The Dillinger Escape Plan: 25th Anniversary of Calculating Infinity
A reunion between old friends and a celebration of the beginning
Event Details:
Date: June 21, 2024
Venue: Brooklyn Paramount (Brooklyn)
Ticket Price: $87.58 (Stubhub)
Artist: The Dillinger Escape Plan w/ Car Bomb and Candy
I had a weird anxious feeling all day leading up to the show and I could not really pinpoint why. Was it because I didn’t know what time to arrive to score one of the limited edition posters? Was it the anticipation of not knowing what a show with one of “the most dangerous live bands” would entail? I’ve been to hundreds of shows, what makes this one any different? After all, they are all old now and there is no way the newly renovated Brooklyn Paramount would get too wild, right?
Seeing the people arrive as I was standing in line waiting for the doors to open didn't ease the anxiety. Dawning all black wardrobes, sleeveless shirts and tattoos, you can tell a rowdy bunch when you see one and these people looked like they were ready to tear some shit up. Lucky for me, I ended up getting one of the 100 limited posters and the calm was restored, so it was clearly just my inner child stressing me out over a damn poster all day.
As I said, The Dillinger Escape Plan is known for their live shows and the absolute insanity that usually comes with it. Unfortunately, I never saw them in their prime but tonight's show was unique because it was the 25th anniversary of their first album, Calculating Infinity, and a reunion with the original singer. Again, somewhat bittersweet because I think Greg Puciato taking the role as the vocalist in the band is what took them to the next level and a huge factor in what makes their live shows so intense due to his unrelenting energy on stage, but they officially disbanded in 2017 and I don’t know if I’ll ever get a chance to see them play again.
The openers were a couple of solid bands, Candy and Car Bomb. Candy just released a pretty sick new album this year and Car Bomb has major Meshuggah vibes so I was pumped to see the full lineup. Candy was awesome and totally met my expectations, I'll definitely be keeping an eye on them. They nailed the metalcore jams but mixed in some cool industrial metal elements. The set was only about 25 minutes long though so I hope I get another chance to see them play a bit longer set. Next up was Car Bomb and they did the djenty Meshuggah thing to perfection. They had the hometown crowd rocking with them as well and overall played a stellar set. Even if they are sort of a one trick pony, they sounded great and both bands did a great job setting the tone for the headliner.
Before Dillinger took the stage, there was a surprise set by a string quartet covering tracks from Dillinger’s album One Of Us Is The Killer. It was definitely a change of pace from the heavy openers but I dig a good classical arrangement of a completely different genre. However, the time between sets was kind of a drag and the crowd lost some of the momentum, but as soon as they lowered the lights and the band members started taking the stage I could feel the ripples in the crowd from people starting to shove and make room for the pit.
All of the waiting and anticipation leading up to the show tonight was all worth it. This band is one of a kind and certainly not for everyone. Rarely do you hear a band that plays in standard tuning sound so heavy but their tone, crazy time signatures and frantic energy puts them in a class of their own. One of the most impressive things I took away from tonight was how tight the band was. In the midst of all the chaos they manage to stay perfectly in sync and create these beautiful bursts of music.
Guitarist and founder, Ben Weinman, is an animal. He was jamming so hard he lost his balance and fell from the stage at the very beginning of the set. Luckily, he managed to catch himself and popped right back up, barely missing a beat, but I have not seen too many people play with the kind of energy he plays with. It almost felt like playing a venue of this size held him back from his usual crazy antics but I think the only speed he knows on stage is turbo and he didn’t hold back.
Seeing Dimitri Minakakis reunited with the band he helped start was special. I don’t know enough about the band’s history to know why he left in the first place but I can only imagine how it felt watching them become one of the most iconic bands in the underground metal scene, play some of the gnarliest DIY shows and travel the world for the next 17 years. He was soaking up every minute tonight and though his stage presence was not as wild as former lead singer Greg Puciato, he still put on a hell of a performance and felt like he was teleporting around the venue throughout the set. He was climbing over the front barricade and singing with the crowd, tossed the mike to a fan to let them sing a verse and even appeared at the back of the venue about midway through the set and performed a song from there before slowly making his way through the crowd back to the stage. It was clearly a special night for him and in turn for all of us.
They ended the show with one of their all-time greatest bangers, “43% Burnt”, and the crowd went nuts. I was also surprised to see them bring out the torch and do the fire breathing stunt at Brooklyn Paramount. Major props to the venue that just opened their doors after a beautiful renovation for letting a band like Dillinger bring their bullshit for three straight nights. Night one was incredible and I hope the other sets this weekend are just as enjoyable. This might have been one of the shortest headlining sets I have ever seen, coming in at just under an hour, but thank you The Dillinger Escape Plan for a show I will never forget.
Cheers and keep rocking!