Wednesday night Car Seat Headrest and Naked Giants absolutely tore the roof off of First Avenue. It is hard to explain the night, as I walked in the doors still in shock from seeing Metallica the night before right across the street at the Target Center. I was in a fast pace mood and quite frankly, I didn’t know much about either band occupying First Avenue that night. My younger brother talked up a big game for Car Seat Headrest, so I decided to trust him and check them out only knowing two songs prior to the show. This was the best advice he has ever given me.
At 8:00pm, the Seattle rock band The Naked Giants took the stage. The weirdness of the band immediately amplified and connected with everyone in the crowd. Although a modern band, they sounded like they could have come up with the likes of The White Stripes, The Hives and Jay Reatard. The punk rock energy got the crowd move and head banging. The band’s stage performance was incredible, the bass was played behind the head, the guitarist was rolling on the ground and the drummer was running around the stage like, Lars Ulrich. Needless to say The Naked Giants are one of my new favorite bands.
At about 9:15, it was time for Car Seat Headrest. The band took to the stage with a somber note but quickly turned it into something heavy. Three songs in the band went into their hit song Fill in the Blank just showing how much talent and incredible songs that are in their back pocket aside from their radio hits. The fourth song Sober to Death was also memorable moment for the fact that they infused it with the Neil Young song Powderfinger. This was one of my favorite parts of the show because a lot of the young people had a little idea what was going on, but most of the older people in the back suddenly looked incredibly lively. Either way, you can never go wrong with a little Neil Young.
With every song the crowd got more and more rowdy. During their song “Killer Whales” people were crowd surfing, singing every word and moshing into oblivion. It has been a long time since I have seen a mosh pit like that at First Avenue. The band closed the main set with “Destroyed By Hippy Powers” the crowd beckoned for an encore and received it with a long jam of their song “Beach Life-In-Death”.
I walked away from this show wanting more. The day after all I could do is reminisce about how incredible it was. I now can say confidently that every album they have is just as incredible. I highly recommend if Car Seat Headrest comes back, you and everybody you know should buy a ticket, because they are easily one of the best live bands going today.
