Cigarettes After Sex Fill the Vogue with Ambient Noise on Day One of Westward Music Fest
-review by Conor Graham
Modern dream pop is a genre that has been gaining a lot of popularity in the Alt-rock world recently. If you are unfamiliar with the genre, its a form of music that places as much importance on creating an atmosphere as creating a melody. There are a lot of different bands who have different interpretations of the genre; Beach House, Alvvays, Wild Nothing. But Cigarettes After Sex, relative newcomers on the scene, have taken the genre of dream pop to a new and interesting place. Their minimalist arrangements and somber tones bring dark edge to the genre. So I was excited to seem them in Westward Music Festival’s line up.
Westward Music Festival, a four-day festival spread out over the city of Vancouver, is an interesting experiment. Besides not being in one, single physical location, it also seems to have no real mainstream headliners standout among their line up. The caliber of their musicians – across the board – are top notch, but non stood out, or were billed, as headliners of the event. This makes it hard to makes a decision on who to see on the first (or any) night of the festival. But I think Cigarettes after Sex exemplify the quality of musicianship on display at this festival.
Opening the show was dreamy pop-star Laye, who I had not heard of until the show started. Laye’s performance was clean and her vocal range was impressive but the songs she performed leaned towards being a little too generic. That being said, she was entertaining.
The crowd swelled with excitement while Cigarettes After Sex took the stage and as they jumped in their first song, Crush, the crowd roared with approval. The Westward Music Festival had begun.
Much like their records, Cigarettes After Sex’s performance, relative to other bands you might see, was quiet, soft and understated. The stage was light, for the entirety of the show, in a colourless soft light which added to the atmosphere the band created with their sound. Front man Greg Gonzalez took the stage with a quiet charisma, wandering to the edge of the crowd and commanding the stage without any theatrics, just playing his guitar and staring into the faces of the members of the crowd. And, indeed, throughout songs like “Sesame Syrup” and “K”, the band didn’t seem to be playing to the crowd at all but to themselves, like they would be doing the same thing even if no one were there.
The Vogue theatre is a different sort of venue. It’s big and it’s seating is sloped and there is a very nice, large balcony that stretches back into darkness. It seems like a symphony would be better suited to play in it than a rock band. But even in such an large theatre like The Vogue, Cigarettes After Sex’s ambient noise managed to fill the room and make the performance feel intimate.
The band has an unexpected dimension of sexuality, starting with their name. But the response from the female members of the crowd is the clear evidence. As they played “Apocalypse” you could feel the romance of their music which, I think, inspired a bit of canoodling in the crowd.
As the chorus of voices emphatically sang along to “Affection”, the impact of their music really hit home. Seeing the band live, it’s a wonder to see what they can do with a baseline, a drumbeat, piano chord or two and some softly spoken lyrics. The emotional resonance of their music is even more effective in person and it made for one great show.
It was a great way to start the festival and I am excited to see what comes next.
©nightMair Creative
review and photo by Conor Graham