Nighttime stars accompanied Cigarettes After Sex as the band emerged at the end of ACL weekend one’s final day. On the expansive Miller Lite stage, the trio entered without the pomp or frills of other festival artists — only a dark projection, three beams of light and a cloud of billowing smoke. Paired with their all-black outfits, the trio’s minimal stage visuals set the scene for an eye-soothing visual experience — a far cry from heaps of festival goers in flashy outfits weaving through neon lawn chairs and colorful tents.
The band began their performance with an aurally soothing song, “Crush.” With his calming, balanced vocals, lead singer Greg Gonzalez swooned the audience, pacing the stage during instrumental breaks to adoring cries. Right as they began hit “John Wayne,” the trio encouraged their audience to pull out their phones and wave their hands to drummer Jacob Tomsky’s beat, and the audience obliged, mirroring the stars above Austin.
Upon a closer look, audience members noticed the camerawork projected onto the side of the stage, which typically streams in color, projected in black and white for the band’s set. The black and white theme added a complimentary touch to the visual perspective of the performance, aligning perfectly with the trio’s greyscale social media presence and album covers.
As Cigarettes After Sex approached the latter half of their performance, the light beams vanished and the stage projection cut to black, and a few seconds of silence ensued. All of a sudden, a macro-shot projection of a flower on fire appeared on the screen, and the trio launched into hit “Sunsetz.” After the song faded into the screaming of the audience, Gonzalez addressed the audience, telling them, “We love you so much,” and “You’re the sweetest.”
Only a moment elapsed before the trio began the last third of their performance, hypnotizing the audience with smooth guitar riffs, buttery vocals and a continuation of minimalist yet engaging stage projection until the very last song: “Apocalypse.” The song provided weary festival-goers a mellow finale, stopping the sound and nearly ending on the lyric “Just can’t say goodbye,” but beginning the song’s final instrumental instead, imbuing the night with its wistful, textured melody.
