The Backseat Lovers Spill Their Newest Works Onto Brooklyn Audience

Words by Bella Reilly

Waiting to Spill album cover

November 7, 2022 — The Backseat Lovers kicked off their “Waiting to Spill” tour at Brooklyn Steel in Brooklyn, New York on November 7th. The band, hailing from Salt Lake City, got to perform their new album, with the same name as their tour, for the first time. The band seemed astounded by the opportunity and appreciative of everyone’s energy in the venue. “We are so grateful,” lead singer Joshua Harmon repeated after performing their fresh tracks, “thank you so much”. 

Harmon and the three other band members (Jonas Swanson on lead guitar, KJ Ward on bass, and Juice Welch on drums) started their set by running through every track on their new second album, and they were equally humbled and excited to get to play the releases for the crowd. The songs from “Waiting to Spill” seem to be softer sonically, with more stripped-down acoustic guitar tracks. However, this is not to say they’ve lost the original sounds that helped them gain most of their fanbase. “Growing/Dying”, their lead single that came out before the album's release still has the strong drum beats like their older works, and these rhythms translated exceptionally well into their live versions.

After performing all of “Waiting to Spill”, they pivoted to their older tracks. “Pool House”, my favorite song by The Backseat Lovers, received an excited reaction from the crowd who was happy to hear the singalong tracks. The rest of the show had higher energy, as they played their more well-known works, like “Kilby Girl” (during which everyone was smiling, singing, and jumping). Like the audience, the band seemed to also has a ton of fun up there, especially during the guitar breaks when the members got to really go crazy and jam out.

Overall, it was truly an awesome show, and there’s no denying The Backseat Lovers raw talent and musicality. Harmon’s vocals come through as powerfully and distinctly as they do in their studio recordings. Though, I did hear the people around me in the pit expressing their frustrations with so much new material. “There are still ten more songs I would’ve wanted to hear” I overheard a fan say to their friend as the lights turned on and people began to rush to the exit of the venue. Yet, considering the tour is named after their new album (the merch t-shirt quite literally says “Waiting to Spill Live”), it made sense that the setlist would lean heavily into their newest material. I, personally, was super happy to have gotten to witness the band in their element, and hear my favorite songs by them along with their new songs (I do wish they played “Davey Crochet”, but I digress). It was a great way to spend a Monday night.