July 18, 2010 8:06

Crystal Castles' Alice Glass 'punches' fan at Latitude Festival

Singer retaliates after being groped

Photo Gallery: Crystal Castles
Photo: Tim Cochrane

Crystal Castles' performance at Latitude festival descended into chaos last night (July 17) after vocalist Alice Glass appeared to lash out at a male fan in the front row, in response to being groped.

Glass had spent the entire gig crowd-surfing, and seemed to be relishing the chance to appear on Latitude's main stage. At one point she mouthed the words, "I love you!" at the crowd, while allowing herself to be carried over their heads.

However the mood soured after a fan apparently grabbed her breast. Glass responded by appearing to aim repeated downward blows at the culprit, telling the crowd: "You touch my tits, I kick you in the fucking head." She then spat in their direction, and yelled "Bitch".

From that moment, which came 20 minutes into the Toronto band's performance, the gig became increasingly shambolic, with Glass barely singing. Eventually she hurled her microphone at the drum riser, before storming off stage - followed by the rest of the band - 20 minutes before the scheduled end time.

The band's exit was met by widespread booing from the back of the field, although the performance had been enthusiastically received by the predominantly younger fans at the front.

Crystal Castles have a history of confrontational performances. At Spain's Sonar festival in 2009, Glass appeared to throw a punch at a security guard, while at Glastonbury a year earlier the group were almost pulled off stage by security.

The Latitude incident had echoes of Amy Winehouse's performance at the 2008 Glastonbury festival. Video footage appeared to show the singer lash out at a fan in the front row.

The Latitude festival concludes today (July 18) with performances from Vampire Weekend, Mumford and Sons, Yeasayer and The Temper Trap.