Crystal Castles @ House of Blues

photos by Sara Sahadi, videos and words by Scott

Yes, Crystal Castles were in Dallas.  And yes, they performed this time.  Not only did they perform at the House of Blues in downtown Dallas, they set the place on fire.  Metaphorically, of course.  The duo of Alice Glass and Ethan Kath, along with touring drummer Christopher Chartrand, brought their brand of electro-noise to the DFW-area for the first time since last year's infamous fiasco at the Granada Theater.  Despite the cloudy past, both band and crowd did not spend any time reminiscing and proceeded to feed off each other for the next hour and a half.

True to form, the band performed alongside their seizure-inducing light show and pumped enough bass into the venue to set off the Richter scale.  The set included pretty equal amounts from the band's two self-titled albums, Volume I and Volume II, including a short encore.  While Kath was a mainstay behind his synths, Glass ventured into the crowd more often than not, dancing and falling into the crowd's arms between vigorous shouts into the microphone.  Even though Volume II received 'Best New Music' recognition by Pitchfork.com, Volume I's bangers such as "Alice Practice" and "Courtship Dating" brought the crowd to a frenzy.  Overall, it was an electric show; the only setback was the House of Blues' lack of communication regarding the venue shutting down the photo pit during CC's show despite giving out photo passes.  Fail.  Pictures and videos of the show are below:

enjoy.