Car Seat Headrest just returned with their first new album in five years, The Scholars. Part of the reason for the lengthy gap between albums was band leader Will Toledo's struggle with Long Covid and a resulting histamine imbalance. Speaking to Stereogum in 2023, he described how those health problems resulted in canceled tour dates:
I had a bunch of post-COVID stuff that resulted in me being bed bound for weeks and weeks. We just kept having dates creep up, festivals were on our calendar. There was a week-long tour on our calendar, and as it crept up, I was just like, “I know that I can’t really leave my apartment, let alone get on a plane and do a show.” And so I had to make those calls, one show after another, and cancel them.
As a result of those experiences, Toledo has consistently advocated for the ongoing use of N95 masks in public spaces. For instance, in 2024 he posted this message in a thread on X:
It's #LongCovidAwarenessDay and almost exactly 2 years after I was infected. I haven't been able to do much this week because my long-Covid symptoms (fatigue, inability to digest meals without nausea and intense pain) have been more acute than usual. They never fully go away.
I'm lucky, in that I've recovered enough to function more often than not in the tasks of my daily life. Many with Long-Covid haven't. There is no cure, few resources, and more and more people are getting it.
Take Covid seriously. Wear an n95 in public. Wear an n95 with friends and family if you don't live in the same house. This has not become a non-issue. This is as much of a risk as it was at the start of the pandemic.
So it follows naturally that, on Car Seat Headrest's Instagram page, Toledo has posted a request for people attending the band's upcoming tour dates to wear N95 masks:
It's been over five years since COVID changed our world. While people with healthy immune systems can more easily fight off the infection now with the aid of vaccines, spread of the virus still has a decimating effect on vulnerable and immunocompromised people. The best way to limit the spread is by wearing an N95 mask - a method proved highly effective in rigorous testing. I don't want a CSH show to be the last experience a fan has before becoming disabled. Please wear an N95 at our shows.
Car Seat Headrest play the Kilby Block Party in Salt Lake City this Friday. See the relevant social posts and the band's tour dates below.
TOUR DATES:
05/16 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Block Party
06/07 - New York, NY @ Governors Ball
06/28 - Washington, DC @ The Anthem w/ Vundabar
07/12 - Denver, CO @ Mission Ballroom w/ Slow Fiction
07/26 - Chicago, IL @ Salt Shed (Fairgrounds) w/ Stomach Book SOLD OUT
08/08 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Greek w/ WHY?
09/12 - Philadelphia, PA @ Highmark Skyline at Mann Center w/ Lemon Twigs
09/27 - Boston, MA @ MGM Music Hall w/ Vundabar
11/01 - Oakland, CA @ The Fox w/ WHY?
Take Covid seriously. Wear an n95 in public. Wear an n95 with friends and family if you don't live in the same house. This has not become a non-issue. This is as much of a risk as it was at the start of the pandemic.
— car seat headrest (@carseatheadrest) March 15, 2024
