Concert Review: Car Seat Headrest @The Mann Center

Will Toledo, Car Seat Headrest’s frontman

After a three-year break from touring, Car Seat Headrest is back with The Scholars Tour! The journey since their 2020 album “Making A Door Less Open” was a rollercoaster; this project saw the band take an electronic approach to their songwriting, to some fans’ dismay, and they had to postpone their planned tour due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, the band once again was forced into hiatus after Will Toledo, CSH’s frontman, was diagnosed with COVID-19 on tour. The Scholars Tour is a much-appreciated return to form for the indie rock band.

The tour centers around the 9th official album, “The Scholars”, which was released in May of this year. This project saw the band adopt a more cinematic instrumental approach, resulting in an ambitious rock opera album with a runtime of 70 minutes. While original fans may enjoy their more melancholic releases, like the 2018 re-release of their classic album “Twin Fantasy”, there’s something special about this recent release that more than CSH’s diehard fans can find appreciation with. Each song maintains the same lyrical vulnerability and introspection that made their prior albums special, and “The Scholars”, to me, will go down as one of the better indie rock releases of 2025.

“Twin Fantasy (Face to Face)” – Car Seat Headrest, 2018

The Scholars Tour brought Car Seat Headrest to the Mann Center for the Performing Arts, which is hands-down my favorite concert venue in all of Philadelphia. The venue features two separate areas: a primary amphitheater on its lower level and an outdoor stage resting on the venue’s upper level, titled the Skyline Stage. This was my first time visiting the Skyline Stage, and navigating the venue after only visiting the main amphitheater was surprisingly easy. In good weather, a nighttime concert at the Mann Center makes for a relaxing evening spent outdoors.

The opening act for Car Seat Headrest, to my surprise, was the Long Island-based band The Lemon Twigs. I had already been familiar with their music, and their opening act was a joyous preparation for what was to come. Channeling their inner Beach Boys, the pop-rock duo is a refreshing reminder of the beauty of ’70s rock.

Finally, Car Seat Headrest’s official setlist had everything to offer for all older fans, newer fans, and those who are strangers to their music. The band seamlessly shifted from 20-minute rock epics with gratifying buildups to shorter hits. Alongside Will Toledo’s iconic singing voice, the highlight of the show for me was the guitar playing of Ethan Ives. There were several moments during the show where I leaned to my friend, in shock at a two-and-a-half-minute guitar solo, saying, “I didn’t know they had that in them!”

While the majority of their setlist consisted of songs from “The Scholars”, CSH satisfied many of their older fans by playing their most classic hits; my personal favorite was “Drunk Drivers/Killer Whales”, an emotionally vulnerable song centered around regret and adolescence. They even condensed several songs from their album “Twin Fantasy” into a twenty-minute finale, one of which included the album’s second track “Beach Life-In-Death”. Seeing these songs performed live was honestly an emotional experience for me, as I’d grown up listening to this album, and it remains, to this day, one of my favorite albums of all time.

The Lemon Twigs, opener for Car Seat Headrest

What I respected the most from Car Seat Headrest’s performance, however, was the band’s recurring concern over the well-being of their fans. They started off the concert by telling any fan to use their flashlight in the crowd if they required medical assistance, and they even stopped performing mid-song to check on fans. This was a really refreshing thing to see from a musical act, especially in light of recent concert environments where fans were seriously injured.

Seeing Car Seat Headrest perform live was a truly special experience for me, and I’d like to thank Live Nation and the Mann Center for putting on such an unforgettable performance!