Dillinger Escape Plan, London Camden Underworld
*This gig was at the Islington Academy*
I’m not entirely sure why Welsh agit-punks MCLUSKY are on the bill but I’m glad that they are. For the uninitiated they play spiky, vicious punk that remains thrilling able to surprise you at every turn and while tonight they’re playing to a largely disinterested crowd, they still imbue proceedings with more bile than is perhaps healthy for a Thursday night. They’re not quite as violently jagged as they were the last time I saw them but the energy and sheer angular passion of McLusky on a bad day is still comparable to most other bands on a good day. The juddering ‘My Love Is Bigger Than Your Love’ gets something nearing a response from a crowd that claps politely rather than screaming fervently but they acquit themselves well and on the most basic of levels it’s always pleasing to see a band as angry as this getting some kind of commercial recognition (7).
Fact: the DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN are the most exciting live band I have ever seen, and this performance put even others I’ve seen by them a few months ago in the shade. Kicking off with the cutting ‘The Mullet Burden’ and then juggernauting directly into ‘Baby’s First Coffin’, it’s clear that DEP are just doing what they do best – trying to fuck with the audience and playing as if they’ll die painfully if they do anything that any other band has even thought about attempting. Ben Weinman, guitarist extraordinaire, explodes from the moment the first riff chainsaws through the crowd, shirtless by the end of the second song and a visceral blur of insane talent matched only by his seemingly endless energy as he trades stupidly good licks and riffs with Brian Benoit whose tall gait makes him a riveting figure to watch, crouched over his ESP as his fingers wash across the overworked fretboard. ‘Jim Fear’ is simply magisterial as Greg Puciato stalks the stage like some feral predator, throwing himself around as the jagged music stops and starts seemingly at will. Liam Wilson’s bass playing alternates from the frantic to the placid, languid power of the mind-numbingly scary ‘The Running Board’, broodingly dark as it subtitles an already deep and heavy song and as for Chris Pennie’s drumming – look up ‘machine’ in the dictionary.
What makes most people sweat so much is the control that DEP exert over their music. When ‘When Good Dogs Do Bad Things’ threatens to slip away from them into a grindcore mess, they’re silent in an instant before taking the collective breath of the audience away by slamming back at full volume after only the merest brushes on a hi-hat, and exhibiting newies ‘Panasonic Youth’ and ‘Sunshine The Werewolf’ next to the choicest cuts from ‘Calculating Infinity’ their confidence is both evident and justified. Different parts of each song appeal to different members of the audience and it’s fantastic to see so many people spazzing out at any given moment – that’s the beauty of DEP, the fact that experiencing them is uniquely different and yet the same for everyone. Sheer genius (10).
Ben
Yeah, I know there was another band after Dillinger but they bored me so much after three songs that I left so I wouldn’t have to give them a crappy review.
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