Crystal Castles Boston Show

By Lauren:

Crystal Castles, the electronic duo comprised of singer Alice Glass and producer Ethan Kath, are no strangers to a crowd going wild when they take the stage. The Toronto-based experimental-glitch-electro band have had a cult following since 2008, when their first self named album was released. Since then, they’ve been known for their alternative sound comprised of Gameboy noises, pulsating drum beats, and self-produced songs that provide listeners an insight into a nuanced form of modern EDM.

On October 6, 2012, the crowd at the House of Blues Boston was nothing short of wild as Crystal Castles took the stage. As they began their first song at their Boston Show, Glass kneeled on the stage in front of an iconic image of a veiled woman and a child, channeling the energy she would need to perform that night. Opening with their newest song “Plague”, she quickly dismissed the mic stand as needless and continued the set, as an untethered energy whirled around the stage into “Wrath of God”.

As the show progressed...
, we noticed a nearly painful amount of bass from the speakers—a flaw HoB is known for-- especially during “Vanished”, when duo played together. However, Glass’s energy made us forget about the equalizer almost immediately as she began diving into the crowd. Forget crowd surfing, she kneeled on top of people and occasionally stood upright on eager hands to belt out words to “Untrust Us” and “Alice Practice”. The light setup that Crystal Castles is bringing on their North American tour is unique and fits their shows well. Comprised of vertical light beams and circular multicolored strobes, the focus of the lights was less on the bandmates and more on matching the feel of music.

While they stuck to mostly older material even though their new album Crystal Castles (III) is coming out soon, that was fine by us. Their music shows an elaborate attention to detail as a result of every song being self-produced. Their shows match their style-- no fancy production, just a beautiful combination of lights and sound, and that’s what the crowd was there for.

Their third studio album, Crystal Castles (III), will be released on November 5, 2012. Crystal Castles will continue to breech the barriers of what is classical EDM and what is experimental, and hopefully fuse the two together while bands with similar styles emerge as EDM develops more in the future.