USF’s annual Bullstock music festival will see two Battle of the Bands winners perform alongside The Driver Era. ORACLE GRAPHIC/ARIANA RIVADENEIRA HERRERA

USF’s Campus Activities Board booked The Driver Era, an alternative rock band consisting of Ross and Rocky Lynch, for USF’s music festival on April 10. 

The brothers started the band in 2018 and produce alternative and indie rock music. Their latest album, “Obsession,” was released in April 2025 and features 11 tracks.

Their most popular songs are “A Kiss,” from their “Girlfriend” album, “Malibu,” from their “Summer Mixtape” album, and “Afterglow,” from their “X” album, according to Spotify.

The Driver Era will be paid $105,000 and will be all-inclusive of travel, hotel and performing space, according to their contract with USF CAB.

Waka Flocka Flame, who performed at USF’s Homecoming concert in fall 2025, was paid $45,000 for an hour-long set. 

The Driver Era will headline The Bullstock Music Festival, which USF holds every spring and brings one music artist and two bands from the university’s Battle of the Bands competition. 

USF students planning to attend Bullstock said they are looking forward to listening to new music, hanging out with friends and decompressing toward the end of the semester.

Related: USF’s guest speaker series books Brittany Broski for USF Week 

Catalina Velasco, CAB’s vice president of special events, said the process of booking performers begins as early as a semester before the event — with student surveys, outreach to agents and meetings with USF leadership.

Velasco said CAB bases its decisions on student survey results, artist availability, pricing and the overall “fit” of performers. 

“All of CAB’s events aim to engage students, making them feel more at home at USF and amongst their peers,” Velasco said.

Bullstock is free for students, though tickets are required to attend. It will have a maximum capacity of 5,000 people and will be held at 6 p.m. on Lot 35 on the Tampa campus.

In addition to the concert, Bullstock also offers a mechanical bull ride, food trucks and freebies for attendees, according to the festival’s schedule. 

Bullstock closes USF Week, which runs from April 6 through 10 and includes events such as the University Lecture Series and Rocky’s birthday bash, according to the Center for Student Involvement.

Related: Waka Flocka Flame brings the party to USF’s Homecoming concert 

Joan Mitterbach, a freshman marketing major, said she is looking forward to the concert because she loves live music and wants to experience Bullstock for the first time. 

Mitterbach said she found out about the event through friends and is looking forward to seeing The Driver Era live at USF — even though she has seen the band perform before.

“The [Bullstock] environment seems really fun from what I have seen online and heard from older students, so trust me, I’ll definitely check it out,” Mitterbach said. 

Mitterbach said she saw The Driver Era perform at War Memorial Auditorium in Fort Lauderdale last spring, which was a “fun” experience for her.

Mitterbach said her interest in the band traces back to Ross Lynch’s roles in the Disney Channel productions “Austin and Ally,” which aired from 2011 to 2016, and “Teen Beach Movie,” which was released in 2013.

“It’s been really interesting watching him go from Disney Channel to now an artist with a pretty decent following, and it’s like a full circle moment,” she said. 

Related: OPINION: USF’s music scene is the lifeblood of the campus 

Savannah Nguyen-Meyer, a sophomore health sciences major, transferred from the University of Florida to USF this spring. 

Nguyen-Meyer said she enjoys music festivals and is looking forward to attending Bullstock for the first time.

And while she is not familiar with The Driver Era, Nguyen-Meyer said she has heard positive things about the band and their music through friends.

“When I was back at [the University of Florida], they performed there as well,” she said. “A lot of my friends went and said they were good performers and the music was  pretty good.”

UF’s Student Government hosted The Driver Era in April, when they performed at the university’s Stephen C. O’Connell Center, according to UF Student Government Productions.

Nguyen-Meyer said she feels attending Bullstock will allow her to connect with new people and listen to new artists.

“I’m always trying to push myself to meet new people, and being at something I’m not familiar with would be an optimal situation to make some new connections,” she said. 

On top of a chance to find new friends and music, Nguyen-Meyer said she wants to use Bullstock to decompress and wrap up a stressful spring semester. 

“I want a chance to have fun before finals, and this seems like a great way to get a break in before the semester becomes hectic,” Nguyen-Meyer said.