Crystal Castles headlining show as a part of the Hard Festival this year, was thoroughly bombastic and aggressive. The sold-out show for the Boston crowd at the House of Blues felt like a non-stop party that was actually four hours and started with the sublimely mixed beats of the opening acts Destructo, Sinden, and Rusko, getting the boys and girls all pumped and ready for the brash sounding, brilliant musings of Crystal Castles (as if they needed the help). The prior acts were apt in supplying dub-step music for a crowd of day-glo colors, tattoos, and sweaty hair as they danced rather sensually or were prone to consistently jumping up and down in enthusiasm.
The show took a turn for club-kid hysteria once Crystal Castles did go on stage a little before midnight, as the only hint of stage decoration was the blown-up face of the solemn looking little girl on the cover of their latest release "Crystal Castles II". As the cult fans screamed, the lights flashed in accelerated, enraged speed, exemplifying the Canadian band's dichotomy of vexation, doubt and amusement which is a sight to see and has made them a touring favorite nationwide--these kids in the crowd have been waiting.
As Ethan Kath, and touring drummer Christopher Chartrand, stayed to themselves on stage, vocalist Alice Glass appointed herself as the star of the show wearing denim and black basics with a punk-rock looking tee, and her signature black eyeshadow-ed eyes and doe-like stares that again contradicted her spastic movements and regular stage dives that caused fans to crush into each other regularly just to touch her jacket or combat boots.
As mentioned earlier, to re-instate that the show was loud and chaotic would be an understatement but that was also the beauty of Crystal Castles performance. Because their music is so inundated with overlapping scratchy, demanding, almost futuristic esque sounds, Glass' screeches though noticeable are not entirely audible, but her energy was more than enough to forgive the at times undecipherable lyrics, as shown through new Crystal gems like "Doe Deer", "Baptism", and "Year of Silence" off of "II". Fans even responded to their more subdued songs like "Celestica" and "Empathy" that are bit more dreamy and calm in comparison to the former, and where Glass has the chance to let that nubile tone of hers shine through. The boys and girls either bump their hands as if they were in religious deep thought, or pushed and shoved as close they could to the flashing lights. Regardless of fast or slow tunes, the House of Blues became so hot, the show had to be stopped for a minute because the fire alarm went off. Either that, or the fans wanted more from the band than they could handle, leading the way to their acclaimed and iconic party rousing single "Alice Practice" that sounds just as much of a Mario Brothers video game live as it does on wax.
Crystal Castles only performed for about an hour due to Boston's live show curfew of 1AM, and were soon quietly booted off stage as Glass sang her last words into the microphone, and with an exasperated look, shrugged her shoulders and left, one of their touring workers calming the audience as the reason why, facing fans that were exhilarated and disappointed.
As Kath stayed behind a bit for a few autographs and photos with the obsessed, the show they had just left was a triumph because while they were completely professional in playing every key correctly, Glass reciting every lyric on time and giving the fans her undivided attention, they also have an interesting knack for coming across unruffled once it's all said and done, which is pretty bad ass and something their fans can look forward to each and every time from the original Sleigh Bells. She-Ra of He-Man would be proud.
Video courtesy of The Boston Phoenix
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