‘CIGARETTES AFTER SEX’ PLAYS PORTLAND

“Nothing’s gonna hurt you baby.”

I used to listen to these lyrics over and over when I felt down. It was my anthem song, my “Fuck you” to all the unfairness and faults I had experienced in my small, overwhelmingly pathetic high school love life.

Four years removed, I saw this spring that Cigarettes After Sex was coming to Portland, and the tickets were wicked cheap, making me feel more than obligated to go. Now, in a different mindset, this was my chance to see what they were really all about.

On April 24, I made the trek to downtown Portland with my boyfriend. We arrived at the Wonder Ballroom an hour early, hoping for not the closest spots, but decent ones. The audience was noticeable, right off the bat: young teenage girls, wearing dark tones of makeup and fishnet tights. I was instantly reminded of my young teenage self. I know I am still young, but come on – high school feels like an eternity away, am I right?

Anyway, I was sure those girls were there for all the same reasons that I had gravitated towards the band in the first place: Heartbreak.

We anxiously awaited 8 o’clock, which was supposed to be the beginning of the show. Come 8:15, 8:30, 8:45, then 9 o’clock, and the only thing that changed was the dimness of the lights and the mugginess of the room. Finally, 9:15 on the dot, and three dark figures approached the stage, the crowd roared into squeals and squirms, friends threw their arms around each other, hands were held and the lyrics rolled off the stage like candy:

“I know that you say I get mean when I’m drinking

But then again sometimes I get really sweet

So what does it mean if I tell you to go fuck yourself

Or if I say that you’re beautiful to me,”

I was surprised to hear these lyrics, because I was expecting an opener band, or two. But I was not complaining and I know no one else was,  either. This is who we were here for.

Cigarettes After Sex started with one of their most popular songs, “Affection,” and they did not disappoint. Phillip Tubbs, the main vocalist, stood almost awkwardly straight, clenching the microphone. The rest of his body seemed tense as the lyrics flowed out of his entire being. Fog spewed from the sides of the stage. In that moment if I would have closed my eyes I would have thought I was back in my high school parking lot, sitting in my car, listening to the same song.

Tubbs jumped from song to song, not skipping a beat. Eight or nine songs in, I was thoroughly impressed with how similar they sounded live, but it was not until then that I had realized that all their songs sounded the same. Same pitch, same style. Tubbs had a few “I love you, Portlands” in between, but nothing more than that, making the show seem a bit impersonal.

The group really did fill the ambient pop genre, the drums and bass were eerie, Tubbs’s voice was low and quiet, and the combination of the two was almost hypnotizing. The show soon came to a close, and while it was fun, his lack of positive stage presence, and interactions with the crowd was off-putting. He did not seem to make much eye contact with the crowd, making him come off as not interested and almost cocky, making it difficult to be likable.

While the show was fun and nostalgic, I think I am going to stick to listening to him over my car speakers.