It’s absurd that the Congress Theater staff can coordinate the systematic and thorough wrapping of all of the venue’s valuables in plastic before the Faygo-fueled shit show that is an Insane Clown Posse concert, yet is unable to develop an efficient will-call system. The venue could easily reap increased revenues by scooting concertgoers inside so they can purchase $8 mixed drinks instead of having them sulk in the laughable lines outside. This could easily be done by opening the will call earlier in the day so people can pick up tickets without much hassle, or adopting a printer-friendly system. Instead, it seems as if Congress would rather cause customers to spend nearly 90 minutes in line just to irk a handful of scalpers. Thank God everyone was drunk Friday night for the “Freaky Deaky” Halloween extravaganza.

As a result, it seemed as if Crystal Castles kicked off the night for most people. The Canadian duo’s simultaneously agitating and fetching tornado of electronic 8-bit bluster seems to peeve as many listeners as it wows, yet the CC fans were undoubtedly out in full force. In fact, many people chatted about how they thought Alice Glass and Ethan Kath should have been headlining the show. The crowd morphed into a heap of costumed, spazzed-out dancers. Interestingly enough, Crystal Castles’ set pretty much embodies a hazy night of Halloween partying. The songs blur together, plus there’s plenty of eyeliner and bad dance moves. Amid all the matte-black electro, I found myself wondering whether my affinity for glitch-pop was really a result of being weaned on endless hours of video game button-mashing. Burning Super Mario World into the back of my eye sockets had to leave its mark one way or another. Perhaps Alice Glass is tapping into my subconscious by screaming inaudibly into a microphone while hypnotizing me with a giant, handheld strobe light? Or maybe I just like bratty, malnourished girls who can’t seem to get enough kick drum. I pondered over this as I watched Alice punch some guy right in the grill for tugging on her shirt as she crowd surfed. There’s something indefinably appealing about Crystal Castles, but if this is the future of dance music, we’re all going to look pretty dumb on the dance floor.

Next up was Montreal’s electrofunk duo Chromeo, which opted for a dazzling stage setup that featured plenty of lights and a huge LCD screen. After listening to the crowd chant “Chrome-eee-ooo” for a while, the Michael Phelps–looking Dave 1 (A-Trak’s older brother) strutted out in a black jeans and leather jacket combo while P-Thugg  sported a bare-chested yellowish African-print getup. Though Chromeo’s coke-nosed ’80s synth-pop numbers get less love than La Roux or Ladyhawke at home, I found their live show never sounded too warmed-over. The duo pretty much performed Fancy Footwork in its entirety and even performed a spit-shined Journey cover during the encore. Playing it safe for a gaggle of costumed dancers was probably a smart idea following an epilepsy-inducing Crystal Castles set. By the time Chromeo wrapped up the night with “100%,” I was relatively impressed by its sparkly sheen. Though it’s not enough to warrant any extra play time at home, Chromeo did put on an enjoyable, dance-fueled show.

Check out our photo gallery from the show.