Many people find it shocking that I never saw Crystal Castles live before. They make sure to confirm how ridiculous the notion is, because of how utterly ridiculous the Crystal Castles live experience is. Rest assured, I believed them, but I surely didn’t know just how true the sentiment was at the time.
Being a small intimate private party, I was lucky enough to have a position side by side with One Thirty BPM’s very own Evan Kaloudis right near the front of the stage. I may have never seen the band live before, but I was aware of how important a good spot was, as lead singer Alice Glass is known for spending a large amount of her time crowd surfing and making sure you’re aware of her presence.
It didn’t take time for me to realize that all my friends were incredibly correct about Crystal Castles live power. Immediately we were pistol whipped into a dance rave frenzy that was marvelous controlled chaos. Alice Glass lived up to her reputation as a hypnotic performer, crowd surfing numerous times. At one point she grabbed my hand, and I helped propel her into the crowd as I gloriously multi-tasked snapping photos. Her presence is a mixture of wild sexiness that is also quite intimidating. While taking photos I was pretty concerned that she would crack her bottle of Jim Bean over my head.
Thankfully things never got that wild, but this show was copious amounts of ecstasy ready fun. The whole show flew by, with all the best cuts from the bands 2 LP’s guiding the way towards the rave-tastic event that left us out of breath, and instead, filled with joy.
I can tell you right now, do whatever you can to see Crystal Castles live. Everything that you’ve heard about their live show is beyond true. Their performance was the highlight of my CMJ, and easily one of the most genuinely fun concert experiences of my time.
It truly is ridiculous that I never saw them until last night.
Get the rest of the photos, after the jump:
