No band defined my adolescence quite like Car Seat Headrest. In some phases of my life, it feels as if Will Toledo himself had grabbed me by the shoulders and led me straight through the trials and tribulations of being 15, then 16, then 17 and 18. I can literally define eras of my life by which of Toledo’s albums spoke to me most at the time, lyrics of which are still scribbled on the walls of my childhood bedroom, like some sort of shrine to my growth into adulthood. I had seen Car Seat headrest three times during the promotion of the album, Making a Door Less Open. I saw them in Denver, Boulder, and even went to see them in Nebraska. When my best friend and I drove 500 miles across state lines to see them play at Maha Fest in July 2022, we were not aware that we were witnessing the final live performance of Toledo as Trait (his orange jumpsuit-clad on-stage persona), as well as their last live performance for two long years. When the band announced their first tour after a hiatus, I immediately booked my plane ticket to Denver. This was a show I simply could not miss.
On July 12th, 2025, I had the pleasure of photographing Will Toledo’s solo-project-turned-band at Mission Ballroom in Denver, Colorado–The fourth date on an abridged nine-date tour to promote their newest album, The Scholars. The open-concept venue was crawling with fans, young and old, in costumes and plainclothes alike. Shirts with hand-drawn Twin Fantasy dogs and the social media-famous motto “I hate Car Seat Headrest” were smattered throughout the crowd. This crowd felt so safe, deeply familiar to me.
The lights dimmed and illuminated, and the crowd erupted with applause. Will Toledo said a few words to his adoring fans, many of which probably camped for hours before the show, much like I used to do years ago. Shouts of “We love you Will!” could be heard throughout the venue. The band went straight into the gentle beginning of the first song off of The Scholars, “CCF (I’m Gonna Stay With You)”. The band continued to play through the album, omitting “Equals” in the interest of time. In an interlude of sorts, Toledo addressed the lack of older music included on the tour’s setlist. He described his feelings surrounding his second album recorded with Matador Records, Teens of Denial. “And now we come to a flashback of sorts… I was a very angry young man back then… Some of those songs are too angry for me now, but this one feels a little more optimistic… At the time I frowned on it a little bit because of that, but now I’m glad.” The band then begun the iconic ticking intro to “Drunk Drivers/Killer Whales”
To die-hard CSH fans such as myself, this was a deeply meaningful moment to witness. This statement truly illustrated to me the growth Toledo has experienced as an artist. When your most famous album (that you wrote when you were 18) becomes the soundtrack of thousands of breakups and the endings of many, many messy “situationships”, I’d like to think that fans will respect your wishes when you make the decision to move away from such painful material. No one wishes to stay a troubled adolescent for their whole lives; even our musical heroes deserve a chance to move on.
At the end of the show, Toledo quenched the audience’s thirst for older songs with a five-song medley including “Happy News for Sadness”, “Stoop Kid”, “Something Soon”, “Beach Life-In-Death”, and “My Boy (Twin Fantasy)”. While I was elated to hear some of my favorite older songs played live again, I don’t think I necessarily needed them to leave satisfied. While a 15-year-old me would have been devastated to learn the band would not be playing classics like “Sober to Death” or “Destroyed by Hippie Powers”, the 21-year-old me was beyond delighted to witness Car Seat Headrest enter this new era. This was the first album where I felt like the band really worked as one unit. The friendship between Will Toledo, Ethan Ives, Andrew Katz, and Seth Dalby truly shined during their performance.
An ever-evolving project, I truly cannot wait to see what lies in the future for Car Seat Headrest. The Scholars serves as a reminder that the anger and pain of adolescence will subside with time. No matter when they release another album or tour again, I will always be in the crowd cheering them on.
