Setting the scene with everything from gentle ballads to electrifying anthems, Queen and Big Thief permeated The Fillmore in anticipation of The Backseat Lovers taking the stage. The ambience was impeccable: Bejeweled blue chandeliers swayed slightly overhead, and the auditorium’s geometric stained glass pillars glowed yellow and blue with brilliance.

Hailing from Utah, the band emerged onto the dimly lit stage, jolting the Friday night crowd into a stupor with an intoxicating five-minute jam sesh followed by wishful “Pool House.” Frontman Joshua Harmon gathered attention by scolding the crowd in a nasal professor voice, but his stern expression quickly dissolved into a bashful grin when the crowd responded with an enthusiastic roar.

After performing their upbeat unreleased song “Growing, Dying,” the foursome unveiled their hit “Kilby Girl,” a jaunty earworm that oozes boyish yearning. Immediately after, “Heavy” entranced the storied ballroom with melancholy, as Harmon mournfully droned that he hasn’t “cried in a while.”

During a break in the indie rock serenade, Harmon took a moment to center himself and the crowd as he called for three deep yoga breaths. It soothed the room, granting space for guitarist and vocalist Jonas Swanson to fill the venue with sorrowful “Dugout,” a tale of lost love and moving on.

With feisty guitar riffs and reflective lyricism, The Backseat Lovers displayed an impressive range of sounds and songwriting well beyond their years. As the evening waned and came to a bittersweet end, their nostalgic spirit conjured memories of teenage fever — of juvenile longing, of what could have been.

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