Noise Pop Review + Photos: Diet Cig at Brick & Mortar Music Hall
As I was walking up to Brick & Mortar Music Hall on Wednesday night (2/22), I overheard two middle-aged men talking about how artists are releasing slower and more emotional music. “It’s not a bad thing, it’s just not what I’m used to” said one of the men. Little did they know they were about to walk into a packed house, full of people ready to rock out with Diet Cig.
The supporting acts of Shutups, joyride! and Plush, all of which are SF Bay Area local bands, turned the audience into a sea of bobble heads, nodding their heads to the sound of the beat. Shutups and joyride! rocked out with some fast-paced guitar and drums, while Plush came in soothed the audience with some smooth, shoegaze tunes. The audience seemed to really appreciate Plush’s music, many of which had their eyes closed and were slowly swaying from side to side. The band put on great performance, finishing their set with one of their most popular songs “Sheer Power.” After some encouragement from Plush, a few members of the crowd were excited to celebrate National Margarita Day with the band.
Shortly after, Diet Cig took the stage and cranked the energy level to 12! When Alex Luciano (guitar and vocals) performs, she leaves her heart on the stage, giving it 110%. Feeling stoked to perform for the packed house at Brick & Mortar Music Hall, Luciano ran on the stage, grabbed her guitar and was jumping through the roof. She was fired up and ready to get the crowd on their feet. Before she even began singing, she convinced the audience to jump up and down with her to get the blood flowing and get this show started on right. One song into the set and Luciano was jumping off the the tops of speakers, ripping guitar solos in the faces of those at the front of the stage and getting people off of their feet to dance. A few times throughout the night, I caught myself attempting to dance and take pictures simultaneously (that of course does not work very well). Her energy is contagious and the crowd loves her for it.
Luciano is not only great at hyping up the crowd and getting everyone on the dance floor, but she’s also funny. During some of her on-stage banter, she told a story of the first time she was mistaken for a 12-year old kid on an airplane. “As we were getting off the plane, I thanked the pilot for landing the plane safely, because that’s what you do. He smiled, told me to hold on a second, then handed me a airplane trading card.” The crowd bursts into laughter, a few wooing from the back of the room to show their support. Later in the show, Luciano takes a second to inform the crowd they are going to play their slowest song, “Dinner Date,” and wanted to know if there were any Tinder Dates happening right now because “…this would be the good time to get a little closer and make a move.” At first the crowd is silent because who is going to announce they are on a Tinder date at a show? But, pretty quickly people show their appreciation with laughter and applause.
Although Luciano was in the spotlight during the performance, Noah Bowman (drummer) does a great job on stage of matching her energy level and giving her silent cues of encouragement throughout the show. Bowman is a skilled drummer who’s also very animated on stage (see picture below). His facial expression says is all, making it very apparent that he’s also thrilled and excited to be on stage performing for this packed house.
Of all the songs performed, I found “Harvard” and their new single “Tummy Ache” to leave the biggest impact on the crowd. Though, nearly all their songs had the crowd pumped to hear the next one. This was especially true during their last song of the set. Luciano jumped in the crowd with her wireless guitar, squeezed her way through the sea of people over to the front door, then sprinted outside to run some circles, then burst through the door and jumps back on stage to finish the night with one last guitar riff. The duo make a great team and they are an exciting band to watch.
