Local Metro Detroit alternative band, drive safe!, made their live music debut this past weekend on May 21st at The Underground Detroit. drive safe! was the opening band for Cullah’s headlining show, along with LVRS and Lucas Powell. drive safe!, formerly known as Kvn Ian, took on its true ensemble form for the first time at The Underground, with an outpouring of support from friends, family, and enthusiastic parents.
drive safe! played a well mixed set, pulling out a combination of well known hits and unreleased tracks, with a tasteful hint of a cover. The already released hit songs included “Zen,” “You’re Almost There!,” and “Signal.” “You’re Almost There!” began with the band prompting the crowd to dance, included a dueling guitar riff moment between both guitarists, and ended with a full crowd sing-along, filling in the chorus entirely. These songs radiate happiness and summer road trip vibes.
The new, unreleased music drive safe! played on Saturday ranged from being reminiscent of Beach Boys to Mom Jeans to Heart Attack Man, giving a versatile crowd an equally versatile range of sound to experience. Some of the new tracks have been teased on social media, so the fans were somewhat familiar with the fresh songs. The band sounded smooth and the instruments were well mixed for the audience to hear.
drive safe! had an undeniable stage presence. The front man, Kevin, had an entire stage personality, complete with some pretty rad sunglasses. The band members all interacted on stage while playing, giving the audience a glimpse into the well-oiled machine that is drive safe!. These interactions included dueling bass and guitar moments, guitar versus guitar duels, and the lead guitarist, in the middle of the song, recovering one of the cymbals that fell off the drum set. All of this gave a much more intimate feel to the set and the band, on top of the already intimate nature of the venue. If I hadn’t known this was drive safe!’s live debut, I would’ve never guessed. The crowd turnout for drive safe! was substantial, and the energy of the set was unmatched.
Check out clips, photos, and highlights from Saturday’s show and stay up to date with all things drive safe! by following their Instagram, which can be found here! You can also find drive safe! on Apple Music (still under the name Kvn Ian, but they’re working on it) and Spotify.
Catch drive safe! again this Friday, May 27th, at the Loving Touch in Ferndale with Lyons and Unknown Neighbors!