Cigarettes After Sex light up leather-clad fans at Spark Arena

An abundance of black leather jackets filled Auckland's Spark Arena on Wednesday night.

There was barely a dab of colour in sight as noir-dressed punters queued up for merchandise. But despite the morbid attire, the young-faced crowd was abuzz.

Cigarettes After Sex, the musical brainchild of Texan Greg Gonzalez, returned to Spark Arena for the first time in seven years for a one-stop show on their X's world tour. And in those seven years since the release of the band's self-titled debut album, their second and third albums have brought in new generations of fans and garnered them social media and TikTok fame.

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Instead of an opening band to warm up fans, a pre-show film kept the crowd entertained, true to style in the band's classic monochrome. Album art cycled through, and then the noir music videos of Selene Quintanilla-Pérez's 1990s's hit 'Como La Flor', and Chris Isaac's 'Wicked Game'.

As the time before the band appeared wore on, phone torches began to light up the venue in anticipation.

White floor lights lit up as symphonic sound welcomed the band onto the stage, promising of the brooding and ethereal sound to come.

On a stripped-back set, white spotlights made a silhouette of each member: Jacob Tomsky, the drummer, Randy Miller on bass, and in the centre, Gonzalez, whose light, dreamy tones are the calling card of Cigarettes After Sex.

"Thanks for coming out tonight, it's great to be back in Auckland, it's been a while!" Gonzalez called out after the opening songs.

The arena was awash with melancholy and thousands of phone torches lit up the arena as Gonzalez sung 'Dark Vacay', from their latest album, X's.

Dramatic backdrops set the tone as the band played their latest hits - a burning rose and a cloudy moon matching the lovesick themes through many of the songs.

But even the band's earliest singles still held resonance with the young crowd. Cheers erupted as they broke into 'Cry' and a black toned waterfall fell in the background, and many sang along to 'Nothing's Gonna Hurt You Baby', from the band's 2012 EP.

Lightning strikes blazed in time with the beat during 'Dreaming of You', building to a crescendo with an epic guitar solo, with Gonzalez raising his instrument to the crowd.

The crowd sang loudly along to the romantic lyrics in 'K.' , a hit first released in 2016. As he finished strumming, Gonzalez knelt at the front of the stage, unceremoniously passing his guitar pick into the crowd. He repeated the gesture again after 'Sweet', and 'Crush', both hits from their first album. By the end of the show, Gonzales was emptying his leather jackets' pockets of guitar picks to pass to the crowd.

"I love you all so much," he called, announcing the next song, their biggest hit, 'Apocalypse'.

The fans erupted and matched Gonzalez in the burning passion of the song. At the bridge, the lights went dark, only to reveal two hidden disco balls, casting fractured light over the enamoured crowd.

Finishing the biggest hit and the show coming to a close, Gonzalez, Tomsky and Miller each picked up a set list and walked down the stage to hand it to the front row - Gonzalez passing over handfuls of guitar picks in the process.

He smiled and waved goodbye, hanging his guitar up on the way out - the show seemed to be over, but he returned to sing one final song, 'Opera House', a white cascade of lighting sparks falling behind him. As the song finished and even as some fans began to leave, the band waved goodbye.

"Auckland, we love you all so much, and you've been the sweetest being here tonight," Gonzalez called. "We'll see you next time."