{"id":188495,"date":"2026-03-12T10:24:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-12T10:24:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/188495\/"},"modified":"2026-03-12T10:24:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T10:24:07","slug":"usf-to-host-the-driver-era-for-its-bullstock-music-festival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/188495\/","title":{"rendered":"USF to host The Driver Era for its Bullstock Music Festival"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/a>USF\u2019s annual Bullstock music festival will see two Battle of the Bands winners perform alongside The Driver Era. ORACLE GRAPHIC\/ARIANA RIVADENEIRA HERRERA<\/p>\n

USF\u2019s Campus Activities Board booked The Driver Era, an alternative rock band consisting of Ross and Rocky Lynch, for USF\u2019s music festival on April 10.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The brothers started the band in 2018 and produce alternative and indie rock music. Their latest album, \u201cObsession,\u201d was released in April 2025 and features 11 tracks.<\/p>\n

Their most popular songs are \u201cA Kiss<\/a>,\u201d from their \u201cGirlfriend\u201d album, \u201cMalibu<\/a>,\u201d from their \u201cSummer Mixtape\u201d album, and \u201cAfterglow<\/a>,\u201d from their \u201cX\u201d album, according to Spotify.<\/p>\n

The Driver Era will be paid $105,000 and will be all-inclusive of travel, hotel and performing space, according to their contract<\/a> with USF CAB.<\/p>\n

Waka Flocka Flame<\/a>, who performed at USF\u2019s Homecoming concert in fall 2025, was paid $45,000<\/a> for an hour-long set.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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\u2019s Battle of the Bands competition<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Related: USF\u2019s guest speaker series books Brittany Broski for USF Week<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

Catalina Velasco, CAB\u2019s vice president of special events, said the process of booking performers begins as early as a semester before the event \u2014 with student surveys, outreach to agents and meetings with USF leadership.<\/p>\n

Velasco said CAB bases its decisions on student survey results, artist availability, pricing and the overall \u201cfit\u201d of performers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of CAB\u2019s events aim to engage students, making them feel more at home at USF and amongst their peers,\u201d Velasco said.<\/p>\n

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

In addition to the concert, Bullstock also offers a mechanical bull ride, food trucks and freebies for attendees, according to the festival\u2019s schedule<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bullstock closes USF Week<\/a>, which runs from April 6 through 10 and includes events such as the University Lecture Series and Rocky\u2019s birthday bash, according to the Center for Student Involvement<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Related: Waka Flocka Flame brings the party to USF\u2019s Homecoming concert<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

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.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mitterbach said she found out about the event through friends and is looking forward to seeing The Driver Era live at USF \u2014 even though she has seen the band perform before.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe [Bullstock] environment seems really fun from what I have seen online and heard from older students, so trust me, I\u2019ll definitely check it out,\u201d Mitterbach said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mitterbach said she saw The Driver Era perform at War Memorial Auditorium<\/a> in Fort Lauderdale last spring, which was a \u201cfun\u201d experience for her.<\/p>\n

Mitterbach said her interest in the band traces back to Ross Lynch\u2019s roles in the Disney Channel productions \u201cAustin and Ally<\/a>,\u201d which aired from 2011 to 2016, and \u201cTeen Beach Movie<\/a>,\u201d which was released in 2013.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been really interesting watching him go from Disney Channel to now an artist with a pretty decent following, and it\u2019s like a full circle moment,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Related: OPINION: USF\u2019s music scene is the lifeblood of the campus<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

Savannah Nguyen-Meyer, a sophomore health sciences major, transferred from the University of Florida to USF this spring.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Nguyen-Meyer said she enjoys music festivals and is looking forward to attending Bullstock for the first time.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was back at [the University of Florida], they performed there as well,\u201d she said. \u201cA lot of my friends went and said they were good performers and the music was\u00a0 pretty good.\u201d<\/p>\n

UF\u2019s Student Government hosted The Driver Era in April, when they performed at the university\u2019s Stephen C. O\u2019Connell Center, according to UF Student Government Productions<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Nguyen-Meyer said she feels attending Bullstock will allow her to connect with new people and listen to new artists.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m always trying to push myself to meet new people, and being at something I\u2019m not familiar with would be an optimal situation to make some new connections,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI 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,\u201d Nguyen-Meyer said.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"USF\u2019s annual Bullstock music festival will see two Battle of the Bands winners perform alongside The Driver Era.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":188496,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[135,137,136],"class_list":{"0":"post-188495","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tampa","8":"tag-tampa","9":"tag-tampa-headlines","10":"tag-tampa-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188495","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=188495"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188495\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/188496"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=188495"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=188495"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=188495"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}