GALLERY & REVIEW | Cigarettes After Sex in Brisbane by Jaz Wilkins 2025

Texas based dream-pop band, Cigarettes After Sex, recently brought their X’s World Tour to Australia performing a string of sold-out shows in March of 2025 to promote their LP titled X’s, released on July 12th, 2024. Formed by frontman Greg Gonzalez in 2008, Cigarettes After Sex has cultivated a unique, atmospheric sound that blends indie, alternative, pop, and rock, all wrapped in a hazy, cinematic aura. Gonzalez originally recorded their debut EP in a university stairwell, never expecting the project to gain traction, later describing it as “basically an accident; kind of an experiment.” However, that ‘experiment’ quickly evolved into a worldwide phenomenon. Today, the band has millions of devoted fans worldwide and countless viral hits, many of which have become TikTok staples. Alongside their reputation for mesmerizing live performances, Cigarettes After Sex continue to push the boundaries of dreamy, melancholic soundscapes. I would like to express gratitude to Scrabble PR for organising my photo and review pass to this show. I am eternally grateful for the opportunity to photograph my first arena show at Brisbane Entertainment Centre.

With no grand introductions, at 8pm the band quietly took their places on stage, each bathed in a soft spotlight shining down onto them. The crowd roared as Gonzalez made his way to the front of the stage before strumming the first notes to X’s, the lead single from their upcoming album. Fans hung over the barrier, completely entranced by Greg Gonzalez’s delicate falsetto as it weaved in between the notes of the reverb drenched guitars. The first thing I noticed was the band’s ability to make one of the largest venues in Queensland seem like a small, intimate show filled with private moments, as if they were performing for a small crowd of ten people as opposed to over 13,000. As they beautifully transitioned into the second song of the night, You’re All I Want, the band set the tone for the cinematic, melancholy journey that would be the show ahead.

As the set went on, containing multiple slow-burning fan favourites as well as newer tracks, the mixture of tracks displayed Cigarettes After Sex’s unique musical evolution whilst staying true to their dreamy signature sound that everyone attending initially came to love them for. The newer singles such as Dark Vacay and Tejano Blue blended in seamlessly with the older tracks, indulging the crowd in a delicate fusion of ambient dream-rock and soft, sultry storytelling. One of the nights most intimate moments came from the song Nothing’s Gonna Hurt You Baby, one of the bands most well known and beloved tracks. The crowd roared in excitement before quietening down to a slight hush, allowing Gonzalez’s voice to glide through the hushed reverence, making the performance feel like a collective, spiritual experience. Other highlight tracks of the night included the TikTok staples Sunsetz and Heavenly, both of which created a brief moment of lightness within the pensive melancholy of the other tracks such as Pistol, Falling In Love, and the moody yet sensual Touch. Each track was seeped in waves of nostalgia and longing, akin to the warmth of a sunrise peeking through a hazy morning fog before fading back into the bands subtle, shadowy atmosphere.

As the show ended, thousands of attendee’s slowly crept out of the venue, bathing in the afterglow of a truly special evening. Cigarettes After Sex have mastered the art of creating a minimalistic performance that is still deeply immersive without the need for an elaborate production filled with pyrotechnics to captivate their audience. The raw emotion, stunning vocals, and music that felt like a nostalgic memory of something you wish to never let go of. For those lucky enough to be in attendance of the performance, it was far more than just a concert. The show in itself felt like a fleeting dream, and like all good dreams, the attendee’s of the show wished they couldve stayed just a little while longer.