Concert Review: Car Seat Headrest at ACL Weekend Two

Alternative-rock band Car Seat Headrest joined the ACL Weekend 2 lineup for a raw and vulnerable afternoon set, with the festival serving as one of their limited tour dates.

Written by Valeria Mota

Photo courtesy of Isabella Martinez

In the span of 15 years, Virginia collective Car Seat Headrest has developed from a solo project created by singer-songwriter Will Toledo into a beloved indie-rock staple with a cultish following, beloved for their candid and compelling lyrics. The band is not only honest on stage, but off it as well, with Toledo openly sharing his health struggles after catching COVID-19. The group emphasized wearing masks at a select number of shows they perform across the country. Fortunately, Toledo and the band decided to include an ACL appearance as one of its limited performances, gracing the T-Mobile stage Saturday Weekend Two to play tunes from its newest concept album, The Scholars.

At exactly 4:15 p.m., festivalgoers cheered as the band casually walked out on stage, with lead singer Will Toledo’s bright white face mask sharply contrasting his all-black outfit. Toledo thanked Austin for “testing [their] endurance in this heat,” which received some light chuckles from the crowd. Toledo reminded the crowd to keep breathing, drink water, and told them that they “will keep them nice and hot,” eliciting some excited shrieks as the band opened with the first song from The Scholars, “CCF (I’m Gonna Stay With You).”

Keyboardist Benson Iq replaced the track’s classical piano introduction with synths as the band played the track’s extended intro in its entirety. As the thumping bass drum built the crowd’s anticipation, a screen behind the band showed a beige background adorned with hand drawn leaves. The words “Car Seat Headrest” appeared in a cartoonish medieval font, prompting a few enthusiastic cheers. Toledo crooned the song’s earnest chorus as guitarist Ethan Ives provided backing vocals: “You collapse on my hearth / I'm gonna stay with you.” The audience nodded along as the lateral and central screens showed the band members’ outlines, making the group look like quick, hand drawn sketches as they calmly played the tune. 

Toledo took the opportunity to introduce the band as the upbeat crooner faded away. “We’re Car Seat Headrest,” he announced, before explaining that they were going to play a couple songs from their newest release. The band segued to a vulnerable cut, “The Catastrophe (Good Luck With That, Man).” The intimate track received some nods as Toledo earnestly sang about his health struggles. While the band members serenely played their instruments, Toledo’s vocals grew more passionate. He crescendoed into a screaming bridge: “Is the accusation from you or the sickness?” Ives shredded his blue Fender Telecaster, and though some audience members confessed they were there “just [waiting] for The Strokes,” they still eagerly bent their knees along to the tune’s beat. 

Andrew Katz asked the crowd how they were doing as the song ended, receiving light whoops in response. Katz expressed that he was “dying” from the heat but he “[felt] for us” festivalgoers for enduring the Texas sun. Toledo then introduced the following song, “The Colossus,” an unreleased track which he explained was “newer than their new album.” The crowd did not know the lyrics to the grungier track, but warmly cheered for Katz’s impressive drum fills as well Ives and Toledo’s complimentary vocals. 

Toledo introduced each of the band members individually, with Iq enthusiastically throwing his hands up at the sound of his name. “[Iq’s] pretty popular here,” the frontman acknowledged when the crowd cheered for Iq. “I love everyone in this band,” Toledo said, “and I’m Will.” The audience cheered the loudest for the singer, who then launched into a soft acapella rendition of the opening verse of Bob Dylan’s “I’m 900 Miles from My Home.” After a slick guitar solo from Ives, the band began the 11-minute “Gethsemane” as the backing screens showed the performance over a grainy filter.

Photo courtesy of Jack Plunkett

As the song progressed, the band members became more energetic, with Ives and bassist Seth Dalby honed in on their instruments. The audience nodded their heads along to the beat as Toledo repeated the song’s inspirational refrain: “You can love again if you try again.” The lead singer’s vocals thrashed as he chanted the line and eventually concluded the track, receiving loud applause from fans. Toledo asked the audience how they were doing, and Katz quipped “I’m great, Doc!” Toledo then introduced “a slower [song],” and the singer’s opening falsetto elicited excited cheers from the audience as they recognized it as the intro to one of the band’s biggest hits, “Drunk Drivers/Killer Whales.” While the crowd might not have known the lyrics to the previous tunes, they sang the chorus to the Teens of Denial track faithfully, with Dalby’s deep bass lines reverberating through the crowd. Toledo did forget one line from the song’s bridge, but played it off by singing “Dadada dada” before amping up his vocals for the track’s closing chorus.

The band then transitioned to one of their tracks from The Scholars, “Planet Desperation.” Ives and Toledo performed the song as a duet, alternating parts as they both strummed their guitars. While some fans kept nodding along, with a pair excitedly holding up their Twin Fantasy creature plushies, some were questioning whether they should “go to the bathroom.” Still, the band delivered an emotional performance, as Toledo somberly delivered the song’s chorus: “Love doesn’t do what I want it to do / It doesn’t change me and it doesn’t change you / Make peace with the dirt around you.” Toledo’s voice croaked as his vocals grew more visceral, and the band continued to play its instrumentals calmly as the screens projected the performance with a yellow and black thermal filter. 

“Anybody know these lyrics?” Katz asked the crowd as the almost 19-minute continued. “Sing with me!” The audience failed to respond, but continued nodding and swaying as the drums kicked in. Katz’s drumming punctuated Toledo’s increasingly guttural vocals as he closed out the song, which featured the same refrain from “Gethsemane”: “You can love again if you try again.” The screen showed the lead singer outlined with a black and white heart, neatly echoing the song’s sentiment. 

The crowd whooped as the song concluded, and Toledo took the opportunity to thank the festival’s security team. “The sun’s gonna set soon, I promise,” the lead singer reminded the audience. The crowd kept on cheering as the band quietly picked up their equipment and walked off the stage, ending their set two minutes earlier than the scheduled 60 minutes. The Virginia natives were clearly missed for those two minutes, as a fan hollered “Come back!” 

Despite delivering a calmer set that relied on newer tracks, Car Seat Headrest did not hold back on emotional vocal delivery and impressive instrumentals. Though the band is limiting its tour dates, the group certainly gained more fans after its ACL Weekend 2 performance, even converting festivalgoers who were “just [waiting] for The Strokes.”