Amidst the fog at Cigarettes After Sex

The last day of August, Saturday, August 31st, was rainy. The perfect weather for a Cigarettes After Sex concert, especially one that will start off the American pop band’s X’s World Tour. The Centre Bell was filled with smog. Thick clouds billowed in every staircase. Perhaps it was the mist rising from the audiences’ wet clothes, or the workers were testing the smoke machines before the show, but it turned the arena into the setting of a gothic novel. 

The mood was heavy with bittersweet nostalgia as Greg Gonzalez, the lead singer, with a voice reminiscent of a violin started the show with his song “X” from his new album. He mentioned later that since Montreal was the first stop of the tour, many of his new songs were getting their live premiere. The new releases were not any less known or enjoyed by the audience, which was swaying along, and creating a sea of lights with their phone flashlights. From the nosebleeds where my best friend and I enjoyed the concert, the voices of the audience created a harmonious accompanying choir to the band. 

Around halfway through the set, Cigarettes after Sex started playing their older hits, such as “Cry”, a song from the Cry album. The reverbed guitar solo along with the melancholic lyrics summarizes the emotional energy that filled the arena during the entirety of the concert. It reminded me of a prom scene from an early 2000’s rom-com, when the protagonist is a broken-hearted teenage girl looking for her true love in the crowd. This was amplified by the band members each being placed directly in front of a stage light so that the musicians seemed like mysterious shadows swaying in a smoky cloud.  

Cigarettes After Sex, played their biggest hit, “Apocalypse,” which is inspired by Emily Bronte’s gothic novel, Wuthering Heights as a finale before their two-song encore. They sang the songs “Opera House” and “Dreaming of You.” The latter I had never heard before, but immediately became my favourite part of the show. The recorded song doesn’t do justice to how mesmerising and beautiful the song “Dreaming of You” is when performed live. 

The Cigarettes after Sex new album, X, is the perfect soundtrack for the last rainy days of summer, and the soon to be coming of fall. Do yourself a favour and listen to it whenever you’re trapped in infatuation or wandering around aimlessly with existential gloom.

Beatrice is the host of The Waxing Gibbous, Thursdays 1:00-1:30 PM on CJLO 1690AM