02.16
Crystal Method (source: kainr flickr.com)
This review won’t be long like my other reviews because of the fact that Crystal Method’s live sets are really hard to break apart into specific songs or parts. It all kind of blends together into one trippy big beat performance which is exactly what I wanted and expected.
We arrived at the Avalon (Control night on Friday) at around midnight. There was absolutely no line and we walked right into the venue after getting our tickets (I did see a line for those without tickets – but if you wanna see Crystal Method with no advance ticket then you deserve to stand in line!). The opening DJ was still playing, dropping house tracks left and right like nobody’s business. The crowd was your average clubber diverse mix ranging from Hollywood nightgoers to music lovers to hipsters to punk rockers. The guys are from Los Angeles and Scott Kirkland got on the mic numerous times to remind us of how special our city is. It reminds me of when I saw them at EDC and Scott closed out by saying that they love playing Los Angeles and as fans we should be appreciative of the fact that we get so many high profile music acts rolling through our city all the time.
We do try to appreciate and this blog is one way to do so!
Anyway the guys got into it pretty quick; after a 30 second aural intro, they dropped the first beat and never looked back. The set lasted about an hour and a half going through all of their tracks over the years. I could recognize Busy Child, Keep Hope Alive, and other tracks from their older albums. The ones that I didn’t recognize were most likely from their new album – Divided by Night. Many of their tracks are not only recognizable from my home playlists, but from movies, commercials and other artistic collaborations that Crystal Method fits so perfectly. No words and big trippy beats make for excellent background tracks.
The Crystal Method pushed forward, blending everything into a climactic finale to close out their main set. Then something happened which no one could have expected.
The guys were going on and on about how special Los Angeles is and how they love being here; then Ken Jordan said that because it’s Valentine’s day coming up he’s going to bring his girlfriend up… then this is what happened:
Ken Jordan proposed to his girlfriend right on stage! That was pretty awesome – the crowd was going nuts by that point and the guys closed it out with another one of their tracks which you can see in the video above. Overall I loved their music and their set; it was a lot more intimate and intense than when they played at EDC which was basically one long buildup (and that was good too).
Thanks to the YouTubers who put up these videos!
One funny experience that we had was with the t-shirt vixens in the back of the club. We walked up afterward and they were selling t-shirts for 25$ a pop. They honestly weren’t anything special and I was ready to walk away until they proposed a buy one get one free deal. My friend said he would take the free shirt (it was a white one with their tourdates on the back) and I coughed up the cash for the t-shirts. That was when the fun started.
Turns out they only had the “free” t-shirt in small size. I was told this as soon as I paid my money (so I think they knew beforehand, but let’s pretend they didn’t know). Ok, I said, we’re good then, can we have our money back. “No.” I began to argue with the 2 vixens behind the table. My argument was: look, you told us it was buy one get one free, the shirt is too small, can we just have our money back or a second shirt that will fit my friend? (He’s a guy, not small size for sure). “No. You already paid.”
More arguing ensued. At some point, another t-shirt maiden emerged from the side and with the strictest face I have ever seen (I felt like I was her 5 year old son who just wandered away at the mall and got lost) she told me that I can’t have my money back because I already paid. I hadn’t even picked up the shirt from the table at that point. So basically I started getting really angry and my friend ended up dealing with the girls. He tried on the shirt, showed them that there was no way a small shirt would fit him, and eventually we got our money back and walked away.
Long story short: think twice before giving your money before you get the right size shirt! And watch out for the fury of the t-shirt girls at the Avalon!
That all happened after TCM’s amazing set so I wasn’t mad at all, especially because I was with good friends having a good time. We walked out and moved on with our lives.
Good times at Avalon – we’ll be back March 5th to see James Zabiela at Control Fridays. Hope to see you there.
© 2010, M Silin. All rights reserved.
