Crystal Castles at Ultra Music Festival March 27

Say you're playing the 1983 Atari console game Crystal Castles, in which Bentley Bear must collect gems to advance. Bentley accidentally ingests a jewel and falls through a hallucinogenic tunnel that spirals into a secret level filled with panicky confusion, abrasive synths, and warbled voices that morph into machine-distorted screeches and chaotic, 100-mph, eight-bit electronic euphoria that ends with broken beer bottles, fistfights, and a heavily eye-lined pixie telling the whole crowd of wandering characters to fuck off.

Crystal Castles

Location Info

Map

Bicentennial Park

1075 Biscayne Blvd.
Miami, FL 33132

Category: Music Venues

Region: Downtown/Overtown

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As part of Ultra Music Festival, Sunday, March 27. Bicentennial Park, 1075 Biscayne Blvd., Miami. Gates open at noon Sunday. Tickets are sold out; ultramusicfestival.com.

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More About

• Alice Glass
• Crystal Castles
• Bentley Bear
• Indie Rock and Indie Pop
• Arts, Entertainment, and Media

Toronto natives Alice Glass and Ethan Kath swear those aren't the origins of the band, and the identical name is just a coincidence, but we have our doubts. The group's macabre brand of dance music seems easily plucked from a distorted, nightmarish videogame soundtrack in which robots dance to "Baptism," a screamy electro-thrash track laced with looping lo-fi bleeps off the group's second album; or "Tell Me What to Swallow," an almost opposite effort of melancholy acoustic guitar over chill, down-tempo-ish beats.

And even further proof is Glass's propensity to play the monster role — infamously punching a security guard, hitting fans, and throwing herself into delirious mosh pits that end in violence at the group's shows.

But all of that might be changing. A writeup in wannabe avant-garde girlie mag Nylon and an official VEVO video usually signify the end days of Brooklyn basement sets and indie-festival all-nighters. Crystal Castles' sold-out Grand Central show ended in balls-out chaos. But Ultra might feature a more cheerful, neon-peppy, candy-raver crowd less inclined to reckless abandon. Unless, of course, Crystal Castles succeeds in mind-warping them to a secret level.