On Feb. 13 at a very sold-out Moroccan Lounge, Car Seat Headrest performed alongside Naked Giants for a mega band to honor the record re-release of Will Toledo’s latest (or former, considering the album was originally released in 2011) masterpiece, Twin Fantasy.
The night began with Naked Giants’ bassist, Gianni Aiello and guitarist, Grant Mullen appearing on stage. Front row sat a few mysteriously hooded figures.
“Can anyone play drums for us?” Aiello asked – a hooded figure shot his hand up. It was then clear that those hooded figures were the rest of CSH and Naked Giants. After, the rest of the band began to enter the stage, stepping into the limelight to honor Aiello’s request for a new instrumentalist. The unorthodox introduction resulted in the final member, Will Toledo, coming forth.
This unorthodox entrance was a vision of what was to come that night: rad tunes composed by angsty boys with instruments.
Though it was CHS’s show, the night began with Naked Giants’ hit, “T.V.,” along with another song of theirs played later in the night. It was a nice mixture of different sounds, but it was Toledo’s vocal range that really stood out, starting the CSH set list with “Famous Prophets” then transitioning into the song “Bodys,” both off the latest album.
Homage was shown to older records like last year’s release, Teens of Denial, with hits “Fill in the Blank,” “Destroyed by Hippie Powers” and “Drunk Drivers/Killer Whales.” Along with this were covers of Devo’s “Uncontrollable Urge” and Neil Young & Crazy Horse’s “Powderfinger” – which to me, was the highlight of the night; a medley of this cover mixed with Twin Fantasy’s “Sober to Death,” sung not only by Will Toledo, but also CHS guitarist Ethan Ives. The two meshed perfectly together for such an amazing sound that really captured the audience’s heart.
The show, ending early at around 10, concluded with a killer encore of songs, with Toledo’s solo take on Frank Ocean’s “White Ferrari.” Toledo showed his love for Ocean not only through this sentimental cover, but also in the new album’s, “Cute Thing,” listeners hearing, “Give me Frank Ocean’s voice and James Brown’s stage presence.” The three-song encore included a self-titled track and concluded with a cover of Nina Simone’s “Do What You Gotta Do.”
Toledo undoubtedly won the hearts of us all through his brutally honest lyrics and vocals, along with the amazing performances from the talented people accompanying him on stage.
