Canadian 8-Bit terrorists Crystal Castles played Sonar at the weekend, with the group’s performance ending after singer Alice Glass began fighting with security.
Controversy seems to follow Crystal Castles wherever they go. Emerging on the back of their much talked about track ‘Alice Practice’ the band’s blend of 8-bit synths and shrieking vocals divided music fans like little else.
Dragging the chip-tune scene overground, Crystal Castles faced inevitable arguments from purists. However the group also faced charges of plagiarism, with some alleging that the band had stolen both songs and artwork.
Crystal Castles were forced to settle with artist Trevor Brown after using one of his designs on their merchandise without permission. The group also faced criticism from within the chiptune community after using un-cleared samples.
However all of this pales into comparison with their live show. A chaotic mixture of dry ice and screeching synths, the band’s confrontational stance has seen them run foul of the authorities before.
At last year’s Glastonbury festival the band’s set was pulled after Alice Glass scaled the metal pillars in the John Peel Stage.
Crystal Castles were performing at Barcelona’s Sonar event when the incident occurred. The duo were playing their song ‘Courtship Dating’ when a security guard allegedly pulled at singer Alice Glass’ legs.
The frontwoman then lashed out at security, before launching a piece of the drum kit in their direction. The remaining members of security then became involved, before keyboard player Ethan Kath dived into the fight.
In what sounds like a genuine battle royale the fracas then fell out of view as the lights were pulled. Electro pixie Little Boots watched the show and commented on Twitter:
“Woah just watched crystal castles at sonar, sound was awful throughout kept cutting out so at the end alice started trashing the stage…then the sound guy tried to rugby tackle her so ethan jumped out and punched him! Massive!”
“Okay just spoke to alice apparently it was her who socked him one ha ha!”
Watch the incident below…
