A young and messy crowd buttressed themselves against the outside cage of the Monday night to cool their sweaty bodies and to pump nicotine into their systems before returning inside to join the packed crowd set to watch the Toronto-based electronic duo, .
Upstairs, girls romped around happily in puffy backpacks and lacey underwear while glassy-eyed, shirtless boys flagged their arms in adulation towards the vertically light-boarded and incessantly strobbed stage. Downstairs, enthusiastic bodies rolled in a rhythmic-like trance, brandishing glo-sticks and sucking water bottles dry.
Deejay Ethan Kath laid down a labyrinth of beats while vocalist Alice Glass shrilled macaw-sounding lyrics into a long-corded microphone while climbing around on touring-only band mate Christopher Chartrand’s drum set.
During the 50-minute set, the band blazed through the canon of songs from their eponymous release, “Crystal Castles (2010).” All the while, Glass sang intriguingly indiscernible lyrics while rolling and pogo-ing her body across the stage, stopping occasionally to crowd surf.
Though I can’t say I loved this show, I was affected. The dichotomy of the band’s deft beats and arrhythmic vocalization gave a sort of catharsis to my overall discomfort. This is rare to experience with bands, electronic or otherwise. Perhaps Crystal Castles succeeds so thoroughly because they understand the power that lies in this masochistic display.
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Kate Lacroix is a Denver-based writer and regular contributor to Reverb. Check out .
Joe McCabe is a Denver photographer and a regular contributor to Reverb. Check out his .
