Growing up on Long Island, I experienced some of my favorite concerts at The Paramount in Huntington. So when I saw that The Driver Era was set to perform their sold out show there on April 30th, about 12 years after I saw R5 (Ross and Rocky’s previous band) at that exact venue, I was so grateful that First III No Flash invited me to photograph the show!
Before Ross & Rocky Lynch of The Driver Era took the stage, their opener VALÉ captivated the crowd with her fun energy and positive vibes. This was the first show in a while I’ve been to where the crowd was just as excited to see the opener as the headlining act. This being her first ever tour, VALÉ had the crowd jumping around and kept the room lively ahead of Ross & Rocky’s return to the Paramount’s stage.
As the anticipation grew for The Driver Era’s start time, fans made sure to stop by the merch booth which was filled with retro themed merch like The Driver Era ‘CREW’ sweatshirts and a white baseball with blue trim.
Then…it was time! Screams took over the room as Ross and Rocky got on the stage along with their band. With a mixture of hazy fog and a screen filled visuals, the colorful lighting illuminated the room for the entire show. From the minute they started their set with “Back To You” until the end of the show, the crowd was up on their feet. The energy in the room was contagious as Ross Lynch ran around the stage engaging with fans for the entirety of the show. Wearing different cowboy hats, trying on a variety of sunglasses and shouting out a fan wearing a ‘Rocky Lynch’s #1 fan’ t-shirt, Ross and Rocky made sure interact with as many fans as possible throughout the show.
As someone who was a huge fan of R5, I was so excited to hear them play R5’s song “All Night” while they also had Riker and Ellington (members of R5) in their band for the tour! The crowd went crazy hearing an old song like this as majority of their current fans were also huge fans of R5. But the surprise songs didn’t stop there! Ross Lynch brought up how he was in the Disney Channel movie Teen Beach Movie and teased singing a song from the film. But before he could get to it, he broke out into 2 Grease covers. Hearing Ross and Rocky sing “Summer Nights” and “You’re The One That I Want” (originally sung by Olivia Newton John and John Travolta) had the room filled with screams. This led into Ross singing “On My Own” from Teen Beach Movie and the fans couldn’t have been more thrilled. The Driver Era also had a live debut of their song “Be Happening” from their most recent collection of songs, Summer Mixtape.
The Driver Era made sure to end the show with crowd favorites like “Fantasy,” “Nobody Knows” & “Preacher Man” with an encore of “Heart of Mine” & “A Kiss.” Fans made the most of the final songs and used all the energy they had left to make sure it finished off with a bang once “A Kiss” finally played. The energy that was beating through The Paramount was unreal and was truly a relationship between the band and the audience. Ross and Rocky fed the energy of the audience, and they shared it right back all night long. The Driver Era captivates and electrifies their crowds, a truly animated and enchanting performance that embraced the whole room.
THE DRIVER ERA – APRIL 30, 2024 – THE PARAMOUNT (HUNTINGTON, NY)
