Car Seat Headrest Concert Review

By Madisen Gummer
Music Journalist

Thursday, Feb. 28, indie rock fans from all over the Austin area packed into Emo’s for an insane night. There’s nothing like starting your weekend off in a rough and sweaty mosh pit with one of your best friends, and Car Seat Headrest exceeded all expectations for an unforgettable show.

Naked Giants were the ideal openers and hyped up the audience to almost maximum energy. I hadn’t heard of this Seattle-based band before, but after seeing them live they are easily one of my new favorites. Some highlights of their setlist included, “Green Fuzz” “Pyramids” and, “Ya Ya.” Their performance was so lively and wild, I wasn’t sure how I was going to be able to make it through to the next band.

Car Seat Headrest opened their set with an unreleased song, so I thought maybe the audience had calmed down, but then they played, “Bodys,” followed by, “Cute Thing,” and I was proved very wrong. Jumping and screaming and throwing themselves against each other, everyone was going nuts. The lighting was also colorfully exceptional and aided the chaos.

The openers joined the Virginia-born band for their whole set, turning the four-person ensemble into a six-piece powerhouse. They attempted to mellow out the crowd with, “Maude Gone” and continued to stupefy us with some of their most popular songs, including, “Sober to Death,” “Destroyed by Hippie Powers,” and also a new unreleased song. My favorite moment of the night was when they played, “Drunk Drivers/ Killer Whales,” and everyone gave into the intensity of those few minutes. There is always that point of a show where everyone forgets they are individuals for a little bit, and we become absorbed by the music together.

Their encore consisted of their 13-minute long song, “Beach Life-In-Death” which neatly summed up this messy and sweaty yet enlightening concert. This was surely the rowdiest show I have been to. Even the day after as I’m writing this, my entire body is so sore and my ears are still ringing, but I don’t regret a thing.

Featured image by Madisen Gummer.