Diet Cig and a fresh blend of rock ’n’ roll
Diet Cig took the stage with Hot Tang at Gabe’s on Wednesday night.
Diet Cig performs at Gabe’s on Sept. 26, 2018.
September 27, 2018
On a comfortably cool fall evening, three indie-rock bands from across the United States met at Gabe’s for a diverse night of rock ’n’ roll.
The first band was Iowa City native Hot Tang. Hot off its début album, Mostly Mallards, Hot Tang leader Megan Buick said the group was excited after a summer off from touring to get back into the swing of things, making this performance its third since releasing its album in May.
The trio took the stage. Buick stood front and center with her bass, co-conspirator Anna Kahn controlled her colorful keyboard, and Jason Burkhardt sat in the back, creating a soft rhythm with the drums to complement Buick’s soothing voice.
With a hefty crowd packed tightly at the front of the stage, Hot Tang took its listeners on a melancholic adventure throughout most of the show, with Buick quietly singing into the mic reminding one of singer/songwriter Natalie Merchant and her calming vocals.
In an unconventional manner, most of Hot Tang’s songs kicked off with a bass line, as Buick pointed out, reminiscent of one of her favorite middle school bass-thumping bands, the Pixies.
As Buick thanked the crowd, she announced one more song, igniting the crowd into an almost familiar frenzy as everyone screamed and danced to the up-tempo, playful melody of “Secret Beach.”
Shortly after Hot Tang left the stage, a quartet of musicians took it, all matching with white shirts and red shorts. As they got comfortable with the stage, tuning their instruments, a radio recording echoed throughout the crowd; speaking of a worldwide conspiracy group titled the “Illuminati.”
Led by an energetic Sarah Tudzin on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, the bombastic tender-punk group from Los Angeles shredded loudly throughout Gabe’s. Unlike Hot Tang, Illuminati Hotties fixated their sound on an all-encompassing chaos, as the drums, lead guitar, and bass spiraled together in a unique blend of West Coast punk rock.
Between songs, Tudzin engaged with the crowd by speaking about many of the songs’ origins and inspirations. One in particular being “For Cheez (My Friend Not the Food),” which one crowd member still felt inclined to share his love for the food cheese to Tudzin and the rest of the crowd. She laughed, and then somberly started the song, as she remembered an old friend.
The song was a builder, slowly gaining tempo with every note, until Tudzin and the crew exploded into a raucous, head-banging close. Though before it ended, Tudzin by herself got the last word, as all the instruments stopped, and her voice alone softly reverberated throughout the upstairs of Gabe’s.
That song perfectly encapsulates the lively performance by Illuminati Hotties; the group in each song continually shifted tempo, hitting a perfect balance of melancholy and boom.
The main act, New York’s Diet Cig, closed the night. Diet Cig, with lighter smoke and tar, is an alternative rock duo known for a keen sense of fun while delivering thoughtful songs about youth, love, and life.
Lead singer and guitarist Alex Luciano hopped around the stage, shredding her guitar as drummer Noah Bowman pounded the drums, evoking the early 2000s East Coast rock scene led by the Strokes.
Even more than Illuminati Hotties, Diet Cig was in constant communication with the crowd, as Luciano gave comfort to her listeners by creating a safe environment, one that must involve consent among dancers — something that was a concern this past summer in numerous nationwide music festivals.
Joining the duo was a talented woman on the keyboard. She participated in the stage theatrics with Luciano, swaying back and forth as she playfully created a perfect melody to Luciano’s raucous chorus and guitar riffs.
As they left the stage to a thunderous cheer, audience members were quickly reminded of a promising future in indie music, one that’s sprawled across the country sharing a unique blend of rock ’n’ roll.
