set the bar high for future events at Marist.
The fun was not limited to the concert. The college community was elated to find that “The Driver Era” used their time in Poughkeepsie to truly immerse themselves in the Marist social experience. The band and their team visited favorite off-campus locations amongst the Marist community, dining at the popular Italian restaurant Cosimo’s and go-kart racing at the Poughkeepsie Galleria. At the show, a fan gifted Ross a trucker hat from Marist’s student-run boutique, MPorium; the singer proceeded to iconically rep it throughout the concert. Following the show, the duo took the suggestion of many fans in the crowd and visited Mahoney’s Irish Pub, interacting with Marist students and dancing along as the establishment played “Teen Beach Movie” hits. Rocky and the crew even remained in town for a traditional Marist Friday where they took to Darby O’Gill’s to close out their time in Poughkeepsie. Overall, the 2023 Spring Concert was a massive success and a wonderful way to close out the school year. Students are excited to see how the event can be topped next spring.