Pop Break Live: Backseat Lovers ‘Waiting to Spill Tour’ with Renata Zeiguer at The Palladium in Hollywood,CA
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Any fan of rock music knows that at least once a year for the past several decades, someone has lamented that the end of rock music is nigh. A few scares happen, sure, but rock can’t ever really go away. And a little band from Provo, Utah called the Backseat Lovers are nothing but proof of that.
Less than six months ago, this quartet of young 20 somethings was playing theaters like The Wiltern in LA and Stubb’s in Austin. Now, just this April, they’ve sold out the Hollywood Palladium (which is nearly double the size) in a show that anyone who was present will assure you was one for the books. Hot off their latest record Waiting To Spill, which is their first release from a major label (Capitol Records), the Backseat Lovers have managed to drop a couple of hot singles and let word of mouth spread far and wide amongst an audience that is overwhelmingly Gen Z.
This seems most notable if only because all data points suggest this audience doesn’t typically seek out rock music. But like The Strokes, Arctic Monkeys, and perhaps Greta Van Fleet before them, the Backseat Lovers have found a sweet spot between vibe-y, 70s-inspired rock and roll jams and the type of songs that 20-year-old girls want to scream-sing along to. Interestingly enough, the band will be opening for Arctic Monkeys on their stop in Mexico later this year, and probably have even bigger prospects on the horizon.
Anyone skeptical of the Backseat Lovers’ sudden rise should look no further than their Palladium performance as evidence of what’s to come. Twenty minutes before their atmospheric and jazzy singer songwriter opener Renata Zeiguer took the stage, the house was already pretty packed with fans decked out in merch for the Backseat Lovers and squealing with excitement. Renata played personal, tender tracks from her record Picnic in the Dark, and her band’s tendency to get into a pocket and jam was the perfect pairing for the headliner.
By the time the Backseat Lovers took the stage, half the venue was full of atmospheric smoke and smelled like the incense they started burning onstage. Warm, red-orange toned lights flooded the space, which included several large Persian rugs fit for a 70s conversation pit and a red neon sign that read WAIT. Fit for the era they seem to invoke, almost every member of the Lovers had long, hippie-like hair that swung in front of their face, nearly obscuring them completely in the smoke and darkness.
Their opening song was a 5-minute, lyricless jam of moody guitar licks and pedal sounds fittingly called “Opening Jam.” Upon playing the opening notes of Waiting to Spill‘s “Know Your Name,” you could barely hear the band over the roar of the crowd sounding out every word. “The pain, it goes away” was sung like daggers in the air, full bodied and deeply felt. In celebration of the crowd taking over to sing more than once, lead singer and guitarist Joshua Harmon lifted a handful of flowers above his head, a sweet gift handed to him by a fan in the crowd.
As much love as their recent record got from the crowd, the indie debut that first put them in the rock charts, When We Were Friends, was certainly not forgotten. Standout tracks “Kilby Girl,” (which notably blew up on Spotify during the pandemic) “Pool House,” and “Growing/Dying” made the crowd roar with recognition as if the songs were decades old. Somehow, the band continued to humbly play past the excitement, frequently swinging their instruments across the wide-spread stage and closing their eyes, getting lost in the music.
Despite playing less than 20 tracks, it felt like they could’ve played a dozen more – and the crowd still would’ve begged for more time. Closing out their set with an encore of “Snowbank Blues,” “Words I Used,” and their bombast “Sinking Ship” (which dates back to the band’s early days when they formed in high school), it seems clear that the Backseat Lovers are on the cusp of something really special with both their music and fans. They’re bringing a fresh take to rock music with vulnerable lyrics and atmospheric, moody song orchestration that’s connecting with people in a real way. Based upon their stage presence and ability to command a room alone, I’m eager to see everything they achieve next.
