Crystal Castles: Live at the Bottom Lounge x DJ set at Sonotheque

At the moment i'm at a loss for words that described catching the CC live show then hopping in a cab to a unnamed night club to catch their after hours DJ set. All around it was one hell of a night, which came to an amazing end. I want to begin by saying that all images and videos are not mine bc i'm to cheap to buy a camera at this point in my life, so all vids courtesy of Jamozvan. Anyway, Sitting in anticipation at the bar of the Bottom Lounge waiting for the doors to open was the most excruciating, drawn out event in my lifetime, besides waiting to hear back from grad school. Considering CC has been a huge auditory staple in my life since its humble emergence in the punk-electro scene, I felt as giddy as a boy waiting for a candy store to open- or some some other expected or longed-for, good event, combined with the irritation at having to wait. Bc they rarely do interviews, I've heard only third party accounts of their live shows which added another element of excitement to the night knowing that through the doors lay the unknown, added crazy feeling of anxiety. However seconds to minutes, minutes to about 2 hours till CC took the stage.

I have no memory of the set list, but from song #1, Ethan pumped out his signature sick ass, low-res electro beats while Alice, with all her darkness and mystery defiantly stole the show, crashing the party coming out with a bottle of Kettle One poring it into the mouths of the front row. She came out, round one, fulfilling everything I had hoped the show would be. Crowd surfing while raging while being held up by the crowd, bringing her darkness to each and every song, never backing down, consistently pounding us with her raw energy and bad assness. Shouting through heavy distortion and the raging, nasty bitcore, supported by the LIVE pounding drum kit of the backing track, I have to say, they are the single most powerful live set i've ever seen. I was in middle center front, and by the feel of it, the entire space was turned into a mosh pit, fueled by strobes and the want to catch alice when she jumped into the crowd. I was a fan of the album and a few of their remixes, prompting me get excited about a live show and the want to dig further to truly experience what they are all about. The totally raw and unadulterated nature of the show was something that I had not experienced ever.

And now some live footage via u2b to simply attempt to capture just how amazing the live set was...

-- Alice Practice --


-- Yes, No --


-- Reckless --


-- Baptism --


-- Crimewave & Air War --


Their presence in the states is far too few so with the live show ended, with some new friends from Madrid, we hulled it over to the after hours bar in hopes that we could cram as much CC into our systems as possible before the night was done. After waiting inline in front of a non-descript building front in the freezing cold for close to an hour we were admitted. Ethan came on minutes later flexing his DJ skills, playing remixes of original work as well as other songs. we were able to get right up against the dj booth and Alice was seen leaning in and mixing a few minutes herself from time to time, but most of the time it was her kneeling on top of the mixing board leaning up against the glass with a bottle in one hand and a cig in the other, rocking out.

Warning the post is about to get gossipy as hell but here it goes:
The pinnacle of the night came about 20 min after the bar officially closed. We were waiting around to close the tab/ finish drinks when Alice Glass herself walked out from the DJ booth. Holy shit. I don't know why but I was starstruck. Shes got so much presence and power that its overwhelming. I was standing at the bar, and said fuck it, and went up to her and said 'great show' she said 'thanks' and then I was like fuck what do I say now so I looked at her and said the stupidest line ever... 'I totally got shit on tonight' after a 'huh?' I said 'figuratively, your show fucking rocked, it was raw as hell and probably the best time ive had at a show, ever.' But I made alice glass wince, who does that?! After a few more exchanges with my friend and I the bouncer came up to us and said to alice 'are they with you?' she totally said 'yes'. For the next 2 min we were chilling, shooting the shit, drinking beers with fucking alice glass, the most elusive person in indie rock. She hardly even does interviews so we had no idea what to expect. Looking back I was surprised I didn't exit that conversation with a punch in the face or being spit on, both which would have been amazing. Giving Ethan a swift hand shake and acknowledgment on the way out of the bar, I fell into some sort of a euphoric haze. It was crazy enough of a night but meeting Crystal Castles after all that was just fuckin crazy.

As soon as my friend, Megan, over at Parle a ma main uploads some pics i'll get some links up.
In conclusion If you have the chance to see Crystal Castles Live, do it, you will not regret it.