What You Missed: The Driver Era at The Sylvee

It's strange imagining that the man on stage--who's covered in sweat, shirtless, gyrating his hips, and singing about late night fantasies--is the same kid who wore a bright yellow swim shirt to stay modest in the 2013 Disney film, Teen Beach Movie. But it's been almost a decade since his Disney days, and Ross Lynch's fame has shifted from his role in kid's movies to his shirtless show antics.

Ross and Rocky Lynch make up The Driver Era, a sexy pop rock duo with a girl-dominated fanbase, and the most recent band to sell out The Sylvee on a weeknight. And it's true--most of the bodies in the venue are women and girls, mainly around high school and college age. It's humid and sticky, and as the minutes tick by before The Driver Era is set to hit the stage, their fog machines work overtime, adding another curtain of moisture into the hazy room.

The lights drop, which activates shrill screams and gasps, loud enough to do a bit of hearing damage. A valley girl's, "oh my god," rings out as they start with, "OMG Plz Don't Come Around," a steamy plea for a back-and-forth partner that gives the narrator whiplash.

Ross and Rocky's The Driver Era isn't their first stint with music: from 2009 to 2017, they were in a family band called R5, which consisted of the four Lynch siblings (Ross, Riker, Rocky, Rydel) and family friend, Ellington Ratliff. When their other siblings decided to pursue the film industry more seriously, Ross and Rocky took the remnants of the band and transformed it into The Driver Era. And while Rocky had his own brief time in acting, Ross has gone back and forth with music and acting, starring in Austin & Ally, Teen Beach Movie, My Friend Dahmer, The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, and most recently--the shirtless hunk in Troye Sivan's viral, "One Of Your Girls," music video.

While Ross is very much the frontman of The Driver Era, Rocky has his own little cluster of fans, them occasionally starting to chant his name. As they make their way through a lusty setlist, Rocky takes over the mic for "Low," which they transition into Ginuwine's "Pony" for a cheeky cover that keeps with the aura of the set.

Their opening act, VALÉ, comes across as a strange opener for a rock band, but the crowd is into it despite their distinct difference in sound. VALÉ hails from Columbia, and her music is a fusion between pop, R&B and a hint of reggaeton. She has some of the punchiness of artists like Bad Bunny or Rosalia with a distinct gen-z pop sound and a band to back her. She's energetic, dance-y and totally feeling herself, which encourages the crowd to party alongside her.

With The Driver Era's long history in entertainment, it's no surprise that many of the fans in the room have been with Ross and Rocky for years--maybe even decades. So when Ross pulls out an acoustic guitar and plays, "On My Own," from Teen Beach Movie, it's an invited interruption from the more adult themes of the setlist. Afterwards, the entire band surprises us with a 1967 Frankie Valli cover, "Can't Take My Eyes Off You," which the young crowd sings along to, thanks to the song going viral on TikTok.

At the beginning of the night, Ross is wearing three top layers: a leather jacket, a black button up, and a black tank top. Slowly as the heat sets in and as the crowd eggs him on, the layers get removed. He takes off the heavy leather jacket, and the crowd screams and cheers. He can't help but grin. A few songs later, the black button up gets tossed aside with more applause. With only a handful of songs left in the set, the girls in the crowd get rowdy and start cheering, "take it off," referring to his tank top. Videos from their concerts regularly go viral on TikTok, since Ross will occasionally go shirtless and really get into the sultry songs. I'd imagine that many people in the audience are hoping to get their own TikToks of the spectacle. But in response to their chants, Ross puts his black button up back on, and at first it's hard to tell if he's annoyed or being cheeky.

The songs never let up on the heat, and as they play "Cray Z Babe E," Ross practically begs for a little attention before he gets too caught up in, "Take Me Away." Eventually we make our way to "Fantasy," where Ross strips off the shirt and the tank and bares it all. He grabs a pink cowboy hat that was thrown on stage, and tips it in front of his face, getting lost in fantasies of skin and sheets. The phones pop out as he puts his finger in his mouth and pushes his hips in slow circles. Signs that say, "Blow Me a Kiss," and "YOU'RE THE ONLY MAN I'VE EVER HAD A CRUSH ON" start to pop up.

They close out with "Heart of Mine" and "A Kiss" for their encore. The tight crowd somehow finds enough space to dance and thrash around. Rocky sings out, "Because we don't want to behave," and seals the night off with a kiss.