Dillinger Escape Plan Reunion
The Dillinger Escape Plan reunited with original vocalist Dimitri Minakakis for a special 3-night show at The Brooklyn Paramount Theater. I was lucky enough to attend night 3 this past Sunday, and what a fucking electrical show it was! I mean, is anyone surprised? It’s Dillinger Escape Plan. The quintessential mathcore band, and they know it. They are a force of nature to watch on that stage and they never disappoint. The reunion was thanks to the 25th anniversary of their debut album, Calculating Infinity. An album that had a huge influence on my musical taste from the early 2000’s right up to today.
Calculating Infinity was given to me by a long time best friend and sister from another mister, Jenny Disaster. Some of you know her as the tall girl who has been working at Hot Tooic in Poughkeepsie, NY for 20+ years now. It’s how I got into artists like Mike Patton, Tub Ring and many others who were bending genres and making their own way. Somehow I just felt smarter listening to music that was outside the Puddle of Mud soundtrack to my friends lives at that time.
At the show, Dillinger played the Calculating Infinity album in its entirety and added some extras for a 17-song set. Although I’m a bigger fan of Greg Puciato on vocals, having Dimitri back in the fold really took me back to the aggressive and brutal roots that paved the way for Greg to grow.
I honestly never thought this would happen so soon given the members all disbanded after a farewell tour that lasted over a year back in 2018. It’s not that bands never reunite, but both Ben Weinman, Guitarist, and Liam Wilson, Bassist, have been placed in some pretty great gigs since then. Ben is now the guitarist for Suicidal Tendencies and Liam (the only founding member in Dillinger) is the bassist for In Flames, currently on tour in Canada. He actually found a substitute bassist for In Flames so he could stop touring with them until September. Maybe the summer will be spent making some new Dillinger tracks? Maybe something unreleased in their brief history with Dimitri? Time will tell!
Anyway, Dillinger was as amazing as ever with a presence that gives goosebumps. Fire breathing, jumping into the crowd, stomping and moving like they are in their 20’s (while pushing 50). An epic time was had by all.
Opening at this show were 4 bands, including Deadguy, Candy, Car Bomb, and Callous Daoboys. The hardcore band Car Bomb’s performance sounded great musically but microphone issues made them something of a tolerance to sit through. Candy and Deadguy were fun, but who really stole the show (at least among the openers) was Callous Daoboys.
By the way, if you’re missing Greg Puciato, I highly suggest listening to his side projects. Black Queen, Killer Be Killed, or his current project Better Lovers with a former band member from Every Time I Die, guitarist Jordan Buckley. Greg also produced and did some vocals for Jerry Cantrell’s last awesome album Brighten.
Let’s hope we get more from Dillinger sooner rather than later.
