Car Seat Headrest are a very important band to me. As they rose to prominence in the late 2010s I became infatuated with their music. It was pure Indie Rock, written with flair and emotion. I was lucky enough to see them a couple of times and they were spectacular live. But then COVID hit and things took a turn. They released a new new album in 'Making a Door Less Open' but they weren't able to tour it a lot as lead man Will Toledo was struck down with severe COVID. His health was in a bad way and I believe there was some doubt if the band could continue. But Will slowly got better and they released a new album in May named 'The Scholars', which I love. Then they announced a US tour, with dates quite well spaced. As I hadn't seen them since 2018 and being unsure if they would tour Australia anytime soon I made the spur of the moment decision to fly to the US to see them. I built a holiday around them with other live shows included but Car Seat Headrest were the centrepiece. So on a Saturday night in Denver I went along to see them and it was magnificent.

They played the Mission Ballroom, which is a large and spacious venue with very good lighting and acoustics. This was the second show of the tour, outside festivals, and it looks like they are playing a similar set each night. Which means, understandably, a huge chunk from 'The Scholars'. It's a concept album of sorts and it seems like the band really want to get out there and show it off. Which I was happy with and the new songs were just spectacular live. I especially loved 'Devereaux' and 'Gethsemane'. As the new songs are quite long there wasn't much time for older tunes, but we did get a great version of 'Drunk Drivers/Killer Whales' which the enthusiastic crowd song along with full force. The encore has become mainly a medley of older songs. It was great to hear the seminal 'Beach Life-In-Death', even if it was only a part of the song. The transition from it into 'My Boy' will stay with for a long time. I loved this show, it met all my expectations and then some. I can safely say it was worth flying half away around the world to see them. 

Set List
CCF (I'm Gonna Stay With You)
Devereaux
Lady Gay Approximately
The Catastrophe (Good Luck With That, Man)
The Colossus
Gethsemane
Reality
Drunk Drivers/Killer Whales
Planet Desperation

Happy News For Sadness/Stoop Kid/Something Soon/Beach Life-In-Death/My Boy
True/False Lover