Dillinger Escape Plan Club Zoo is in an area of Pittsburgh known as the strip district. The club was formerly known as Metropol for years until, I don’t know, the shit hit the fan I suppose and it closed. I never liked Metropol much. The bar was inconveniently located upstairs, the sound was usually bad for live music, and there were about 3 good places to stand, none of which being where you wouldn’t get kicked in the face. They did get some bad ass shows there though, so I have to say I’ve been there quite a lot. Club Zoo is really no different except for now it’s an under 21 club so they don’t even have a bar, but whatever. This isn’t a Zoo review, it’s a Dillinger review. I just wanted to set the scene. |
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Killswitch Engage was the head-lineing band of the evening with DEP as the second of 3 opening acts. I could give a shit about Killswitch, though as I looked around at a grossly oversold crowd, I could easily see that I was a minority. The first band went on at 7pm. I didn’t even know who they were, nor did it matter much to me. It’s not that they were bad. They were actually pretty good, in fact. It’s just that I’ve had the latest DEP album, Ire Works, in my car stereo on repeat for like 5 weeks straight and I was anxious to see what these guys were going to do with it live. Though I’ve listened to the band since 2002’s Irony Is A Dead Scene, their collaboration with Mike Patton on vocals, this was the night I was to lose my virginity to the Plan. So I’m standing there wondering to myself, in deep thought over my nice cold frothy cup of water, if it’s possible for a band to live up to all the hype this band has generated surrounding their live shows. I’d been hearing that they’re intense and extremely entertaining for years, so I have to admit that I was excited and a little nervous at the same that they’d end up being a total let down, but before I could even entertain the thought too much… |
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| Lights go out and BANG!!! Dillinger start like a mother fucking bomb! I didn’t even see them take the stage and 5 seconds in, they’ve already destroyed it. For the next 35 minutes this was the scenario in a whirlwind -- guitars flying, people going ape shit, band members on top of the PA then off again, spit, sweat, broken things, within a millimeter close calls between soaring instruments and faces, the singer looking all like He-Man with the power of Grayskull, unbelievable accuracy amongst total chaos, and a whole bunch of holy fuck! How do you even write a normal review for this? I don’t think I’ve ever even seen a band quite like them. I mean they’re insane, just visually and musically insane. Abandoning whatever glimmer of pop hook they may have ever had by slamming right through even what you could consider their lighter material. About half way through the set they brought the tempo down for a second, but when you’re playing 2 and a half minute long songs at 1 and a half times the speed, the breather lasted about as long as the time it takes a boxer to reel back and hit you again for the second half of a 1, 2 combo. What can I say? They rocked so hard that I almost felt bad for any of the bands following them. How do you come out after that? Even Nuclear Assault would question their name, and I bet that if given the opportunity to open for Slayer, Kerry King himself would be sitting back stage going “I don’t know, man. Maybe we shouldn’t go on tonight.” | ||
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In the midst of all this total mindfuckingness, I had a moment of clarity and realized I had a job to do. So for the sake of a complete review, I looked around to see what the general consensus of the people was and, I have to admit, it was strange. There are many, such as myself, who love this band. Yet at the very same moment they seem to have just as big of a crowd, a guy standing right next to me even, who totally hates their guts and can’t resist the urge to boo and wish bad things upon them, like DEP offends them just by existing or something. And to this I can simply say that you’re wrong and go fuck yourself. So yeah… Dillinger Escape Plan… check ‘em out. SM |
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