Monthly Archives: February 2009

Here’s a review of Dillinger Escape Plan’s Barbary show courtesy of Phrequency’s Steve Ciccarelli:

Not that anyone doubted them, but Thursday night at the Barbary reaffirmed what everyone in the world already knew…The Dillinger Escape Plan is for real and they’re back. New drummer in tow, the band turned a little North Philly bar into a revival meeting of mayhem and distortion.

With only two bands listed on the bill, when Washington D.C.’s Caverns opened the show to a room of 15 people, one guy oddly wearing headphones, the reaction was understandably underwhelming. A three piece with no singer, Caverns found a way to make an effect-soaked guitar, a piano and a drummer work and sound kind of interesting. The unfortunate thing about Caverns is while they’re sonically interesting, it was impossible to tell one song from the next besides when their guitarist said, “This song’s called ‘Turkish Bathhouse Armageddon.’”

North Jersey’s Knife the Glitter was previously a random grindcore five piece, but now play as a three-piece instrumental band with a 7-string guitar and a 6-string bass. Prog-rock like the Mars Volta but metallic like Dillinger, this band came to the stage saying “We’re Knife the Glitter from New Jersey. And we rule.” Somehow able to only fit three songs into a set (due to technical problems), every song KTG played was opened by a taped sample of Pantera singer Phil Anselmo saying something insane. When Phil Anselmo is the most memorable part of a set he’s not on stage for, that says something.

When done correctly, instrumental bands can change the way you listen to music, and Dub Trio is perhaps the best instrumental band in heavy music today. Don’t let the name fool you, Dub Trio eschews the vintage meaning of the first word of their name, instead using delay and loop pedals to their advantage, making every note sound epic. Combining the mathematical insanity of Dillinger with the hooky riffs of early Metallica, Dub Trio somehow made a room of Dillinger Escape Plan diehards into fans, causing even the kid with headphones on to take them off and be enveloped in the band’s huge sound. After two shows with Dillinger, Dub Trio is off to tour with Flogging Molly and the Aggrolites, making them one of the most versatile tourmates ever.

After a six-month absence, the Dillinger Escape Plan hit the stage for the first time with their new drummer, Billy Rymer of New York prog-rock band The Rivalry. Opening with “The Mullet Burden” from their recently-reissued debut EP Under the Running Board, if you were to close your eyes you’d imagine it’s still Chris Pennie behind the kit for DEP. Needless to say, even after only one song, Rymer fit in perfectly.

Ben Weinman, the lone original member of the band still standing, took the stage in a dress shirt, but immediately lost control as he has done so many times before. Weinman jumped off the walls, off the monitors, off his guitar cab and off of anything else he could find that was high enough to jump off of. Singer Greg Puciato jumped into the crowd the second that the band kicked into high gear with “Panasonic Youth” from their amazing 2004 album, Miss Machine.

Ever the frontman, Puciato shoved the microphone in kids faces, gave them water and somehow ended up hanging upside down from the light rig screaming in the faces of those below him. One of the only bands that could genuinely be considered “dangerous” to go see, Dillinger didn’t disappoint. Not necessarily a rhythm guitarist, Jeff Tuttle took on the same role as Weinman, playing to the crowd and almost hitting fans in the face with the headstock of his guitar, even having Puciato put the mic in his face to sing along after a successful stage dive attempt…with his guitar.

Debuting no new songs, the band did manage to play “Horse Hunter” from their last album, 2007’s Ire Works, for the first time, along with a stunning cover of Living Colour’s “Cult of Personality.” Weinman and co. managed to take an 80’s classic and turn it into a Dillinger song, which brings to mind the question “Why haven’t they done this before?” That’s how good it was.

To close the show, the band played “Sunshine the Werewolf” from Miss Machine, while Puciato taunted the crowd to come towards him and sing along. Puciato screamed, Weinman thrashed his guitar around his head when he wasn’t blowing minds with his playing, Liam Wilson made some of the most intense bass faces of all time, Tuttle jumped into the crowd again and Rymer pounded his kit like he wanted to hit harder than the bands previous drummers. As the refrain of “Destroyer, they’ll be another just like you” was sung by Puciato and the whole crowd, Weinman tossed his guitar 20 feet in front of him, landing on the floor.

“One more song, one more song” the crowd chanted before the band came back for a mini-encore. One song later, Puciato thanked the crowd and sent them on their way, not before hanging out, shaking hands and posing for pictures.

Look out for the Dillinger Escape Plan in 2009. One of the best bands in heavy music may have just gotten better with the injection of a new member and a new album on the way. Find a way to see this band…you’ll have a story for the rest of your life.