After a two-year hiatus, The Backseat Lovers performed a sold-out show at Nottingham's Rescue Rooms where the energy of the crowd proved testament to the impact this four-piece from Utah have had on their devoted fans. We joined the revellers at the packed out venue for a memorable Monday night...
A splatter of applause and whistles cover The Backseat Lovers, made up of Joshua Harmon (lead vocals/guitar), Jonas Swanson (lead guitar / vocals), KJ Ward (bass guitar), and Juice Welch (drums / backing vocals), like confetti as they walk on stage.
Opening with a poignant and poetic cover of A World so Full of Love by Roger Miller, Harmon sings the song, silhouetted by an enigmatic blue spotlight, and his soaring vocals stun the energetic crowd into mesmerised silence. It's transportative, it's transfixing, it's as though the whole of Rescue Rooms is holding its breath, wanting to hear every word.
Certain songs from their setlist seem to transport you to your youth, to a cycle ride in summer, biking through sun-dappled trees on your way to meet your friends in the next town over. Songs such as Heavy and Slowing Down tug at you like homesickness for a town you once lived in that no longer exists in the same context, the sort of place you can step foot in but can only really visit in your mind.
This tour is a homage to their fans, a of resilience and a showcase of the power of music. After a two year hiatus of UK tours, they are back, not with a new album, but with some new songs and a revisit to some fan favourites.
It feels personal as though each ear of the audience is a friend of the band and they are simply sharing some of the rough cuts with us, wondering what we think and hoping that we like it.
And of course we do, because its The Backseat Lovers and each indie/surf-rock sound they create feels like a scrapbook souvenir on our adventure through life.
We are treated to a couple of unreleased tracks, one called Invisible, which feels like an ethereal echo, haunting yet powerful, especially when the bass picks up. Another is a call to do things differently and appreciate the beauty that the unknown can become; Evergreen, brought to life.
“Thanks to my friend Tony for leaving his alternately tuned guitar out for me to mess around with,” says bassist Swans, on recounting the unexpected opportunity.
Growing/Dying seems to be where the band have the most fun, demonstrating their range, lulling the audience with their at first gentle summer breeze melodies, before violent guitar thrashes ensue chaos on the dance floor. It is a sound that proves impressive while adding an unsettling sense of foreboding that reflects the uncertain nature of life. With Harmon and Swanson shredding their guitars while jumping around on stage, the song becomes a revolt of itself, a rebellion against the challenges of which life is made up.
This efficacious nature is a staple of the band's sound, with the next tracks, Pool House and Follow the Sound, filling its footsteps only amplified. These songs sound like birds singing on a summer’s day, you’re out with your friends enjoying the simmering heat, before a thundercloud appears unexpectedly overhead. It is anguish, it is resilience, it is cathartic to belt it at full volume alongside everybody else.
A song that comes with a warning, promises for a good time and we all know whats coming when Harmon coyly asks, “Shall we?” He laughs, telling us that he “warned us” and you can barely hear the first few seconds of Kilby Girl as the crowd is already belting the lyrics. People are moshing, drinks are thrown and when the riff kicks in, Rescue Rooms is reduced to the voices of friends, loved ones and strangers all singing their favourite song.
But like many of their songs, Harmon doesn’t wrap up the night on a pure party high. Instead, he leans into a chord, drawing the crowd closer, almost as if inviting us to take a seat beside him. The songs aren’t just stories, they’re diary pages, vivid with memories we’ve all lived in some form. The most poignant moment comes when he hits an emotional note, pausing to reflect on how “lucky he feels to have spent so much time focusing on writing music and growing older with the rest of the band,” before turning his words gently towards the crowd:
“Thank you so much for giving yourself to our songs”, he says, but it is the band that we have to thank for giving us the songs to make sense of the anguish tucked in between the sun that we stomach.
These emotions are echoed in Still a Friend and Close Your Eyes. The songs offer an emotional whiplash where, in one moment, I was headbanging and jumping, while the next, I was biting back sobs or swaying along... Particularly during Close Your Eyes, which I admittedly hadn’t heard before, I audibly gasped as tears rushed front row.
It is a song that gets caught in your throat like a lump you can’t quite swallow, choking on sobs while still struck by the beauty of its melodies.
The night closes on Sinking Ship, the final song from their album When We Were Friends. It's reflective, bringing people closer despite its heavy subject matter, which I suppose is the whole point of music. There will be love, there will be pain, and we will get through it together, even if it feels like we are doing it alone.
The Backseat Lovers seemingly epitomise the challenges and celebrations of life; they look at love and see the pain and the beauty it provides and sets it against a harmonious and gritty guitar backing track, one that you will sing to, dance to and quite possibly cry to.
Not bad for a Monday night.
The Backseat Lovers performed at Rescue Rooms on 30th June 2025.
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