Canadian 8-bit merchants Crystal Castles have caused a ruckus with their fans, the support group and the venue after cancelling a recent show in Dallas.
Almost since their inception Crystal Castles have been surrounded in controversy. The band released their debut album last year, and while some thrilled at their blend of ‘Gameboys in a furnace’ style beats, others were appalled by what they saw as theft.
Litigation followed, with the band being forced to settle out of court with a designer after it was shown that some of their merchandise had borrowed from his work. In addition to this the band have been forced to dodge heavy criticism from the chiptune community who see them as being deeply derivative.
All had been quiet on the Crystal Castles front until the band cancelled a recent show in Dallas. Almost immediately a huge row broke out over who did what to whom. According to the band’s publicist: “The Dallas show was cancelled as the venue was unable to deliver the level of audio production required for a CC show.”
“Ethan and Alice did handle the situation professionally and Ethan spoke to the majority of kids outside to apologize in person. (Support band) Vega were removed from the bill as they stole an effects pedal from Crystal Castles at the previous show.”
This flies in the face of testimony from fans, some of whom claim to have waited outside the venue for three hours as they were refused entry.
Vega responded with a furious blog posting on Myspace. “Do they truly think we’d stupid enough to compromise our reputation as a band, and ruin a rapport with a band we were initially honored to play with for a goofy FX pedal?”
Bizarrely Crystal Castles have also been accused of stealing from other bands. The final word should probably go to the venue, who told The Dallas Observer that Crystal Castles “would rather cancel the show than possibly not have enough kick drum.”
It is not known if the show will be re-scheduled.
