All Points West Day 2: Crystal Castles, My Bloody Valentine + Chairlift

Crystal Castles at APW, 8.1.09

It’s not everyday that you get the opportunity to walk around the park and catch so many awesome bands but Day 2 of All Points West was one of those days with a line-up jampacked with bands we’ve been pining to see. At the top of that list for me was Crystal Castles and My Bloody Valentine as well as a little bit of Chairlift thrown in for good measure.

While walking around the mud eating chocolate ice cream cones (how’s that for a visual) we were drawn into lover’s lawn by Chairlift’s sleek cover of Snoop’s Sexual Eruption Sensual Seduction followed by one of my favorite tunes from Does You Inspire You Planet Health. We stayed for a few songs before taking a pleasant break on the grass to watch Neko Case’s set on the Bullet stage before catching My Bloody Valentine.

My Bloody Valentine at APW, 8.1.09

Tool fans flooded to the main stage at this time so we found it wise to step aside to avoid getting stabbed by spiked accessories and enjoy from the sidelines with our purple earplugs in place. It’s a known fact that MBV is  infamous for being one of the loudest bands with a signature washed out vocal delivery but to be honest that’s pretty much all there was to it. We stayed for most of the set but once every song became discernable from the last we crossed them off of my concert  bucket list and went on merrily back to the Queen of the Valley stage for Crystal Castles.

Alice Glass and Ethan Kath of Crystal Castles made a lot of noise last April with their cancelled Dallas gig, but what’s entertainment without a bit of controversy? Alice Glass is electro-punk reigning princess and by now concertgoers know that you get what you get with a Crystal Castles gig: Ethan takes care of the music while Alice thrashes around the stage maniacally struggling with sound issues. It sounds like a disaster but somehow Crystal Castles wear it and make it work with ease. The tent was packed with sweaty kids dancing to their heart’s content, crowd surfing and begging for more. And that my friends was the end of Day 2 for Tastes Like Caramel.

MP3: Chairlift – Evident Utensil (Sinden Remix) or zShare
MP3: Bloc Party – Hunting for Witches (Crystal Castles Remix) or zShare