Article and Photos by Andrés Alvarado

Atlanta, GA – The last couple of years have been a whirlwind of musical affairs for the terrific twosome that make up New York garage-punk outfit Diet Cig. Riding the high wave of success, courtesy of their latest LP Swear I’m Good at This, Alex Luciano and Noah Bowman charged into Atlanta’s iconic live-music hot-spot The Masquerade to perform before a sold-out entourage of Cig fanatics ready for a hella good time. Long story short, D.C. lived up to hype. Long story long, well, just keep reading.

The clock strikes 45 minutes past 9 when Luciano and Bowman commence their roughly 75-minute rhythmic ritual. Accompanied on deck by a second pair of touring musicians, Luciano and Bowman settle in nicely by opening the evening with pop-punk banger “Sixteen;” which substantially energized onlookers and set an upbeat tone for the remainder of the pageantry. Pacing along the Empire State duo would go on to provide natural highs time and time again by churning out anthems galore off their debut album, as well as their past EP-filled discography. From the performance onset until the very last note off of closing ditty “Harvard,” these youngsters firmly gripped the undivided attention of their slightly tipsy, but completely joyous base on hand.

For a band that’s relatively new to the scene, Diet Cig hits the mark in the manner of industry veterans. Drummer Noah Bowman is confined to the dais background, but his hi-hats prowess resonates loud and broad. Lead singer and guitarist Alex Luciano is a delight to witness. Whether she’s serenading the masses or high-kicking in the heat of the moment, Luciano exudes a charm that’ll clutch and seize your senses with delightful ease. Sadly, Cig’s current tour is nearing its finale, but not before leaving us with a high dosage of adrenaline; that’ll hopefully last us until the next time these two come around to blow our minds once more. Cheers!