After waiting several hours in a line that wrapped literally around the block, over 1,000 fans were aggravated to learn that Crystal Castles would not be performing at the Granada Theater last Wednesday evening.
This cancellation marks the first time in more than five years that a concert has been called off at what The Dallas Observer called the “Best Live Music Venue.”
The band bailout did not come as a shock. Early Wednesday afternoon, I was informed that Crystal Castles kicked out Vega, a popular local band scheduled to open, and replaced them with one-man-band Rebel Leader to open their concert.
Zach Boswell of Rebel Leader told The Daily Campus that Crystal Castles “picked [him] up last night at the Vega show and called at 9 a.m. to perform” the opening act at the Granada.
In an ironic twist, an hour before the show was cancelled, Boswell explained that the message of Rebel Leader is “finding the silver lining.” Try telling that to the mob demanding refunds and reimbursements!
Doors were set to open at 8 p.m. but, unknown to the scores of hipster devotees, Crystal Castles did not arrive at the venue until some time after 9:15 p.m. They never took the stage.
After repeated requests for an official statement, the band’s representative cited “sound difficulties” as the reason for the spontaneous withdrawal.
A student who drove over an hour from UNT said she felt “f***ing pissed. [She] bought tickets three months ago.”
She heard them practicing from outside the building and thought it sounded great. Why wouldn’t they play?
Numerous independent parties have given acclaim to the Granada’s fantastic sound quality. It was good enough for Kid Rock and Bob Dylan; does Crystal Castles really think that highly of themselves?
Shortly after 10 p.m., two of the band members emerged from the private entrance ignorant of the members of the media stationed at the back door, and began walking up and down the line telling fans that they had to cancel. Not so much as a word was given to the Granada’s representatives or their co-sponsor for the event.
The worst part of Wednesday night’s fiasco is the anger misdirected at the Granada. Because of an extreme lack of professionalism on the part of the artists and their representatives, music enthusiasts are pointing fingers at the Granada when the real blame lies with difficult divas and ill-mannered managers.
I don’t care if their song was used in the Fall 2008 Chanel RTW show, Crystal Castles are not nearly hot enough to merit this kind of spasmodic and demanding behavior.
Jordan Traxler is a senior business marketing major. He can be reached for comment at [email protected].
