New alt-pop tunes from Crystal Castles, Evan Ønly, field trip & more. More »
The electro duo Crystal Castles had yet another on-stage freakout about their “sound quality” over the weekend, and this time it almost resulted in a sound tech getting bonked in the head with a kick drum. And it did result in a security guard getting punched by Castle Alice Glass. The video above shows the spectacular ending to the duo’s set at the Sonar Festival in Barcelona; apparently the glitchy music brought forth by CC kept blowing out the speakers, and blowing up the group’s Rage-O-Meter. Serious quetion: At what point does one ask just why Crystal Castles’ music is so complex to reproduce in a live setting–or if the whole “oh no, we blew out the sound, time to have a freakout” thing is just part of an artfully constructed “angry young 8-bit-kids” persona? You know, like Billy Joel, but with the leather jacket swapped out for American Apparel’s finest. (Glass Houses, Crystal Castles… I’m just saying.) [YouTube; HT Lucas] More »
This past weekend, Dan Deacon played a show at the Masquerade in Atlanta that ended…poorly. The club cut him off mid-set, and mild chaos ensued. Deacon fans were livid at the club, but the DJs who were scheduled afterward said that Deacon and Co. (and the opening band) went over their allotted time. Now you may think that cutting off Dan Deacon for a DJ is a bad idea, but there are schedule times for a reason, and I tend to think that everybody deserves their shot. (That’s why I don’t run a club.) I’d be willing to give anyone the benefit of the doubt over the Masquerade’s management, but his Athens show was also two hours late in getting set up as well. You can read a few sides to the story here and here.
Still, slow set-up times are one thing. Show cancellations are another thing altogether.