THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN FIGURATIVELY BURN DOWN THE STARLAND BALLROOM, THREATEN TO LITERALLY BURN DOWN CONAN O’BRIEN’S DESK
“We’re gonna be on Conan O’Brien on Wednesday,” DEP front man Greg Puciato announced from the stage of the Starland Ballroom this past Friday night. “I’m gonna set his desk on fire. You heard it here first.”
I guess we’ll find out on Wednesday whether or not Puciato will make good on his promise, but after watching Dillinger shred through another killer set this past weekend, one thing is for damn sure: the thought of this band doing anything on network television is fucking weird.
After all, this isn’t Linkin Park or Velvet Revolver or some other corporate, ready-for-their-closeup group of namby pambies; this is Dillinger, the band to whom the normal laws of physics never seem to apply. How else to explain how these dudes can play music so complex while flopping around the stage like they were having one big group seizure, and, oh, somehow miraculously still managing to sound tighter than almost of any of their peers. During set highlight “43% Burnt,” Puciato leapt onto a riser and pushed one of the monitors hanging just above the stage, testing to see if he could swing from it; once he discovered that it was way too loose to hold him without causing potential bodily harm to both himself and/or members of the audience, his disappointment was palpable. Meanwhile, guitarist Ben Weinman utilized every available opportunity to take a leap off of his amps – and this is a man who was hobbling around on a broken foot not that long ago. Does anyone really doubt that the man will do something to piss of tight-ass NBC censors on Wednesday?
While you ponder that, know this: if you haven’t seen DEP live, you haven’t lived. Yes, old school fans may be a little disappointed that the band’s set list on Friday night was dominated by material from their seemingly universally-revered new album, Ire Works (besides “Burnt,” the only non-Works songs to make an appearance were “Panasonic Youth,” “Setting Fire to Sleeping Giants” and “Sunshine the Werewolf”), but really, they shouldn’t be – the show was still Intense with a capital “I,” and as mathcore-riffic as ever. “Fix Your Face,” “Lurch,” “Nong Eye Gong” and “Party Monster” – these songs are just fucking blistering, and each and every one sounded absolutely spectacular. And, not that the whole band isn’t killer, but a lot of the credit lies with new drummer Gil Sharone, who makes all of the spastic start n’ stops seem smooth and ridiculously easy to play; I mean, I’m sure it’s not the case, but the guy just looks so relaxed on stage like he’s no putting any effort into this shit at all.
The somewhat more melodious numbers in the set, “Black Bubblegum” and “Milk Lizard,” offered a welcome breather from all the aural firecrackers, and while I’d still love to hear even more of these types of songs – a little “Dead As History” here, maybe some “Unretrofied” there – one can hardly complain when seeing a live show as completely mind-fucking-blowing as DEP’s.
The band is currently on tour with Killswitch Engage and Every Time I Die; you can find a complete list of tour dates on their MySpace page. Do yourself a favor and make it your business to go see them.
-AR
