Crystal Castles, Casbah, 6.12.08

My last stop before heading out of town on Friday was to see Crystal Castles at the Casbah. I thought I had timed it well, but in fact, I got there with plenty of time. There was a full DJ set by Edgartronic while the energy of the crowd built in anticipation. I was up front waiting for the band. And I waited. and waited. and waited. There were a few people dancing, but mostly just more and more people trying to squeeze up front. The show was sold out, with about 15 people outside all hoping to get in. The crowd was definitely not typical Casbah, and in fact, I'd guess that at least 40% of the people drove up from Tijuana. After waiting about 30 minutes in the sweaty heat, there was a small fight about 3 people back from me and I came to my senses. "What the hell am I doing here?"

I went to the patio and hung out with friends and it was another 20 minutes or so before Crystal Castles finally took the stage. The set was high energy and completely spastic and the crowd loved the whole thing. The lights were flashing and they had strobe lights and all the other dancey pants lighting, so taking pictures for me was a bit challenging, but Tim let me get in front of him on the sidestage to try and capture a couple. At least they give some idea how insane the crowd was.





After some quick shots, I was back on the patio, where it wasn't 110 degrees. It was certainly an entertaining night for me. Abraham and I spent the closing of the night at the back bar. After the show ended, I took this picture of the drummer, who informed us that Crystal Castles are always supposed to cover their faces for photos. "You're part of the club, now," he said.



As we were leaving, I got to talking to the manager (as seen in this pic from before the show). He was venting a little, he seemed pretty road weary. I had Friday off so I could pack and clean, so I was in no rush to get home. He said he had half an hour, so I took him up to the suspension bridge at Spruce St. then I took him back to the venue and was on my way. A nice way to spend my last night in San Diego, for sure.


Abraham crashed at my pad so he could take me to pick up my rental on Friday and it was nice having the time off to properly prepare for my trip as well as clean my house for Daniel who was pet-sitting for me. Come Friday evening, we were on the road to Vegas.