Landing back in Los Angeles ahead of their upcoming album (III), Crystal Castles proceeded to blow the roof off a sold-out Hollywood Palladium with their angst-infused electronica. Complete with stage fog and strobes pulsating to every beat, they had the audience undulating like a stormy sea.
They opened with their latest single "Plague," following it up with the equally new "Wrath of God." It didn't seem to make any difference to the frenzied audience that these weren't released yet, as it was close to a riot in anticipation of the show. The Toronto based duo were joined onstage by a live drummer, although Alice's stage presence took up most of the venue.
While many bands as they get larger seem removed from their audience, Ethan Kath (electronics) & Alice Glass (vocalist) fully throws themselves into their performance; and for Alice quite literally backwards into the audience, crowd-surfing started while preforming their song "Baptism." Singing into her microphone with one hand and holding onto the ever-important bottle of Jack with the other; their reputation of a band that gives 1000% live, is nothing less than completely authentic.
The night's tunes were drawn from their self titled album, "II" and a few new tracks from the upcoming "III." Their sound presented an impressive contradiction - while very danceable, they also had an intently primal DIY feel; proving rebellion has many faces beyond those of guitar based bands. Check them out next time they're in around...
Photo/Review by Clovis IV
