Crystal Castles / LULS

I first saw Crystal Castles at the Latitude Festival in 2010 from a distance, and the sound was a terrible electronic shriek attack with the vocalist almost entirely in the crowd babbling incoherence and flailing about for 90% of the time.

Tonight's performance by Crystal Castles is preceded by a heady mix of excitement and fear and I really don't know what to expect from the enigmatic Toronto duo consisting of Ethan Kath and Alice Glass along with a live drummer, Christopher Chartrand. Judging by the crowds (predominantly female and young) flocking in, the band has not lost their appeal one bit!



Proceedings start with a short 20 minute set from up and coming anthemic rock band LULS who are so new to the music scene that all the information I have on them is that they are London based. They get underway and seem very indie by numbers and to be honest a bit dull. The crowd love them and they are a assured warm-up to the big event. Best song is the big sounding and catchy 'Swing Low' which is sure to be sung in arena sized crowds at next year's festivals (They will be massive soon!)

Tonight is all about Crystal Castles and on come a sprightly Kath and Chartrand and then, as the first waves of electronic beeps are heard, Glass emerges from the back of the stage slowly, in the smoke filled concert hall.



The bass boom kicks in, the relentless banks of strobe lights come on, and Glass grabs the mic stand and hangs from it like a rag doll launching into 'Plague' from the newly released album ('III'). The crowd are ecstatic and surge back and forth like stormy waves at sea. By the second song - 'Baptism' - Glass is already in the crowd keeping the security guards and stage hands busy.

Things quieten down somewhat for 'Suffocation' where Glass hangs on to the mic and sways rhythmically through the whole song of which the sound is crystal clear and vocals somewhat coherent. In fact, kudos to the sound technicians for they have created an excellent big, glossy sound to the stage which is a world away from what they sounded like 2 years ago. Credit too, as I have never seen such a fantastic array of lights at a concert before this day. Midway through the set, Glass swigs Jack Daniels and spits it out towards the audience before once again writhing out on top of them.

The whole set is an aural visual sensory onslaught and doesn't let up until the excellent last song 'Not In Love' sans Robert Smith. Finishing with a 3 song encore, Glass climbs over the front barrier, rising slowly to her feet before collapsing onto a bed of upturned hands.

Crystal Castles are essentially punk rock, vital of spirit and as flawed and inspirational as ever. It didn't matter that you couldn't decipher a word Glass sang, as she could have sang out her shopping list out for all anyone cared. Pardon a cliché, but this duo is the best advert for a style over substance act ever and they were utterly brilliant.

FUTURE GIGS

sorry, we currently have no gigs listed for this act.